[turbodog]

I've finally put my NEW ranger in the shop. It's 4 months old and has a lot of problems.

I'll describe the problems here and we'll see how close people can guess the causes. I'll post the results when I get it back from the dealer.

Specs: 2006, 500 carb, 4x4, 77 hours.

1. carb runs really rich at idle, can't stay within 10 feet of the exhaust because it stinks so badly

<font color="purple">fixed</font id="purple">

2. when hot, idle will drop from 1200 to 850 for 5-10 seconds every few minutes.

<font color="purple">fixed</font id="purple">

3. cranks fine when cold with no choke, but I have to apply throttle for it to crank when hot.

<font color="purple">fixed, although it doesn't start for about 2-3 seconds</font id="purple">

4. backfires when coasting down from a high speed road run

<font color="purple">fixed</font id="purple">

<font color="blue">problem has cropped back up again</font id="blue">

5. 4wd engages at will, particularly when in reverse

<font color="purple">fixed</font id="purple">

<font color="blue">problem has cropped back up again</font id="blue">

6. 4wd won't disengage when engaged normally

<font color="purple">fixed</font id="purple">

<font color="blue">problem has cropped back up again</font id="blue">

7. valve cover gasket leaks oil

<font color="purple">replaced</font id="purple">

8. something's binding in the drivetrain. it forces the front wheels straight ahead. turning is EXTREMELY difficult. If I slam on brakes when in reverse, the "problem" will release for a while.

<font color="purple">"fixed" sort of. The front brakes are hanging. If I tap them as I drive it will release and work correctly.</font id="purple">


I turned it in this part Thursday. They hope to begin looking at it a week from Friday, 8 days away.


Let the speculation begin...

Should I also mention that they are considering it for a possible trade-in on a different brand utv?

 

[deadlytedly]

Holy moly, Sounds like someone was sleeping in the production line during that build !

 

[commanderjjones]

[:0]DITTO! Dude, you've got a real electrical problem there. Normally I'd let the dealer try to repair it and see what hapeens after that.....but I think I'd consider getting rid of that one. That's just one too many things for me to feel good about keeping it.....even though problems 1 thru 4 are probably all related...as are 5, 6, and 8. Number 7 is a common problem from what I hear....luckily mine doesn't leak. 8 is happeneing because the 4WD is engaged. Don't get a different "brand"....just ask them to replace it[]. I doubt your request will be fulfilled....the lemon laws in most states require you to give the dealer the ooportunity to fix the problem and most dealers know this. You'll probably have to give them a shot at it....but if they can't fix it or it comes back or continues to be a problem child, I'd insist on a replacement.

 

[prose]

Sounds like a lame ass dealer if you ask me............are there any other dealers closer to you? What other brands is the dealer selling ?I know of several buddies who have the 500 ranger in excess of 250 hrs without a single issue,except the emergency brake (which we are going to try out nethawk's e-brake fix very soon).........I wouldn't give up on it yet, imo the rangers are still the superior machine to the others-that's why I bought one.........good luck.........cheers.........[]

 

[turbodog]

#8 is not the 4wd. I can say that for sure. I know that when 4wd is engaged it is a little harder to turn, maybe like 50%. This is like 500% harder. I'm talking something like 100 ftlb of torque to turn the steering wheel.

We'll see what they come back with. My main fear is that they won't be able to find anything with the 4wd/steering problems. It does happen a lot, but you have to spend more than 2 minutes riding it for it to crop up.

Oddly enough, I have had no problems with the emergency brake!

 

[turbodog]

If they find and fix the problems I will keep the unit. Otherwise I will trade it in on something else.

This is WAY too many problems to be 4 months old.

 

[MVRanger]

Did you do any fluid changes before taking it in to them? We noticed a big improvement once we changed our fluids after having problems with the 4WD not wanting to disengage.

~Lynette

 

[turbodog]

I've changed the rear drive and primary gearbox fluid in an attempt to quiet down the horrible whine. Haven't touched the front though.

 

[dirtydale]

turbodog, 1 thruogh 3 would be the pilot jets are to big jet down one size. #4 If the machine backfires right after you let off the gas from a high speed run, put machine in neutral rev up machine and see if its leaking around the exhaust joints, if that is the case replace exhaust springs or bend spring tabs back a little that might do the trick. One other thing could be bad exhaust gasket on motor. If that dont work then it could probably use a larger main jet. #7 Valve cover gasket on the 500 is nitorious for leaking, remove bolts clean off any oil on bolts, reinstall with blue loctite torque to 6-8 foot pounds. 5,6,8 seem like they could be related , an easy way to diagnose where the problem is coming from is jack ranger up at all four corners spinning the wheels one at a time in both nuetral and drive this should give a person a good idea where the problem is coming from. It sounds like its still under warranty I hope they can take care of you. Good Luck!

 

[turbodog]

Well I got it back after 2 weeks and 1 day.

Since it was taking so long (took 2 weeks for them to look at it) I asked them to only fix the carb problems. I simply had to have it back so we could get back to work with it.

They replaced the valve cover gasket and took the needle valve linkage "up" one notch. It idles much better, and the exhaust doesn't overwhelm you anymore. But, now it will not "back off" properly from a wide open run. When backing off from wide open, it will almost die. Or at the very least, it will surge a lot.

Spark plug got replaced also. Existing one was black, black, black.

As far as the 4wd problems go, I plan on changing the front fluid pronto.

 

[turbodog]

I have replaced the front diff fluid and it appears to have fixed the "engaging 4wd in reverse" problem. It does take a little driving to fully disengage normally though.

 

[turbodog]

Overall, machine still blows.

Plan to trade for a honda next year.

 

[Bmmartin]

Does Honda have any UTV offerings for 2008? Or are you going with a quad or something? Can't blame you for ditching your Ranger. If I was in your situation I would be furious.

It amazes me that ATV manufacturers can get away with producing products with so many problems...especially with how expensive they have become. If auto maunufacturers had half the problems they would be out of business. I know people use ATV's hard, but only a six month warranty shows the confidence the manufacturer has in their products. Dealer service tech training is also absolutely horrible.

I actually love my '07 XP and have had zero problems. These are just some of my opinions mainly about Polaris. I would really like to see how a Honda UTV would compare....especially after they work the first year or two worth of bugs out of it. There is a reason I quite buying American cars/trucks.

 

[94harley]

Hey. Did you get my reply to your message. Let me know if not.
1-4 Pilot jet issue. Did they drill out the air/fuel mixture screw plug and adjust the air/fuel mixture screw?? Its hard to see but on the front bottom of the carb looking from the bottom up should be a plug(brass usually) If it's still there it may need adjusted. The problem, they aren't supposed to be removed(emissions) Depends on the dealer I suppose but I get rid of them and don't reinstall them. It can make a big difference on how the machine idles, raps up etc.

The brakes hanging up - I would make sure your fluid isn't too full. Also I would pull the front tires and see if the calipers are floating freely. If not clean and lube the caliper pins(grease) It seems a little early in its life for this issue but who knows. Maybe the boots on the caliper pins aren't seated right and it's getting dirt and hanging up. Hope this helps.

 

[martymoe]

first one is a float sticking i think.

 

[Guest]

I hear your pain! I had a 2007 Polaris 700 XP Limited Edition that was little over a month old and I only had in my posession for 3 days. I already made my first payment on the Polaris. It started having problems the first day I bought it and put it on the trailer waiting for the weekend to end to get it back to the Dealer. Luckily for me the Dealer knew this was a LEMON, put over 100 hours labor in the Polaris, worked with Polaris technical and engineer support, and could not fix the problem. The Dealer finally gave my money back. I don't think you'll find many Dealers like this guy. I have no faith in Polaris and it's my personal experience that Polaris could care less about the customer once they've purchased one. I'm surprised they stay in business. They don't stand behind their machines and it's my understanding they're not much help to the Dealer. I would like to see the LEMON LAW passed to apply to UTV's the same as it is with cars. These machines cost too much money to be in a Dealership for repairs more than being used. Wish you good luck guy!

 

[Sean]

the problem is that the honda would be slow and bland and poor at handling and have an underpowered motor

 

[turbodog]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by skenneyjr

the problem is that the honda would be slow and bland and poor at handling and have an underpowered motor
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's some wild speculation since nobody's ridden honda's new utv.

And even IF your guessing is true I can say that at least it will work properly. It'll be quiet. Fit and finish will be light years beyond polaris.

 

[deltaboy]

Amen, turbodog!

 

[Troy10]

Try an aftermarket high flow air filter. Your engine is running way too rich.

An NGK iridium plug would be a good investment until you get the thing properly tuned in. Those plugs are harder to foul than conventional ones.

Idling problem and backfire are related to your air/fuel mixture screw. Usually it is adjustable underneath the carb. You will need a small flat blade screwdriver to adjust it. Just make sure you don't go too far out because a spring and washer will fall out! To start, turn it all the way up until the needle seats, do not over tighten. Stop when the turning get firm. Turn out 1 3/4 turns. Start your motor. Adjust screw in 1/4 turn increments until your setting is good. You will know where it should be by the sound of your motor idling. Go too far, it starts idling bad again. Find the center point between the top and bottom setting where the idle begins to get rough, and that is where it should be set. The backfire problem should disappear.

You probably never need to use your choke because basically it is chocked all the time.

I am not sure which carb that Polaris uses, but this is pretty common on ATV carbs. It is easy to do. It can be a pain to get to the screw, depending on where your carb is located.