Polaris 550 Engines

[XCR-700]

On some of the other sledding sites they are talking about a whole lot more,,,

There is a kit to add an oil return from the pump to the oil tank (this one is looking like a major improvement)

Then there are heat shields for the exhaust.

There is a fuel pump relocation bracket.

There is a "cold air" duct kit that attaches to the recoil housing and couples to a new vent you cut into the top of the cowl.

There are bellypan vents.

There is a new CDI.

And if it suffers an engine failure, there is a new cyl/piston package.

Funny, for these updated parts they are "selling" so far as I can tell they are not recalling any machines, only fixing the ones that fail under warranty. Only then do they add the upgraded parts.

Seems like a lot of engineering for something there not recalling,,,

George

[sheddski]

the strange thing here is not all are bad only certain years if youres is a 2006-09 they must have adjusted these engines by now even my 06 700 classic was updated during the 2006 -07 season even though it sat in the crate till december 07 when it was all updated for the 08 season and recently i had G&G CYCLES check the vin. to be shure all updates are up to date . and they read off the list at least 5-8 inspections and replacement of udated parts were performed and like i said earlier these were done before it left the dealer in dec of 2007 so if there is a known problem and you just bought youre new sledd i say drive and enjoy it chances are youres is not afected

[Lynn]

The polaris 550 fan cooled engine is one that has been bulletproof for a long time. 2004 and 2005 had some issues. As far as I know those were the only years that there were problems. My boyfriend has a 2004 550 and he hasn't had any problems thus far (knock on wood). Mine was a 2002 and didn't fall into the category, it was just a lemon. Your 2006 is probably fine and will last you a long time. People are always going to complain about more than they praise a product. I went and got another Polaris because I love their sleds. The one bad one out of all the great ones doesn't deter me!

[quincy_sarren]

I bought a brand new Polaris 550 Transport December 2008 in Barrow, Alaska. The dealer I bought if from prepped the machine. Mixed the first tank of gas as recommended. I drove that machine home 110 miles to Wainwright without any problems. I then mixed one more tank of gas 32/1 just to make sure the motor was completely broken in. After break in I was driving back to Barrow from Wainwright which is about 110 miles. Everything was going good, I was averaging about 35 miles an hour. Then about 45 miles out of Wainwright, my right cylinder blew out. I got my snowmachine home with a couple of friends towing it home on a freight sled. Sent the motor to my dealer. They rebuild it under warranty. I broke that motor in and put about 20 hours on that motor and it blew out again. I sent it bak to the dealer. They had the whole motor replaced by Polaris and I got the new motor in. I broke that motor in and put about 30 hours of riding on it with no problems. All this time I've been using the same carburetors with the 240 main jets, and the same air screw settings, and the same needles that the manufacture put in them. I am about to rebuild the motor in a few days and want to make sure that the motor will not blow out again. Any suggestions?!?

[sheddski]

240 jets seem lean i had a 1998 arcticat 500 and a 2002 arcticat 500 /powervalves and they both came stock with 360,s ? mains and the 98 i jetted down to 320 and was good to go as long as i stayed in temps higher than zero to 20 but the guy i sold it to took it to maine milinocket and blew out pto side piston and get this his friend with same exact setup did the same to his 98 zl-500 on the way back so both were too lean for the temps they rode, my 2002 i jetted down but kept fatter jets in my pocket with the epa chasing all the oem,s to run leaner these fans are on a very thin line from the factory this time try richer jets and don,t let the epa know??

[trailhound68]

I just updated to a 1999 SS 550 w/ 1k mi. Ran it last week for the first time, did 90 mi. Good times, nice trail machine, just like I hoped. I started to hear some concerns about blown motors, did some research. Should I be concerned about my '99? Should I consider any rejetting? I only got 8mi/gal on that ride, does that seem low milage. The plugs do look pretty rich, she runs good though.
The bigger question is: Should I sell my '97 Indy Trail 488 fan w/1400 mi? I'm really on the fence.
Any suggestions?

[sheddski]

before you rejet find out what is in there first from factory they allways go fat on jetting from factory, jetting down 2 sizes will give more cleaner burning of plugs and better MPG but you have to get a baseline (starting point) altitude and temps is what you shoot for if you ride at sealevel in temps not below zero then factory is way too fat they go 20-40 below zero so you know what i mean ?? if the sledd came with a sticker under the hood somewhere it will give you an idea what i,m talking about a graph or chart showing also the manual will too changing jets is easy if you can get at carbs there is a bolt on the bottom of float bowl after you remove that a jet thumb wrench is needed or very small socket to put in the hole and the jet is brass ?? turn to left and remove then read bottom of jet (very small stamped number ) then reverse order and test drive wide open shut off with kill switch coast to stop read plug you are looking for brown to tan color not grey or white!!! good luck