2005 Sportsman Circuit Breaker

[Moonshine]

Hello All-

I have a 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500. I had problems with my battery and replaced it. After that I cannot get it to turn over or get sign of any power. Even tried pull starting and that does not work. Last resort I looked at the owners manual and in the troubleshooting section it says it could be the circuit breaker was tripped. Solution is to reset it. My question is, can anyone tell me where the breaker is? I have looked it over a few times and cannot locate. Any ideas?

Merry Christmas!

Jason

[luckydave]

I would call a dealer. There is one on Hwy 61. Good luck!

[Moonshine]

I was hoping for the DIY option before taking it in. Just never heard the machine had a circuit breaker before looking in the manual.

Thanks!

[SomethingFishy*]

Make sure that your switch is turned to ON, on your left handlebar. Very easy and frustrating mistake to make.

[Dave]

I looked in the parts manual, didn't find anything, and don't recall ever seeing a circuit breaker on a Sportsman. Sure the polarity is correct on the battery?

[Macgyver55]

I just worked on this same ATV model for a customer with similar symptoms recently. After checking everything I could think of and coming to a dead end (no pun intended) I ruled out the harness, connections and terminals etc by testing, and decided it simply had to be the ECM. That was the only place I could find voltage going in but not out. Luckily the guy had two of the same model so we swapped out the ECM and that was the problem. Plugged it in and everything worked. The part was 129 bucks.

If you get to that point,and nothing else seems to make sense, if you can get one off another quad to test its a lot cheaper than taking a chance.

[HNTNBUX]

I have heard of this problem taking out ECM if the battery goes bad and you continue operating, such as using the pull start. My brother in law said his whole instrument cluster went out and had to replace everything.

[Moonshine]

Thanks for the suggestions. It turns out it is an ECM issue. I was searching on the internet after Macgyver55 gave the suggestion. Turns out there was a recall on the ECM earlier this year. I called Polaris and they confirmed. Told me to get it into a dealership for replacement free of charge. If you own a 2004-06 Polaris, call them directly and provide the VIN #. They will tell you on the spot if there is a recall.

Thanks for the help guys and good riding!

[titelines]

Glad you got it diagnosed properly. I just saw this post, otherwise, I would've told you the same thing earlier. I have a 2007, but I needed to replace the ECM too, after installing the winch.

[Island Kruser]

Howdy folks,

Came across this board while trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with my '05 Sportsman 500. Seemed like some good, knowledgable folks around here so I wanted to pick this thread up again and ask another related question.

I killed my battery trying to get it started in the fall for Elk season. Wasn't sure why it wouldnt start except that after I pulled the fuel pump and checked all the lines without finding anything wrong, it then started and ran fine all fall.

Last week we got a ton of snow and I, of course, went out playing in it a few times(still have not changes batt). Yesterday It just died while riding and had to be towed back home.

I re-adjusted the ETC link just to make sure, got it started, and now it dies if I try to give it any gas. Funny thing is it will not re-start unless I turn the ignition switch off then on again, and still, it will die if I give it any gas.

So, it's getting gas, has spark, batt is still junk, starts and runs on idle, needs a "re-boot" to get started, and I'm at a loss. Did I kill the ECM? It ran fine on the dead battery. Oh, it did have the ECM recall done.

Thanks in advance for helping me out.

Erik

[Dave S]

I re-adjusted the ETC link just to make sure, got it started, and now it dies if I try to give it any gas. Funny thing is it will not re-start unless I turn the ignition switch off then on again, and still, it will die if I give it any gas.

So, it's getting gas, has spark, batt is still junk, starts and runs on idle, needs a "re-boot" to get started, and I'm at a loss. Did I kill the ECM? It ran fine on the dead battery. Oh, it did have the ECM recall done.

Thanks in advance for helping me out.

Erik

Welcome to FM Erik

it sounds like it could be the ECM again if you ran the machine with a bad battery.

I think there was a post earlier about running the machines with a bad battery and wrecking the ECM.

If you know of someone else with the same year/make/model you could try swapping out the ECM to see if that changes anything. Of course only after you replace your battery.

[Roofer]

Yes, in the owners manual for a sportsman, it will state that running the machine with a low battery can be harmful to the ECM and the battery.

Specifically states to recharge the battery at a very low amperage and test the volts. I can't remember for sure but I thought it was 2.7 amp or lower.

I can't remember much more. Read it in the manual.

Also, some Sportsmans had a recall on the ECM.

[Island Kruser]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It seems screwy, to me at least, that running on a bad battery would kill the ECM. Maybe a just "dead" battery acts different to the system than one that is totally shot and wont even hold a charge. I dunno.

It's funny that the throttle response seems like it's not getting gas, but needs a re-boot to re-start.

It just so happens that there is another machine just like mine in the garage. Maybe if I dont tell the wife and just swap ECM's (after a new Batt), I can tell her the HER machine is broken and I get the brownie points for fixing it! HA!

You guys fishing the hard water yet? I moved from Colorado a year ago and we were having hard water by end of Nov. Used to hit the Lakers pretty hard, now I fish the Saltwater of Puget Sound in WA for Salmon, Crab, and Halibut.

Thanks again.

Erik

[Island Kruser]

Hey Roofer- Thanks, I'll have to re-read (er, read) the manual.

Mine did have the re-call and it had been done about a year ago.

Thanks again.

Looks like I'm off to the shop to get an ECM.

[Dave S]

You might want to check out the thread in regards to the ATV Electrical ?'s or the thread on batteries.

There's some lengthy discussion and good info inregards to why may have happened to your ECM.