It seems I have a problem many have after searching for months, which has pretty much left this thing sitting... But now I'm just tired of it and want to get the thing running properly. I have a 2013 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO that has 540 miles on it. I bought it from a good friend in September with probably less than 200 miles on it. I live in the mountains, so I would just take it for a ride right from the house and go explore. It ran great for several hundred miles, until it didn't.
Symptoms - Starts fine, idles fine, cruises at low throttle fine on a flat surface. Once I start getting into the throttle, it starts bogging... Generally around 5,400 RPM.. ish... Today, I disconnected the speedometer and took it for a ride and initially, it seemed not to bog, but then it came back about a quarter mile into riding it. I tested voltage and revving up the motor, it's in the mid 12v range.
When it happened, which was sudden, I had washed the ATV. I used engine degreaser on the metal parts that are under the plastics and used low pressure. Previous owner said he's power washed the crap out of it when he had it. Additionally, at my high altitude (8,000 ft ASL), I mixed in some E85 to bring the AFR leaner. I have read these do not tolerate ethanol well, but it seems pretty quick. Quick reference, I run E85 in a few of my turbo cars and use it for being able to make more, safer power. I also tune a lot of cars and have played with E85 a lot over the last decade, so if this is the cause, it's the first I've seen it happens so quickly. I've splashed ethanol in many of my small, carb'd motors around here to get them to run better at altitude. That said, this issue seemed to happen right after doing both of these, as I remember. I'm not well-seasoned with carbs as I grew up learning EFI, which would make this far easier for me.
I've read about cam issues, CDI, etc... Any ideas would be appreciated as I have not really ripped into taking things apart on this at this point. I've got a race car and toy street car that has had my patience in that respect. :) I would like to get this running properly again as I am planning to use it to plow my large driveway this winter after selling my snow blower, and my daughter would like to go out riding again with me and her Polaris Sportsman 90.
Picture of the ATV when I bought it.
I'm sure I have left some things out, so ask questions to get a clearer picture.
Symptoms - Starts fine, idles fine, cruises at low throttle fine on a flat surface. Once I start getting into the throttle, it starts bogging... Generally around 5,400 RPM.. ish... Today, I disconnected the speedometer and took it for a ride and initially, it seemed not to bog, but then it came back about a quarter mile into riding it. I tested voltage and revving up the motor, it's in the mid 12v range.
When it happened, which was sudden, I had washed the ATV. I used engine degreaser on the metal parts that are under the plastics and used low pressure. Previous owner said he's power washed the crap out of it when he had it. Additionally, at my high altitude (8,000 ft ASL), I mixed in some E85 to bring the AFR leaner. I have read these do not tolerate ethanol well, but it seems pretty quick. Quick reference, I run E85 in a few of my turbo cars and use it for being able to make more, safer power. I also tune a lot of cars and have played with E85 a lot over the last decade, so if this is the cause, it's the first I've seen it happens so quickly. I've splashed ethanol in many of my small, carb'd motors around here to get them to run better at altitude. That said, this issue seemed to happen right after doing both of these, as I remember. I'm not well-seasoned with carbs as I grew up learning EFI, which would make this far easier for me.
I've read about cam issues, CDI, etc... Any ideas would be appreciated as I have not really ripped into taking things apart on this at this point. I've got a race car and toy street car that has had my patience in that respect. :) I would like to get this running properly again as I am planning to use it to plow my large driveway this winter after selling my snow blower, and my daughter would like to go out riding again with me and her Polaris Sportsman 90.
Picture of the ATV when I bought it.
I'm sure I have left some things out, so ask questions to get a clearer picture.