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Polaris engine failures

CumminsPusher

CumminsPusher

Just a Honda doing Honda things.
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
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Oct 14, 2015
41,587
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Washington/Idaho
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  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-5

  3. Talon X LV
Yeah my buddy just traded his 2018 1000xp highlifter (27k) for a 2019 turbo S (29k). After owning highlifter for 8 months he probably spent around 2k in belts and 1 primary clutch that blew up. Now with the turbo, after first ride a while back, he took it into dealer cause turbo got super red hot and started to melt plastic air box. Dealer said to stay above 20 mph and never ever get it wet! We live in South Florida, most of our trails have some kinda water, he wont learn!!
Some people just don’t care. They buy the coolest rig and will continue to dump money in.
Guy we’ve tried riding with has a 4-seat turbo massively upgraded, he shows off on the dirt roads constantly, changes belt every ride to be sure. Took him into to woods once on what we look at as very easy stuff and he did nothing but cuss, came out looking his rig over for scratches then started ordering plastics, right there from camp lmao! Some people like to spend money and drop the machine off at the dealer for free storage.
 
JenElio

JenElio

NTC's NoMo Chupacabra Caliente!!....
Lifetime Member
Oct 31, 2019
62,469
589,036
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Loxahatchee, florida
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  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-5
Yup, I'm not a fan on pouring money into a toy just cause it's a pos. One thing is breaking stuff on the trail from riding it hard not just cause it breaks everytime you take it out. Cause I swear everytime we go out the damn rzr has somtn happen to it. Or we have to pull over and take a break cause belt is too hot.
 
Montecresto

Montecresto

Montecresto el segundo
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
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Jan 17, 2016
22,587
34,173
113
Eastern oklahoma
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 500

  3. 1000-3

  4. 1000-5

  5. Talon x4
Keeping my fingers crossed on my 2017 ACE 570.
You’ll be good mudder. My Ranger turned 11 this year. 7K miles, original belt and brakes. Maintenance only all these years. I’m picking it up from the dealer Monday, had all filters and fluid done and it’s first repair, the fuel gauge quite working. I’m moving it to my New Mexico property because I keep the Talon X4 there and need a working SXS with a bed.
 
highpocket74

highpocket74

Well-Known Member
Vendor
Jul 2, 2019
1,802
5,715
113
Kinder, Louisiana
www.10-80dirtsports.com
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. Talon X
After years of Honda ATC and ATV riding, we went to Polaris in 2012 because of the RZR. These machines were perfect for us with small kids. We bought a used 2010 RZR 800, bone stock and not abused, then in 2014 we bought a 2008 RZR 800 with a freshly rebuilt engine. The 2010 model was very reliable and required few repairs. The 2008 model had many repairs with revised parts but overall was OK. Kids get older so we buy two ACE 900 SP machines on the 2016 model closeout. Perfect for my kids and they love them but they are very maintenance heavy. Luckily I got the 4 year warranty with them. I've used those for much more than the warranty cost!! Extremely fun machines for adults too but they require attention. Three years later I may have all the bugs worked out!!

Really hoping with the new Talon X purchase I won't have to carry so many spare parts with me!!! Hoping for Honda quality. Good old days we rode 300EX/400EX for days on end with a can of fix-a-flat, tire plug kit, and a six pack cooler!!! Biggest repairs were rear axle bearings, chains and sprockets!!
 
H

HondaTech

Guest
They dont start with a P.O and end with an S for no reason!!

My general manager told me a story of a guy they use to ride with who tested Polaris stuff for a living. He was testing an ACE (when they first came out) and the engine got so hot the oil fil cap melted onto the camshaft and locked up.

I've been unfortunate enough to have to work on a couple of these gigantic piles of crap. Every single one of them have had. Very few miles and been total wrecks. The 570 RZR we took in on trade had just under 600 miles and all the A-arm bushings were fried, the wheel bearings were loose, the rear hub bushings were gone and the valves were so tight it fouled plugs all the time. Hope you never get into adjusting the valves on these junk piles, the shims are made into the bucket and cost $70 a piece.

Bosses buddy bought a 2018 XP4 Turbo, 1800 miles. Already had 4 rhino axles, all the u-joints were gone (had to get a Rhino shaft, since all the yokes were spread apart) balljoints were all gone, all 4 wheel bearings out, brakes toast (again) and it's on its 3rd carrier bearing(2nd superatv setup).

I dont want to go fast if the piece of s*** wont stay together, I'll stick to my "Glorified Golf Cart" Pioneers. I've never, since 2009 put a wheel bearing in a Honda SXS, or any suspension bushings for that matter, except for wrecks. Until the Talon axles we've seen a few of (I believe they got the issue fixed, superseded part numbers) I haven't ever put an axle in one. Ditto for brakes, or driveshafts.
 
Ohio4x4

Ohio4x4

I brought the dishwasher
Lifetime Member
Aug 23, 2018
1,392
13,866
113
Ohio
Ownership

  1. 1000-3
They dont start with a P.O and end with an S for no reason!!

My general manager told me a story of a guy they use to ride with who tested Polaris stuff for a living. He was testing an ACE (when they first came out) and the engine got so hot the oil fil cap melted onto the camshaft and locked up.

I've been unfortunate enough to have to work on a couple of these gigantic piles of crap. Every single one of them have had. Very few miles and been total wrecks. The 570 RZR we took in on trade had just under 600 miles and all the A-arm bushings were fried, the wheel bearings were loose, the rear hub bushings were gone and the valves were so tight it fouled plugs all the time. Hope you never get into adjusting the valves on these junk piles, the shims are made into the bucket and cost $70 a piece.

Bosses buddy bought a 2018 XP4 Turbo, 1800 miles. Already had 4 rhino axles, all the u-joints were gone (had to get a Rhino shaft, since all the yokes were spread apart) balljoints were all gone, all 4 wheel bearings out, brakes toast (again) and it's on its 3rd carrier bearing(2nd superatv setup).

I dont want to go fast if the piece of s*** wont stay together, I'll stick to my "Glorified Golf Cart" Pioneers. I've never, since 2009 put a wheel bearing in a Honda SXS, or any suspension bushings for that matter, except for wrecks. Until the Talon axles we've seen a few of (I believe they got the issue fixed, superseded part numbers) I haven't ever put an axle in one. Ditto for brakes, or driveshafts.
I just had to do a right rear wheel bearing on my pk1. All others were tight. I wrote it off to a hit I took last year that sounded like it ripped the whole wheel off the rig. It had mud in the outer bearing the inner was still packed with clean grease. I found it just shy of 3k miles
 
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highpocket74

highpocket74

Well-Known Member
Vendor
Jul 2, 2019
1,802
5,715
113
Kinder, Louisiana
www.10-80dirtsports.com
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. Talon X
I'll be buying a bearing grease tool for the Talon. That has worked well for the Polaris helping bearings last much longer. On RZR we were averaging 1600 miles on OEM bearings before changing.
Polaris front a-arm bushings only lasted a few hundred miles, then I'd have to start changing them. That is a bad design.
I will say this though, Polaris gambles on a lot of new ideas like Honda used to do in the 80s. Have to give them credit for that. RZR Styling is awesome but they need to work out some reliability issues. My 2010 800 spent 3 days with the hammer down at hatfield mccoy in 2013 and never missed a beat. That was fun! And my RZR S1000 handled very well. I really liked that machine before the fire.
 
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ehart814

ehart814

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Club Contributor
Mar 28, 2016
1,654
3,643
113
NWPA
Ownership

  1. 500

  2. 1000-5
They dont start with a P.O and end with an S for no reason!!

My general manager told me a story of a guy they use to ride with who tested Polaris stuff for a living. He was testing an ACE (when they first came out) and the engine got so hot the oil fil cap melted onto the camshaft and locked up.

I've been unfortunate enough to have to work on a couple of these gigantic piles of crap. Every single one of them have had. Very few miles and been total wrecks. The 570 RZR we took in on trade had just under 600 miles and all the A-arm bushings were fried, the wheel bearings were loose, the rear hub bushings were gone and the valves were so tight it fouled plugs all the time. Hope you never get into adjusting the valves on these junk piles, the shims are made into the bucket and cost $70 a piece.

Bosses buddy bought a 2018 XP4 Turbo, 1800 miles. Already had 4 rhino axles, all the u-joints were gone (had to get a Rhino shaft, since all the yokes were spread apart) balljoints were all gone, all 4 wheel bearings out, brakes toast (again) and it's on its 3rd carrier bearing(2nd superatv setup).

I dont want to go fast if the piece of s*** wont stay together, I'll stick to my "Glorified Golf Cart" Pioneers. I've never, since 2009 put a wheel bearing in a Honda SXS, or any suspension bushings for that matter, except for wrecks. Until the Talon axles we've seen a few of (I believe they got the issue fixed, superseded part numbers) I haven't ever put an axle in one. Ditto for brakes, or driveshafts.

I too have spent far more time repairing Polaris machines than using them. It really is insane - every person here knows of at least one or two horror stories with those things. I will say that 570 engine really zips for the size (if only the P500 had that power!).

My dad owns a ranger 570. I have to keep at least a couple ball joints in the freezer in the garage (makes them slide in easier). Totally lost count of how many ball joints, wheel bearings, etc that it has eaten in a little more than 1000 miles. Oh yeah, it's on its THIRD front differential!!! LOL

I said I'd never buy one, but a couple years ago I bought my daughter an old trailboss 325 quad. Figured maybe since it was older the quality was better (pre-Mexico construction???). Well, I was WRONG. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid idea buying that. It sits in the garage, hasn't moved in more than a year. Needs another $200 part that i just can't justify buying. Still has the original tires, but most of the suspension had to be replaced. Rear shock is toast (expensive)... etc etc. Never ends.
 
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