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2011 xp 800 wiring harness

38K views 20 replies 15 participants last post by  WillyBoy  
#1 ·
I haven't needed to be on here for a long time but now I have a problem I need help with again, so "thanks" in advance. I try and keep up with the site to see what's going on, but have a new job and I am limited with mechanical knowledge and abilityso I don't get on much. Anyway, I have a Xp 800 I've had for about 9 months and have about 1300 miles on it. A couple weeks ago it started bucking and stalling. Since the warranty was out I took it to a local shop who's owner has a couple of Rangers (xp 800 and a RZR) himself. He told me it was the idle control motor and that it had been a problem on all the 2011's. He said it was because of the way the harness was routed from the factory and it was causing a short. He changed the routing to the new way and tried to patch the wires. Well, as I was afraid that did not fix the problem. He called polaris and they said he needs to buy a whole new chassis harness which cost $500! He said they don't sell kits for just that fix.

I told him to hold off and I would-- 1. Get on here to see if anyone had any ideas and ...# 2. Go back to the dealer and see if they could help me out somehow. He said "Good Luck" with option 2 and thinks I'll have better luck on here. (I think he uses the site from time to time.)

It kind of irks me that this is a problem from the factory and there are no recalls. I have accepted the fact that thats the way most companies do business.

Any ideas?
 
#4 ·
Theres actually a service bulletin for this and it should be covered even though its out of warranty. As for replacing the whole harness, thats not true either. When the 11's first came out and some problems arose Polaris did in fact replace the whole harness. They since come out with a kit that just replaces a portion if the harness. The dealer cuts off the IAC section and splices on a new one.
 
#5 ·
About a month ago, I developed my first problem on my 2010. It was exactly as you described. From the posts here, I figured the harness was the culprit. Since I had the extended warranty, I took it in. Yup! It was the harness and they fixed it in no time - under warranty. I asked what it would have cost if it wasn't under warranty and they said $85. Just an FYI......
 
#6 ·
I made my trip to the dealer yesterday and the service manager said that the recall was for the way it was tied only and not for the short it caused. He said that the harnass kit would make it an easy fix. After some conversation about the way it was tied was causing the short I could see I was getting no where. He told me if it was still under warranty Polaris would fix it, but since the warranty was expired, they wouldn't. I ordered the kit ($97.00 w/o tax) and asked him to run me a copy of the TSB.

When I got home I read the first line--"Dealers are required to review their sales records and make arrangments with customers as needed."

That tells me that they should have called me about the problem. Am I wrong in thinking this? Does anyone know how old this TSB is? I am guessing my only recourse is going to be finding a better dealer the next time I buy. There is another dealer about a 1/2 hour further which will make the trip about a 1 1/2 hours, but worth it for better customer service.

I hope the harnass does the trick, which reminds me...the parts guy said, "This is the second one I've ordered today." Funny, isn't it?
 
#7 ·
BK33 said:
I made my trip to the dealer yesterday and the service manager said that the recall was for the way it was tied only and not for the short it caused. He said that the harnass kit would make it an easy fix. After some conversation about the way it was tied was causing the short I could see I was getting no where. He told me if it was still under warranty Polaris would fix it, but since the warranty was expired, they wouldn't. I ordered the kit ($97.00 w/o tax) and asked him to run me a copy of the TSB.

When I got home I read the first line--"Dealers are required to review their sales records and make arrangments with customers as needed."

That tells me that they should have called me about the problem. Am I wrong in thinking this? Does anyone know how old this TSB is? I am guessing my only recourse is going to be finding a better dealer the next time I buy. There is another dealer about a 1/2 hour further which will make the trip about a 1 1/2 hours, but worth it for better customer service.

I hope the harnass does the trick, which reminds me...the parts guy said, "This is the second one I've ordered today." Funny, isn't it?
If it was a recall then Polaris would contact the owners of all the effected vehicles. A service bulletin just means only repair on their dime the vehicles that actually have a problem.
 
#9 ·
WIRING HARNESS

HELLO ALL.
I HAVE SORT OF THE SAME PROBLEM. I WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE MOTOR REVING UP TOO FAST WHEN TRYING TO TAKE OFF. CALLED THE DEALER AND THEY SAID
TO BRING IT IN. TOOK IT IN AND THE THING RAN FINE. THE MECHANIC SAID IT COULD BE THE TPS SENSOR GOING BAD. BROUGHT IT HOME AND IT RAN FINE FOR 3 DAYS. WHILE THERE, THE MECHANIC SAID THERE WAS A RECAL ON THE WIRING AND HE PUT WIRE TIES ON ALL THE SENSORS. GOT HOME AND IT RAN OK FOR 3 DAYS. CRANKED IT UP ONE MORNING AND IT WAS IDLING AT 1600 RPMS AND I COULD NOT SHIFT GEARS. I CHECKED THE WIRING ON THE TPS SENSOR AND FOUND THAT IF I MOVED THE WIRES , THE MOTOR WOULD IDLE DOWN TO 1200 RPMS AND DO OK. RAN OK FOR 3 DAYS. CRANKED IT UP THE NEXT MORNING AND IT WOULD IDLE AT 1600 RPMS. REMOVED THE SEAT AND MOVED THE WIRES ON THE TPS SENSOR AND IT WENT DOWN TO 1200 RPMS. SEEMS LIKE THE WIRE TIES WERE PUT ON AFTER THE WIRES WERE MESSED UP. SHOULD THE WIRING BE COVERED UNDER THE RECALL? ITS NO BIG PROBLEM TO LIFT THE SEAT EVERY 2 OR 3 DAYS AND WIGGLE THE WIRES BUT SOONER OR LATER I THINK IT WILL CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS
P.S. ITS A2011 800 HP 180 MILES ON IT AND OUT OF WARRANTY.
THANKS
 
#10 ·
issues?

I just purchased the 800 xp last month. Have less than eight hours on the machine, and I'm finding out all sorts of info on the wiring harness issues, of which my unit has all the symptoms. I've heard nothing from the dealer, which is a five hour drive. If the wiring is frayed or broken along the harness though, I may just fix it myself. Warranty? Why should I dole out coin for parts...it's the company's engineering at fault. They should pay me, for NOT choosing to sue for shoddy products. These things are worth as much as small cars. I don't feel like getting ripped off at the dealers for an issue they probably knew about in the first place.
 
#11 ·
It's been a month since I first started this topic and I am now ready to update everyone. It has been back to the dealer twice now and had both the TPS harness and the idle control harness replaced. Got it back last night and took it for a spin and everything seems fine. My Dad drove it quite a bit today and he still doens't think it runs right. He does a lot of very slow (at a crawl) driving spraying around buildings, checking tile risers in terreces and waterways. He says even in low he has a problem with it going through periods of surging. He thinks it is just a matter of time before it starts acting up again. Anyone have any ideas?
 
#12 ·
I just retrieved my neighbors '11 Ranger 800 from the dealer after they repaired the harness. The repair order says 1 kit-harness, TPS part number 2878498 and part number 7170107 1 decal-svc bulletin completion. I looked under the seat with the plastic tabs that are breaking and saw the new harness and it looks like they just spice in a new end that snaps into the throttle body. The spice is clean and the zip ties are tight btw not loose. I didn't know what the problem was with this rig but I did a diagnossis in my neighbors driveway and found that whenever I touched or moved the throttle body unit, the idle would change. I also test drove it twice and the second time was when we had no choice but to take it in for service, it barely ran. This machine has about 300 miles on it of easy scooting along gravel roads, so I went online and discovered the service bulletin and saw others with the harness issues. The neighbor has 2 of these new rangers and the dealer has never called or offered the fix. But they didn't charge for the fix today, mostly because the owner called the dealer and asked if it was covered by the warrantee. The service guy said "I don't think so" so I was sent with a credit card and told to call before paying for the fix depending on the cost. And at the dealership I was told "I made sure it was covered by the warrentee" and that's what this repair order reflects. I hope that the machine works from now on because this was a big hassle, and it took the dealer 2 weeks to the day to get it done. Oh the time spent on the repair says 0.2 hours hehe, nice, how about the dealers get sent 50 each of these "kits" so it can be done on the trailer like a drivethrough resturant.
 
#14 ·
bcfirefighter said:
is this an issue on all 2011's???

I bought my 2011 at years end...wondering if this issue was handled prior to me purchasing mine....I have had zero issues so far....probably just jinx myself...
I believe that it was resolved at the factory late in the model year, so yours may not be affected.
 
#17 ·
KACook said:
So are the ties to be tight or loose? I went to the dealer for the 1st service yesterday and asked about it. I was told the ties should be tight. I thought being too tight was the problem.
Is there a copy of these Bullitons avalable to the public.
Ken
Your dealer can enter your VIN into their system and tell you if yours is one of the bad ones. As far as I know, there is no way John Q. Public can see the actual TSB. However, I think the TSB numbers are R-10-02 and R-11-01. At least that is what the stickers they put on mine said.
 
#19 ·
KACook said:
Shows what my dealer knows. I asked and was told..."Loose ties cause the wires to flop around and break."

Ok...so what do I need to put my eyes on. (wire wise, not dealer wise). Is there more than 1 tie ore just the one up top?? I looked in there, but I'm not sure what to look at.

Ken
When they did the TSB on mine, they actually made the stress releif loop a little bigger but the tie wraps are tight. I have worked in the Electronics/Electrical field for many years and you do not want wires to any connector too loose and flopping around. This is guaranteed to break the wires in time. You can also tighten a tie wrap too tight and cause problems. Apparently they didn't get mine done properly, it is in the shop now with a TMAP harness problem.
 
#21 ·
BK33 said:
I haven't needed to be on here for a long time but now I have a problem I need help with again, so "thanks" in advance. I try and keep up with the site to see what's going on, but have a new job and I am limited with mechanical knowledge and abilityso I don't get on much. Anyway, I have a Xp 800 I've had for about 9 months and have about 1300 miles on it. A couple weeks ago it started bucking and stalling. Since the warranty was out I took it to a local shop who's owner has a couple of Rangers (xp 800 and a RZR) himself. He told me it was the idle control motor and that it had been a problem on all the 2011's. He said it was because of the way the harness was routed from the factory and it was causing a short. He changed the routing to the new way and tried to patch the wires. Well, as I was afraid that did not fix the problem. He called polaris and they said he needs to buy a whole new chassis harness which cost $500! He said they don't sell kits for just that fix.

I told him to hold off and I would-- 1. Get on here to see if anyone had any ideas and ...# 2. Go back to the dealer and see if they could help me out somehow. He said "Good Luck" with option 2 and thinks I'll have better luck on here. (I think he uses the site from time to time.)

It kind of irks me that this is a problem from the factory and there are no recalls. I have accepted the fact that thats the way most companies do business.

Any ideas?
Hello there. I do apologized for the late post here. I'm looking for some forums here at the internet and I saw this one. It seems that this is useful. Actually, we have the same problem dude. I must admit that really lacked knowledge when it comes to car problems.
I'll share you some of my photos:

Image

At first look it seems that it is normal but its not.
Image

The mechanic place it again to my engine to observe my idle control motor