snowmobile repair

[nhboat61]

Looking for some advise on snowmobile repair.

Recently purchased a 2003 and 2005 used Polaris 550 . Yes, a newbie Took them out of the trailer yesteday, got both started took it around the yard for a while, then shut it off.


Now the 2003 sits on my driveway and I cant start it:

I go to start it and the motor ( electric start) just keeps spinning.

I've done the following :
1] new battery
2] replaced both spark plugs
3] drained the fuel line and gas flows out it.
4] truned the motor over with out the plugs and gas shots out the pistons
5] did a spark test on the plugs... did not see a spark.
6] pull start doesnt even do anything.

Any suggestions ?

Any recommendations on a repair person ? Do they make house calls... I cant get it to move out of the driveway or get it on the trailer.

I typically use Rochester Motor Sports 'cause I live off 16.
nhboat61 is online now Report Post

[ultrarider]

Top Gear in Wolfeboro does good work. I had 3 sled (1 Polaris & 2 skidoo) worked on last spring. You might want to give him a call. Jody is the
owner his number is 603-569-3200 His cell is 603-366-8139. Good luck

[ultrarider]

This may sound stupid, but did you by any chance hit the "Kill Switch"? Check that. There might be a ground short there.

[Denny Crane]

I have an older skidoo and had the same issue. One time it was a bad solenoid that the spark plug wire is attached to, about a $30 part online. The other time the kill switch button/lanyard was acting up and wasn't seated properly. The kill switch has fooled me a couple times! Let us know what you find out. It might help us down the road!

[WINNOCTURN]

nhBOAT61,


The only thing you have not listed is the "CHOKE". There are two positions "Half" and "Full". You mentioned when you pulled the engine through with the Plugs out and gas "SHOT OUT" of the cylinders. A lot of gas??. It really should not "GUSH" out. You may have inadvertently "Flooded" the engine. There are 2 way to clear the cylinders, put the plugs back in, turn the key to the on position 1st, make sure the Choke is closed, the hold the throttle all the way in and start pulling on the starter rope or use the electric starter. If it is flooded it should pop a few times and then clear the cylinders.

There is one other possibility, some Polaris models had a 10mm screw in the "Block" at the base of each Cylinder. If you back the screw out the gas built up in the cylinder will GUSH OUT. You can then put the screw back in and proceed to start the engine as earlier suggested.



You need to get to know each machine as to how it "LIKES" to start. Half Choke, Full Choke, A little Throttle, no throttle. Each machine can be different.

GOOD LUCK!


WINNOCTURN

[pcmc]

When checking for spark, you had to remove the spark plug boot in order to remove the spark plug. Make sure the spark plug is securely installed into the boot when checking for the spark.

When you were able to drive the machine, how did it run?

It sounded like the kill switch was simply over looked until you mentioned gas coming out of the cylinder. Then a dirty carb, or sticky float sounded like a culprit.

[MAXUM]

On a side note, seeing that you have the 550, before you go taking either out for a ride make darn sure both, but especially the 2005, have all the updates done to the engine. Polaris jetted them incorrectly from the factory and they are notorious for blowing pistons.

[nhboat61]

nhBOAT61,


The only thing you have not listed is the "CHOKE". There are two positions "Half" and "Full". You mentioned when you pulled the engine through with the Plugs out and gas "SHOT OUT" of the cylinders. A lot of gas??. It really should not "GUSH" out. You may have inadvertently "Flooded" the engine. There are 2 way to clear the cylinders, put the plugs back in, turn the key to the on position 1st, make sure the Choke is closed, the hold the throttle all the way in and start pulling on the starter rope or use the electric starter. If it is flooded it should pop a few times and then clear the cylinders.

There is one other possibility, some Polaris models had a 10mm screw in the "Block" at the base of each Cylinder. If you back the screw out the gas built up in the cylinder will GUSH OUT. You can then put the screw back in and proceed to start the engine as earlier suggested.



You need to get to know each machine as to how it "LIKES" to start. Half Choke, Full Choke, A little Throttle, no throttle. Each machine can be different.

GOOD LUCK!


WINNOCTURN

I guess the word shot out was a little emphasized, lets just say i saw vapor.
I followed the choke on, half positions... even got the book out to follow the instructions. I did a spark test.... no spark.

[WINNOCTURN]

I guess the word shot out was a little emphasized, lets just say i saw vapor.
I followed the choke on, half positions... even got the book out to follow the instructions. I did a spark test.... no spark.

Vapor is GOOD!

No Spark?

The Spark Plug Boot contains a resistor and some times can go bad. You may want to replace both boots. I always carry spares. The Key and the Emergency Kill Button are a "Ground" circuit. With the Key in the "ON" position or the Button pulled to the "UP" position you clear the "Ground". There is one way to eliminate the Key and the Button from the circuit, that being pull the "Connector Cable" of each and see if the makes a difference?

Ignition problems can drive you crazy. In the end it may be the obvious that we overlook?

[8gv]

How's that saying go?

"90% of all fuel problems are ignition related"

Or maybe it's the other way around?

[nhboat61]

Thanks everyone,

I found Croccos in East Wakefield, on Rt 153, came by today an picked it up.

Maybe.... we eventually get some snow ...

[WINNOCTURN]

Thanks everyone,

I found Croccos in East Wakefield, on Rt 153, came by today an picked it up.

Maybe.... we eventually get some snow ...


nhboat61,

Please let us know what they did to get it running. We will all learn from it!

WINNOCTURN

[nhboat61]

nhboat61,

Please let us know what they did to get it running. We will all learn from it!

WINNOCTURN

Needle valve in carb stuck open. Gasoline filled the cylinders to the point it was running out of the exhaust.

Took apart the carb, replaced the gaskets and reseated the valve and changed the plugs. Brought it back today, runs like a charm .... now we just need snow.

Very reasonable on the cost as well.

[pcmc]

Is this referring to the needle that hangs below the slide?
The slide is what opens when you squeeze the throttle with your right hand.
I'm guessing out of habits, the throttle was squeezed to simulate pumping the gas pedal in an older carbureted car to set the choke prior to starting the engine.(?)

I would immediately (yes, before riding the machine) call the repair shop and ask if they inspected the carb to make sure nothing was altered inside the carb.

If they simply did a visual looking into the throat of the carb and saw the slide stuck open, then squeezed the throttle to take tension off of the slide and needle, and wiggled it to align it with the slot that the needle fits into, this may not have fixed the problem.

If there are worn or even the wrong parts in there, the next time you squeeze that throttle the needle may get stuck again! Next time you may be on your favorite stretch of wide open trail, or showing off in a cramped back yard with limited response time.

I hate to seem like I'm trying to scare you, but I'd hate worse to hear you were injured due to an accident because your throttle stuck wide open.

It was mentioned this carb needed an update kit. I would make sure the correct fix was done and not an alternate fix via the wrong needle put in there.

Does anyone know if the needle should come up out of the port from the main jet, or should the tip remain hanging down into the hole slightly? I don't have any machines here I can check.

If this is the valve on the float in the bowl of the carb then this a totally different out come. Clean and adjust the float along with the rest of the carb and your in good shape. The more I think about it, it's probably the float, but if rather be safe than sorry.

[MAXUM]

Is this referring to the needle that hangs below the slide?
The slide is what opens when you squeeze the throttle with your right hand.
I'm guessing out of habits, the throttle was squeezed to simulate pumping the gas pedal in an older carbureted car to set the choke prior to starting the engine.(?)

I would immediately (yes, before riding the machine) call the repair shop and ask if they inspected the carb to make sure nothing was altered inside the carb.

If they simply did a visual looking into the throat of the carb and saw the slide stuck open, then squeezed the throttle to take tension off of the slide and needle, and wiggled it to align it with the slot that the needle fits into, this may not have fixed the problem.

If there are worn or even the wrong parts in there, the next time you squeeze that throttle the needle may get stuck again! Next time you may be on your favorite stretch of wide open trail, or showing off in a cramped back yard with limited response time.

I hate to seem like I'm trying to scare you, but I'd hate worse to hear you were injured due to an accident because your throttle stuck wide open.

It was mentioned this carb needed an update kit. I would make sure the correct fix was done and not an alternate fix via the wrong needle put in there.

Does anyone know if the needle should come up out of the port from the main jet, or should the tip remain hanging down into the hole slightly? I don't have any machines here I can check.

If this is the valve on the float in the bowl of the carb then this a totally different out come. Clean and adjust the float along with the rest of the carb and your in good shape. The more I think about it, it's probably the float, but if rather be safe than sorry.


If I recall when I updated my 550 after it blew chunks there are the main and needle jets, then the needles themselves. The needles do not clear the jets completely at WOT. At the time I was fixing mine the jetting was the only fix they recommended, now they are doing a whole kit that includes a whole lot more. If you would like to read more about it there are ample write-ups on the problems and fixes from Polaris... here is just one of many

http://www.hardcoresledder.com/forums/314-trail-classic-xlt/350615-550-engine-issues.html

As much as I loved my sled I was done with that 550 after two meltdowns, no support at all from Polaris, clear indications they had no idea how to really solve the problem, I will never own another one. I just picked up the same exact machine with a 600 Liberty under the hood. Been happy ever since.

[WINNOCTURN]

NEEDLE & SEAT?

This is the "valve" that "Hangs" on the Floats. It can "swing" and stick as described in the repair applied. Not that common.

Polaris had some problems when they used a Brass on Brass Needle and Seat combination. Between normal or admormal ware the fuel could seep through and cause Hard starting or Flooding after not running from one day to the next. The simple fix was to, after riding Shut the Manual Fuel Valve OFF. Easier sead than done.

The real fix was to replace the "Brass Needle" with a Viton Tipped Needle. The Viton Tip is a "rubber tip. They will virtually never leak. They were a little expensive, especially if you had a "Triple", at $25.00 each.

The actually swapping of the Needles was easy once you removed and disassembled each Carb.



10171

[nhboat61]

On a side note, seeing that you have the 550, before you go taking either out for a ride make darn sure both, but especially the 2005, have all the updates done to the engine. Polaris jetted them incorrectly from the factory and they are notorious for blowing pistons.


Well, two weekends ago I was out on PRP , well, it just stopped. Luckily, I was with a friend and we towed it back to the house.:(

Got the bad news today..


Melted piston
cracked head -
cracked cylinder -


Looking for used parts to repair, cost of new from Polaris outrageous. My guy thinks it was on its way when we bought it...I only put 9 miles on it.

the other machine is running fine, put 100 miles on it. Please, please dont break down. At least my big weekend is canceled with my boys , before we found this out.

[tis]

I had a brand new Polaris around 2002 and it overheated on the first rides so we had to come back, even stopped once. After about 5 short rides, it blew. We bought it from the place across from Troop E in Tamworth and he would not stand behind it. Finally because we knew a friend who knew the president of Polaris they picked it up, but they gave me a very hard time. If it wasn't for the connection, I don't know what would have happened. So I find this very interesting.

[MAXUM]

Well, two weekends ago I was out on PRP , well, it just stopped. Luckily, I was with a friend and we towed it back to the house.:(

Got the bad news today..


Melted piston
cracked head -
cracked cylinder -


Looking for used parts to repair, cost of new from Polaris outrageous. My guy thinks it was on its way when we bought it...I only put 9 miles on it.

the other machine is running fine, put 100 miles on it. Please, please dont break down. At least my big weekend is canceled with my boys , before we found this out.

That really stinks, although the cracked jug and cylinder.. I assume the cylinder sleeve... is a little unusual. Typically just the piston melts down.

That 550 is a piece of junk and I can't believe that Polaris continues to put it in their sleds to this day and furthermore rave of it's reliability. That's just plain shameful.

[nhboat61]

They each have about 5000 miles on them.

The other one is running fine ( knock on wood) and put roughly 120 mile son it this week... The powdery snow on the lake isnt help full ( my new undestanding), so I try to quickly get on the trails that are groomed.

[VitaBene]

They each have about 5000 miles on them.

The other one is running fine ( knock on wood) and put roughly 120 mile son it this week... The powdery snow on the lake isnt help full ( my new undestanding), so I try to quickly get on the trails that are groomed.

Breaking trail on a sled definitely taxes the engine components, much like a jeep in the sand vs the road.