[haydenm315]

First of all hello, I'm new here. I put a new battery in my mother in law's friend's Polaris Sportsman 450 a couple weeks ago thinking that was the extent of her starting problems. The battery was dead and it now started so I figured it was a go. I took the ATV out this weekend for a test drive and it died after not too much abuse. I was about to hit this mud section for another go around when it just died.

The starter catches for a split second and then spins freely. The ATV won't start even using the pull start. After the tow back to the campsite, I took the flywheel cover off. I found that the starter drive was trashed. It was nice enough to split out some metal chunks that some spring holds in. Those metal chunks took out my coil pulser. I hope nothing else got beat up too bad.

I'm looking for a walkthrough on replacing the coil pulser. Looks like I may need to pull the flywheel to gain full access. Instructions with torque specs and clearances would be much appreciated.

I see mfgsupply has heavy duty starter drives for $50. The local dealer wants $160 for one. Should I go with the overpriced OEM which has already proven to fail or does mfgsupply make a good starter drive?

 

[Bruce!]

First off, welcome to the board!

 

[haydenm315]

I'm impatient waiting for reply.. so I just ordered the heavy duty starter drive, shipped for $60.

I wasn't able to find the coil pulser on line though. Someone had it in their ebay store for $50, but it's gone. The local shop sells them for $71. If I order through their site they want $14 to ship that little thing Won't let me buy over the phone and it's not in stock Could someone recommend a decent online store where I can find the coil pulser? They seem to be evading the search engines.

 

[4getful2]

polarispartshouse .com
cheapcycleparts.com both of these have a dealer style fiche for looking up parts- you may be able to enter your part numbers directly and go straight to cart ,sometimes they are cheaper than your local dealer sometimes not keep an eye on those shipping costs.
you might also try rocky mountain atv or dennis kirk
torque specs. i can't help but i'm sure someone on here will
while you've got the starter off you may want to take a few extra minutes to take it apart and clean the mud and gunk out of it. you've already got a starter drive coming i see but if you need anything else for it check www.psep.biz it's pat's small engine parts and they might be a bit cheaper for starter parts,they other accessories also. hope this helps if not post another reply we are all trying to help each other out on here

 

[haydenm315]

Thanks for the sites... polarispartshouse wants $14 for shipping and the part is $10 more than cheapcycleparts. I was able to get out for less than $60. Dealership was $71 and it's not in stock. They won't order it for me unless I pay in person first. With tax it's around $76. I could order the part from the dealership's online store but have to pay state tax, and $14 shipping. What's with vendors and shipping? They must be watching too many late night infomercials.. "but wait.... we'll double your order... you just have to pay seperate shipping and handling!" I guess when vendors are playing price wars with eachother, shipping is the sneaky blow they try to use to give the illusion of lower prices.

 

[4getful2]

you are right . i think they make a little or get a kick back on the shipping. i live in central illinois so it's 3-4 days from anywhere.

 

[haydenm315]

I finally got around to taking care of business. While it didn't take me more than 3 hrs or so, this was NOT much fun. The flywheel must come off to get at the pulser. I was able to get the top screw off with the flywheel on using a phillips bit and a small wrench, but gave up on the bottom screw. There wasn't much clearance between the wheel and the phillips bit. It might be possible to get it off without removing the flywheel but it's not easy. You need some sort of slim phillips ratchet deal.

Pulling the fly wheel was fun.... Using a puller is never fun. It was on there pretty good. I attached a vice grip to the puller to keep the engine from turning over as I struggled to get the flywheel off. After removing the flywheel, it was a pain to get the old pulser removed. The people at Polaris put glue over the solder joints and glue where the wires loop through the pulser. Why? You must be careful to not damage the wires while getting the glue off. I tried to burn through it with my iron at first, but all I got was a burnt thumb.

On to buttoning things up. After receiving chemical burns from gasket remover, I used up the $20 pink rtv stuff from Volvo for sealing up the sump. That stuff is overpriced, but quality.

The ATV lives to die another day

 

[4getful2]

i wonder if they use the glue as a waterproofing agent. sounds as if you are quite thorough,hope it runs well for you

 

[haydenm315]

Probably for waterproofing and maybe quality control rigging for a cold solder joint. I sealed the crap out of the cover but there is a caution on the side that says to make sure the pull start is fully seated or else water can get in there. It has a drain plug on the top and bottom. It starts with a mere flick of the key. Seems to run well. Definately better than a no start condition in the woods.

Luckily where we went riding, the guy has a diesel powered 4x4 Kubota RTV. That thing was amazing. To get out of the trail and into the cornfield was a serious incline with ruts and such. I thought he got it stuck, but the magic of limited slip or whatever saved the day. $40K is kinda steep though.