Cold Blooded 2012 Sportsman 500

[10,000 Casts]

It has 8 miles on it and is the most cold blooded machine I have ever seen. It doesnt want to idle unless it's on full choke and when I take it off choke it dies. The other issue is that if I don't get it started right away, the battery dies. I let it run 2 days ago and when I got home to plow, it didn't give me much of a chance to start it and now it's dead as we speak.

Any advice??? Thanks.

[highlife4me]

Take it back to the dealer. No way should you have to start wrenching on a brand new ATV.

[Dave S]

How do you raise the plow? Manual or winch? A winch can kill a battery in no time. Letting it run/idle won't charge the battery enough, if at all. You'll probably have to run it a few miles to get an effective charge .

My old Sportsman needed to be left on full choke until I noticed it started to run a little different then cut it back to half. Ran great once it warmed up. It's also not unheard of to have a little debris in the carb, even when new.

[fishing tech]

Stale gas will give you starting problems especially with cold temps. I would take it back as said earlier.

[10,000 Casts]

I use a winch for the plow but I haven't plowed that much. I don't think it's stale gas, it's a month and a half old and the gas I filled up with should be decent but you never know. I just wish it would give me an honest chance to start it.. I jumped it last night and this morning I was able to start it and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

Take it back to the dealer and have them check it out. Make sure to have them check the throttle cable to make sure it is set properly so the idle rpm is correct. Also have them do a load test on the battery to make sure it is correct. Alot of times the machines come to the dealer with the solution not in the batteries and or if they do install the solution they don't charge it properly the first time. That machine should run like a watch, it's been a proven machine for over a decade. If it's not, there should be something clearly not right.

[Dozer]

I guess I dont see why you would spend any time trying to diagnos it, its a new machine. Take it to the dealer and let them deal with it. Isnt that why you bought a new machine?

[kupman]

Every Sportsman I've owned has been cold-blooded and has had battery issues.. Basically my only complaints w/them. Winches will run your battery down like said earlier. One of the best investments I've made is a battery maintainer, easily doubles battery life

[aczr2k]

Every 500 carb we've had has been cold blooded, once it starts let it sit and warm up. If the battery tests good get a battery tender this will solve your dead battery woes. Steady winch operation with engine idleing during plowing will always result in a dead battery.

[loosegoose]

Trade it off for a fuel injected model.

[ClownColor]

dido on the cold blooded. I'd keep the Carb as they are very loyal motors but yes-can be cold blooded.

One thing to check. does your winch work without the key on? If so, it is wired wrong and will kill the battery real quick.

[10,000 Casts]

update on the wheeler. It still won't start ever without a jump. I have 15 miles on it now after a ride around the lake. The winch won't work without the key on. My plan is to take it in to the dealership as soon as I get my truck back from the body shop. Maybe they can get me a new battery and put a tender on it. I don't like the fact that they don't have pull starts! We fish in some remote areas and it makes me nervous as hell.

[fishing tech]

I carry my riding lawn mower battery with me and a set of jumper cables. When I go for a longer trip, weekend or week I bring my boat battery with.

[BigRup]

I would take it back and trade it in for a yamaha! Haha. Or you could bring your lawn mower battery and your trolling motor batteries just to be safe. You might have to get another rack though to fit those babies on there or pull another sled with a bunch of batteries in it. Good luck man.

[Dave S]

If we've heard one Polaris bash we've heard them all and ALL have run their course.

Otherwise, welcome to the forums BigRup.

[10,000 Casts]

I'm just not hardcore enough to spend $10k on an atv.