Mech

Valve timing is the obvious given it's just had work done there.. badly adjusted valves but you'd surely hear them... blocked exhaust.

Yeah I said it was dear... I get it for about $1400.00 to my door.. Haha.. just kidding. It's strange that it's not well known over there. I thought CRC was an American company.. I've been buying it in the same syringe packaging for more than forty years now.. They do sell it in different packaging, but the syringe is what makes it so clean and economical.

Use it everywhere and anywhere you need to seal fuel oil water or pressure.It even works as thread lock.. that will come apart. If you are leaving gaskets out you do need to check end clearances etc...

Describe the symptoms and any circumstances you can think of, a bit of history about the bike and the problem.. and perhaps we can.

https://www.aesnz.com/product/282-loctite-25ml-518-master-gasket-syringe This is the stuff. The syringe applies it really neatly and economically. It doesn't need a lot of surface preparation, a good rub with a clean rag or wipe with a rag with solvent/fuel is good enough. It doesn't set till the two parts are put together so you can work at a comfortable pace. The excess that squeezes out can be wiped off the outside and what goes inside dissolves into the oil and doesn't block screens or cause any damage/problems (unlike silicon, which I hate with a passion). It fills gaps up to 0.013", and can be used as a substitute for most gaskets. And, if you do take it apart again, the old hard stuff scrapes off really easily and cleanly. It's slightly expensive but the nozzle and the way it seals means you can use one tube on several car engines or a lot of bike work. Apart from the occasional sump that's designed to be sealed with silicon this is all I use.. and I hardly ever buy/use gaskets with it. I use it instead of gaskets.. It seals better, cleaner, with less liability on me. Haha.. I did say I loved it didn't I.. Oh.. and it's O2 sensor safe..

Oh it's just a sealer I love and advise everyone to get and use.. I keep recommending it to Gw..

Ok. I thought you had powered the hubs directly expecting the hubs to engage... and were wondering why they didn't. I don't know much about polaris.. except their wiring diagrams are horrible ! hAha.. Good luck with it.

Are you sure you know how those AWD work ? You need to drive them in mud to test them. They only come on if needed.. Keep posting, get the manual and have a read.

Nope. But one more post and you can download the manual..

Have you tried disconnecting the neutral switch and shorting the bikes wire(the one that goes to the switch) to earth ? That should make the neutral light come on and the starter to work.. That;s the first test I'd do..

Doh !! I just looked at that diagram one last time and I see that the second relay isn't a relay at all.. it's the starter solenoid.. Haha.. Disregard all this last bit.. I'll better keep thinking .

Ok, so I rechecked. I don't have that year but I looked at several years and although their wiring differs a little the neutral switch always shorts to earth to make the light come on and to allow the starter to operate. The rear brake lever on the bars also has a switch that earths when you pull that lever that also allows operation of the starter even if the bike's in gear. Between the neutral switch and the brake switch there is a diode to prevent the power going through the neutral bulb feeding back and putting the neutral light on every time you use the brake. In the diagram the diode look as if it's built into the relay. The other relay the bike has doesn't have a diode built in. I wonder if the two relays have been swapped ? Without testing the relay connections with a gauge I can't tell where the connections/pins on the relay are, and so can't figure whether it would cause the problem, But it's probably possible it could cause it. You could check one relay does have the diode.. I'll attach a wiring diagram, it'll be the same in operation as your one I'm sure... If the diode was just blown and allowing power both ways, it would only cause the neutral light to come on when you used the brake, but, depending on it's pin arrangement, if it got swapped it could cause some weird symptoms.. output.pdf

That sounds as if the neutral light works by shorting to earth in every gear except neutral, and in neutral is is open/not connected to earth. I didn't now they worked like that, most I've seen have shorted for neutral.. Talking all makes here.. I'll have another look at the wiring diagram and get back to you after a think..

Loctite !

The measured clearance sounds like it's too much, but I'm thinking it will because the measurement was taken on the side of the piston rather than front. The pistons are oval and tapered. I think if it really had that much clearance it would have made horrible noises at start up and/or have busted the skirt off by now. I'm in NZ and parts are dear here, so I generally just replace things if they need replacing, but the economics are different over there and it might well be a better option to buy after market kit with barrel, piston, dudgeon pin, rings, perhaps gaskets. I'd always buy genuine rings if I was doing it.

Ok. Two thou isn't much wear so a new set of rings, valve grind and seals, and gaskets.. Timing chain maybe ? You do need to take that lip off though. The new rings will have nice square top edges that will hit that lip and get damaged or will damage the piston. A scraper, sharp scraper, will take the lip off real easy.. It's nice workable metal. Do you have a three sided scraper ?

Oh well they are very worn out rings then, or overheated. Do they bend easy ? Are they springy ?

See the rings are stuck in the grooves Gw... They haven't sprung out..

I have a couple of old files ground up to gasket scraper on their ends. One's got a square ground blade end with a slight radius to it so it only really contacts in the centre of the scrape as you are pushing it like a chisel, (it can be flipped over either way) and the other one is just like a chisel, tapered blade and straight across. I use the chisel one on thick gaskets and steel surfaces, and the flat scraper blade I use on aluminium and softer gaskets. They are both shaped on a grinder but sharpened with an oil-stone.. or else you get a rough finish.

Hmm. Hard call. I'd say if the back seat was flat so the washer gets held between two flat surfaces, being the shift drum's flange and a flange headed bolt, then the play on the locating part will probably be ok with a bit of loctite or maybe nothing. If the flat part's damaged though it may struggle to stay solid.. I'd just give it a try and monitor the action before I put the cover on. If it's not moving on the shaft it'll probably last. If there's the slightest bit of movement, it's doomed.. haha

You need a tub of vaseline too, to keep the small pars of the clutch mechanism in place, in the case, while you slip it back on. Grease works but grease has additives you don't want in the oil.

So the rings are seized in their grooves DZL ? That will do the no compression, and the oil consumption. You should free up and remove the rings from the piston before trying to use the piston for a gauge. Once the rings are off put the piston down the bore with the pin parallel to the crank and push it right to the bottom so it's starting to poke out a little, then see which feeler gauge will just go in the gap between skirt and cylinder when you force it in. The feeler will have to bend slightly to fit the wall of the cylinder, so you need to use enough force to do that, and then the feeler should be firm to tight. Try different feelers to see which is the thickest that will go in. Then turn the piston over and push the piston (lined up the same) to near the top, so the skirt is just below that lip, and try feelers to see which one fits there. The difference is the wear/taper. The piston has to be down from the top by enough to get a feeler in, but/and if you buy feelers with tapered ends rather than the half round ended ones, they will slide in far nicer. You can test valves with fuel which will creep through gaps water doesn't.. But really, it needs valve guide seals, and the valves should be lapped just to see if they are sealing and have nice width to the seat. If they are all good and don't need more than about one minutes worth of lapping to determine that, then it was a small effort to be sure, and if it turns out the seats need more lapping or even cutting, then you will have found that out for yourself without taking it to an expert who will feel compelled to recommend new seats and valves, and guides haha. By the look of the carbon, unless it's rusted from sitting I'd expect those valves to lap in ok.

To get the old rings out of the grooves you use a small screwdriver to gently wedge the ends of the ring apart slightly, then while you are keeping the wedging pressure on you tap with a screwdriver handle just next to the screwdriver on the ring. It forces a bit or ring out sideways and slightly out of the groove. You do that left and right of the levering screwdriver then use a wider screwdriver to repeat the process but working along the ring a little further out, freeing more ring.. After a while you just push on the end of the ring while tapping any movement along freeing more ring. Putting a bit of fluid on and letting the rings back in sometimes helps free them so the next levering/push/tap moves that section of the ring out readily. You just keep working around the piston working the loosened bit a bit further around by pushing and tapping the ring down in the right place so it causes a bulge out a little further around..

Those rings look to be stuck in their grooves.. That will stop the compression. The piston looks reusable as long as the new rings are a nice fit in the grooves. You check that before fitting them over the piston; you just slip a new ring in from the side then walk it around the piston checking it can't wobble anywhere(or you measure the clearance). The head gasket seems to be slightly blown, and that may be because the gasket isn't the right one for the engine. There's a steel cylinder liner in an aluminium cast cylinder, and the gasket needs to be getting crimped between the steel and the head. The gasket has a narrow steel "fire ring" on the paper gasket, and that ring has to seat on the steel at the top of the liner. In the picture it looks like the gasket might be off a bigger capacity/bore engine and seating too far out and on the aluminium. It also leaves a little still air gap between head and cylinder where flame can keep burning while the power stroke happens, then the exhaust happens, and for there to still be flame in there when the new fuel starts getting drawn in.. That can cause backfiring and poor power. The cylinder you need to draw your finger up the bore at the front of the cylinder to see if there is a small lip about 1/4" down from the top. If there is a lip then the cylinder has taper/wear in it and we need to measure that wear. You can do that using the piston and the tip of a feeler gauge and measure at the bottom of the bore and right below the lip where the wear is worst. A bit of wear/taper is ok so if the wear/taper is not too much and you aren't re-boring, then you must remove that lip or it will break the new rings. I'll explain how to remove the lip if needed.. Measure up first.

I think it's just a short wiring loom. We don't have any reason to suspect the computer or anything else at this stage so I'd carry on fixing the electrics. The computer will stop the gear shift working if the dash isn't plugged in.. There are probably other things that will also deactivate or disable the gear shift. I'd jack the bike up and try that manual shift while I was rotating and rocking the wheels. It might take a lot of rocking and turning to change right up to top and back down. I think I've "seen" people in the forums misdiagnose their gearbox because they didn't rotate the wheels enough to allow the shifts to work. Sometimes you have to muscle the wheel around by force causing the engine to rotate as well. Sometimes you need to leave it in gear and turn the wheels and after that it slips into the next gear, sometimes you shift it while turning the wheels and it slips into gear, and sometimes you need to go back a gear and rotate the wheels and after that you carry on and it will slip into the next gear either with or without rotating the wheels. Test it a lot with lots of turning.