Polaris 400 4X4 Automatic Liquid Cooled Four Wheeler

I have a chance to buy a Polaris Automatic 4X4 liquid cooled four cycle four wheeler , approximately a mid 1990's model . It is at least a early 2000 model at least . I was quoted $600.00 for it and supposedly it has had a lot of new stuff done to it before the guy that I work with bought it for $1000.00 . Supposedly , it needs a new CDI box as it runs, but runs like it has no power . Maybe like it's missing ? Guy said that they started it and backed it off the trailer , but it ran badly . While , I know that there can be a lot of different causes for this , what is the main usual cause of this ? Can a bad CDI box cause this ? I have the original sellers number and plan on calling him tomorrow and seeing what all he had done to it before he sold it . Supposedly , it was in shop for the CDI box to be replaced and they were taking their time about it so he got mad and went and got it and told my friend that he would pay for the box if he got it or to have it put on . Friend doesn't have a trailer to haul it to shop and isn't mechanically inclined and needs the money more so he's selling it to me cheaper . Any ideas on this ? Anyone own one of these four wheelers ? It's a red and white and blue one from what I remember ? Any help , advice will be appreciated and thanks in advance ! I will let you know what the previous owner says about it as soon as I can get in touch with him ! The one in the video isn't it , but almost identical !



Whizkid
Like this one on youtube

Those Polaris had a button on the handlebars that you could push when it was in reverse to give it full power otherwise power was limited and it ran like crap so you couldn?t kill yourself while in reverse I?d look into that first

For 600.00 I would buy it. If it has no power it could be a dirty carb. I am sure you can get an aftermarket CDI box if needed much cheaper than the dealer

I would look at the air box under the seat and make sure there is not a mouse nest in the intake tube which is a long plastic tube that goes up on top of the gas tank take the seat off you will see it just open the air box and fire it up make sure it has a air filter on it and something is not clogging the carb or throttle body , if it a throttle body it could be the TPS, throttle position sensor out of adjustment

I have a 2000 400 Sport 2 stroke that has been ridden hard. It has been rebuilt 3 times over the years (currently has a 40 over piston in it) due to oil injection issues. We just run mixed gas in it now. Other than that the machine has been bullet proof. I would at least do a compression check first.

I would do a compression test before buying any more parts for it. If the compression is low, it will be down on power and run poorly.

The button was the first thing I thought....maybe stuck on?

Fred

There a good bike and will run for a long time. There is a lot of good reply on here to look for and one more is its exhaust. Iv had more mice pack things in the exhaust then ever, brid seed corn and any thing they can get in there. I did a rebuilt on one and it started good ran good and we always test ride to make sure they run good. Going out on the ride it worked good lots of power only to lose it on the way back because of the corn that was pack in the muffler melted in the holes inside an started to plug the exhaust inside of the muffler. There should be on that bike a plug on the back bottom of the muffler that u can take out and then the exhaust will by pass the baffles and if that's the case it will be lou and run good. Lots of times if a cdI go's out they don't have any spark

If you can afford to throw money away then yes if no then don't buy it.

I have had a couple Honda 4 wheeler's they wore out 10's of thousands of dollars worth of Polaris 4 wheeler's... I was not as fast are as cool I rode while they worked on theirs... When we got a pack together to ride you could bank on one of those Polaris was gonna brake down new are old made no difference one was going on the trailer...

We drank a many a beer waiting for those water cooled ones to cool down so we could move on so many we came up with a pump to dip in a creek so we could flush the debre out of the radiator fin's...

Most all the hard core riders switched back to a Honda...

I have worked on a few over the years with ignition box problems.

One quick thing to check is do the lights work.

What happens in some cases is the voltage regulator fails causing higher than normal voltage output.

The bulbs, if the lights are normally used tend to fry first followed by the ignition box.

Other things to check;

Cracking and separation of the magnets under the flywheel.

Partially sheared key on crank.

Some will not run properly with a weak battery.

Tight, out of adjustment valves.

My experience with Polaris is that they can be good BUTTTTT they can easily be money pits. Parts are usually higher then other makes and it seems once they cause problems they keep causing problems.

Good indicator. Local Polaris dealership has three mechanics. None of the three own/ride a Polaris ATV. They have Honda and Kawasaki for their personal rides.

First thing I thought about also. Had one do that to me once. Even the dealer didn't figure it out.

Safety police plug your ears - I zip tied that little yellow button down just as soon as I got mine home when it was new. I?d give my right arm for someone to steal mine. I absolutely hate it. It doesn?t have that many hours on it. I use it to chase cattle a couple of times a year and the rest of the year the calf catcher is on it. Talk about cold blooded. I?ve invented more bad words because of that blasted machine.

Could be or the switch that tells the machine it?s in reverse is messed up or the wiring ??

why would you zip tie the interrupter button down you only need that to ingage 4 wheel drive in reverse so you don't go to fast backwards if you have it tied down the motor will miss

I just talked to the previous owner and he said that it was a two stroke and it ran good but would cut out every now and then and everything that works the spark plug has been replaced except for the CDI box . He replaced the bushings and the stuff where coil goes is brand new also replaced stator !

Whizkid