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2000 Polaris 500 Magnum project

2K views 18 replies 4 participants last post by  Brianf 
#1 ·
We had been looking for a used quad and blade over the past couple of years. Couldn't justify the price of a new one for how much we would use it but need one to pull the drag in the outdoor riding arena and to push a bit of snow in the winter.

So my wife found this Magnum for the right price from a decent fellow. Its higher miles but is in good shape. It has the warn winch AWD and quite a sturdy blade.

Now the issues are this: has not been run much at all over the last couple of years. The gas is a bit stale, requires a bit of choke to run like a top while at idle. It had been leaking a bit of fuel from the carb overflow and finally it has a slow leak in a tire.

After some drive time, I think the fuel leak may just have been some garbage in and around the needle valve as it cleared itself up. I haven't had the time to siphon the tank so I tossed in some fuel cleaner and stabil, ripped around with the kids and thus far its improving. It spit out a bit of coolant from the overflow after dragging the arena.

I greased up the chassis and u joints and will do the hubs, engine, trans, diffs and coolant in the upcoming days. The fan was not going hog wild so I am hoping she just might be over full. It did not spit anymore out after a few spirited burns.

I still need to inspect the belt, possibly deglaze the sheaves and swap the spark plug.

Anyways, it seems like a fun little ride and I will get some pictures up soon.
 
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#2 ·
A bit of an update on this. I do not have much time to really devote to this project as of late but made a step forward and two back.

The fresh fuel made a huge difference in performance. It started almost first or second pull of the recoil and slightly cleaned up on idle without any enrichment.

Now it still leaked a bit from the carb overflow but ran good. A few days ago I started it and warmed it up, forgetting the fuel was turned off. Ran the carb dry and ever since then it floods bad and overflows non stop.

I ripped the carb out, did a quick pilot jet cleaning but found some wear on the needle valve sides. The tip was good but the slop allowed the needle to sit cockeyed within the brass seat. After playing with it I could not get it to 100% seat all the time.

I ordered a Wolftech parts kit today so hoping that will be the end to this.

Prior to this I finished burping the cooling system and it did a great job of pulling the quadivator and drag in the outdoor arena.
 
#3 ·
So the old girl has been sitting for some time and I got some time to tear into it.

She got a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner, which did wonders. The low speed circuit looks good and clean now. The pilot jet is pristine now as with the others.

I installed the needle valve and tested her out with me blowing some air through it. Well that solved that. It works now.

Tomorrow I will put her back on the quad and see if she works.
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#4 ·
So I got the carb installed today. Had some issues but overall not bad.

No fuel overflow but I had to prime it to fire. The enricher was slack but once it fired it took off to around 3k rpm. I checked for air leaks, ****** with the air screw and idle screw. All this to find that i messed up the throttle cable. It was too tight.

Got her running great! Restarts easy, clean idle and crisp throttle response. Very happy now.

I changed out the hub oil as well..... both were low, one being almost empty. Both were dirty but the low one was rust colored. The seal is still intact so it must be just bloody old. Swapped in some Federated Co-op ATF SL. I eill run this for a bit and then swap it out for some fresher stuff.
 
#5 ·
Wow... That carb DID come clean!

I bought a 1986 TRX200SX Honda for my kid a couple months back. Had some weird carb problems as well. I wish I would have had one of those US cleaners then. I ended up having to clean it twice. Iit was idling really high, come to find out from a lean condition from crap all in there. Tell you what though - my 12 year old petite daughter can pull start it cold on the 2nd pull with no choke, and it idles so low you'd swear it's going to die but it never has!
 
#6 ·
I will be buy an ultrasonic cleaner in the near future, thats for **** sure. The one I borrowed was on the smaller side, say 1.5 litres maybe. Had to rotate the carb throughout the process. But is sure works. It made a world of difference on it though, runs great!

Up next are the carbs from my tow vintage sleds. Have to start a thread on his board but have some 1974 OMC's that run decent but could use a clean.

I love the older stuff, sure its fickle but its lots of fun.
 
#7 ·
Finicky in some areas, yes... but tough as nails. That’s why it’s still around. I like these old machines just for that reason. Nothing is indestructible, but we sure play hard with this machine and it hasn’t tapped out yet. Can’t say the same for all my buddies that bought brand new Chinese stuff for way more $$ and much of it needs work already (bearings, no spark, broken suspension, etc). It’s obvious our Honda has been abused for many many years, but only needed a few parts (like under $75 and couple evenings work) to make it rideable again.
 
#8 ·
So I got the snow plow all hooked up tonight. The previous owner had a reinforced blade and central beam that connects with the rear hitch to take the load. There is a midship pin that centers the beam and then the povot pin for the blade.

I tested it out and it seems to work well. She's heavy but solid.

I dropped it down on the grass and tested the AWD. Both hilliards on the hubs work and she digs in nice. The reverse override also works great.

I then picked up a small, inexpensive battery tender. I bolted the leads to the terminals and it has a disconnect so the actual brain box sits attached to the outlet. This should make these cold winter starts somewhat easier......

We have a big storm on the way so maybe I will finally get some action shots of the old girl.
 
#9 ·
I nicknamed it the Green *******, from parts unknown. A little reference to the white trash show, Trailer Park Boys.

It was only a few degrees below zero but it fired up on first crank. She blasted through the heavy wet snow. Quite happy!!

She does need a coat of silicone or fluid film though, should ease up the sticking snow.
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#11 ·
It was refreshing to get something that was as advertised.

I beat the snot out of it last night in the snow. The heavy winds drifted the snow in. Knee high in most places with some chest high. The issue was they turned very hard and almost impossible to clear with the quad and i was back to chiseling with the blower.
 
#12 ·
So a bit of an update. I have bombed this poor girl around all winter. It really makes quick work of the snow and I use it in tandem with my snow blower in the 20' alley between horse paddocks. The blade to break the drifts and then wind row it for the snowblower. In the wide open I can get a lot done in a hurry.

So the only issue is the hard starting in the cold. Around-15c it becomes really hard to start. I then have to pull the air filter and use a heat gun to warm the incoming air. Once I can get her to catch we are farting through silk. -35c and she bombs around with authority.

This spring I wil do another oil change, flush the hubs, do the front diff, and inspect the rear diff breather. A small leak from an axle seal appeared and I need to verify the breather works before ripping in to put new seals in.
 
#13 ·
Check that the choke fully closes.

For my Kohler CV22S, the tube from air cleaner to the carb goes down from the air cleaner, so the low point is right at the front of the carb, which just happens to be where the choke is. After running for a bit and then shutting off the engine(or before I disconnected it, the breather hose from the crankcase), some water will condense, then freeze at the bottom, and that small amount of ice will stop the choke from closing all the way. Now, I've learned to close the choke when I turn the engine off, the ice that forms can freeze the choke closed, but it's easier to get the choke open.
 
#14 ·
The Mikuni bst34 carb does not have a choke but an enricher circuit. Its mounted up top, near the butterfly. I think its possibly on the loose side, which would make it less effective on a cold start.

Since its warming up, I plan to maybe pull the carb one more time. I think I installed the throttle cable incorrectly as there was too much tension, which cause the excessive rpm on start and needing to put as much slack in the line as I could. Once up to operating temp it will creep in low or reverse. Not much but slightly.

I will play around with the enricher some more, might just tighten it a bit more and see how it works.
 
#15 ·
Did some maintenance on the Green b-tard, parts unknown. Since the hub oil was little to non existant last time, as well it was garbage looking, I did them again today.

The ATF came out looking nasty again but there have been no issues with some hard winter use. The AWD engaged everytime.
I used my usual 7.7cst group 4 ATF. fill the hub and then clock it to 4pm to drain the excess. Very easy, thank you for that Polaris!!

The front diff had not been done by me yet. When was it last done? The previous owner could not remember but since there was no weeping or leaks, I had risked it out.

I had to push the lower rad hose over and disconnect the inner tie rod ends to access the little fill plug. The manual i had read states 5oz of gear oil and that there is no easy way to check the level so just do a drain and fill. About 5oz of clean looking gear oil came out and I managed 5oz of 75w90 group 3 GL5 back in. Only a minor spill. That diff has got to be one of the worst fill locations known to man. Next time I will drain the rad and relocate the lower hose completely out of the way.

Next chance I get, the transmission will get a drain/fill With the same ATF. Its level was perfect still. I am also going to source rear axle seals for another project.
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#16 ·
Furthermore, I did the transmission and spark plug today.

The ATF i added last fall came out quite dirty looking. Usual garbage on the magnetic drain plug. Super easy to drain fill and monitor level. One manual called for 17.5oz but it was closer to to 20 to get it to level.

The plug was easier than I thought, once I figured out the combination of short extension and u joint. Out came the NGK BKR5E, which was well used. The small shop i was at was low on stock and only had the B&S cross. The book calls for .028" gap, which it was nearly bang on. The old plug was closer to .060.

On test drive she fired up instantly, had plenty of snot and no backfires on fast and long deceleration. Ran good.

Up next I am looking to order new axle seals and A arm bushings.
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#17 ·
A bit of a run on update here. The quad ran pretty decent all year after those repairs/inspection. Come winter it did start a little easier and ran quite well at -25c. Then came the stalling issues.

Same symptoms as my Golden Ghost had, turns out the fuel tank vent line was broke at the steering shaft and was icing over. It is supposed to terminate in the headlight pod. Easy fix, just crack the tank cap a bit. Also fixed the seized rear brake caliper and installed new pads.

Then shortly after I was getting mid to high range bogging. Sometimes bad enough to barely move the machine. Sometimes it ran fine. Thinking it was a rich bog, I took the airbox lid off and it ran much better.... most of the time. A new Napa Gold oiled foam filter made no difference either.

Ran it this way until a week ago. I am far too busy to willy nilly work on the thing but she finally made me make time. My wife used it regularly to drag the indoor arena and it sometimes ran strong and others felt weak, like the brakes were dragging... they weren't. It finally stalled on her and would barely restart. She was running really hot and leaking fuel from the carb overflow. Great, the float stuck but why so hot, like it was lean?

Ripped her all down and heard a jingling in the carb. Ripped the bowl off and found the main jet wiggled off, wiped out the threads on it and the brass emulsion tube. It must have finally vibrated its way to jam the float. Come to find its not uncommon for these mikunis to do this. When she finally gave way it must have went really rich to lean. Thankfully the motor is all intact.

Checked my local shops and none had the stock 152.5 but my parts shop got me a slightly fatter 155 and after quit some time, I cleaned up the emulsion tubes threads and got the jet on.

Now the fun part. Could not get her to start after all this. Well this is my fault, partially from the last time the carb was off and I needed to do more reading. My throttle cable was installed wrong before, it was not seated correctly in the brass keeper on the carb, causing me to massively readjust the cable tension. This go around it was seated correctly and I left too much slack, which was triggering the throttle kill switch, designed to kill spark if the cable ever snapped. I adjusted the cable and the idle screw on the carb to where she cranked fast and idled low enough not to grid gears or creep in gear but high enough to keep her alive.

What learning experience this was but also just a heads up for anyone running a mikuni or a Polaris.
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