2012 Sportsman electrical problems

ChillySeven

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Just bought a used 2012 500 H.O. Sportsman and the fan quit one day so I checked fuses and couldn't find any fried then the fan just decided to work a couple of days later. Then I went out and got it buried so I free spooled the winch line out and after winching in 6" or 7" the quad stalled. The battery barely had the juice to start the motor. I revved the motor while I tried to winch again and the motor wanted to stall and the instrument cluster started flashing on and off. I stopped winching and decided to run up the battery by revving the quad a bit but the cooling fan quit working again and the motor got hot so I had to shut it off. I walked out of the skeg to my truck carting the battery with me. I came back with two fully charged batteries and a come-along to pull the quad out backwards because I didn't want to mess around in the dark too much trying to winch the wrong direction as it was too late to go farther anyway. I installed a battery and fired up the quad then pulled it out. I then hear the cooling fan kick on and thought that's weird but at least it'll work for the ride home. I tried to wind the winch line in but the winch wouldn't work so I rolled it up by hand and booked out of there. Is this typical of Polaris ATVs? How are the winch and the cooling fan connected and what would the common denominator be here? Any ideas before I have to break down and take it to a shop would much appreciated.
 

Stompin Tom

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Just bought a used 2012 500 H.O. Sportsman and the fan quit one day so I checked fuses and couldn't find any fried then the fan just decided to work a couple of days later. Then I went out and got it buried so I free spooled the winch line out and after winching in 6" or 7" the quad stalled. The battery barely had the juice to start the motor. I revved the motor while I tried to winch again and the motor wanted to stall and the instrument cluster started flashing on and off. I stopped winching and decided to run up the battery by revving the quad a bit but the cooling fan quit working again and the motor got hot so I had to shut it off. I walked out of the skeg to my truck carting the battery with me. I came back with two fully charged batteries and a come-along to pull the quad out backwards because I didn't want to mess around in the dark too much trying to winch the wrong direction as it was too late to go farther anyway. I installed a battery and fired up the quad then pulled it out. I then hear the cooling fan kick on and thought that's weird but at least it'll work for the ride home. I tried to wind the winch line in but the winch wouldn't work so I rolled it up by hand and booked out of there. Is this typical of Polaris ATVs? How are the winch and the cooling fan connected and what would the common denominator be here? Any ideas before I have to break down and take it to a shop would much appreciated.
Just a guess here but the stator is what I would suspect, the problems your experiencing could be from low voltage. I had a 2008 Sportsman with fan problems and it ended up being an ecm problem.
 

ChillySeven

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Just a guess here but the stator is what I would suspect, the problems your experiencing could be from low voltage. I had a 2008 Sportsman with fan problems and it ended up being an ecm problem.

The quad only has 60 hours on it so its surprising to me that the stator or ECM would be gone but when I get back home from work up in the bush I'll check it out and see what I can find. Thanks Stompin Tom and Doorfx
 
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