Polaris Magnum 325 4 wheeler. 4x4

[whistlepig]

Looks like you have my favorite Polaris features on the 325. McPherson struts up front. On Demand 4wd. And the PVT.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

So far I have been impressed with this older Magnum 325. Read a little about On Demand and if I understood correctly even in 2WD mode the front wheels will pull if the rears start turning faster than front wheels with no input from the rider.

I have a fuel filter on the way and may pull the tank to flush it well. The RPM's at low speed have become less stable but the gas is getting low and the Sea Foam ratio is still high. The lower the gas the more the trash moves I expect. We have not looked at the plug yet but plan to replace it. We just do not have a good place to open it up and run it hard for a long time.

The McPherson struts seem good but the rear shock leaked down but have a used one on the way that looks dry from the photo and was pulled from one with only 800 miles/150 hours so hopefully that will be a $40 fix for the rear.

i have been thinking about ordering the Polaris fluid kit and change out all fluids. Do you think that would be worth like $80 which includes two quarts of motor oil? I expect we will just run the Rotella 5W-40 since we will not be using it as a snowmobile at 0F degrees. The guy said it needed one boot so when I get to that I may just change both and do the fluids. Pulling the wheels will be the best way to do a good inspection I am sure.

Typically on a used machine I like to check out the general condition before I get down to a lot of detailed PM kind of things.

 

[Fastowl]

We have had a 2000 Polaris 325 Magnum 2x4 now for a couple of years and it has done quite well. I need to rebuild the carburetor on it now and eventually the plastic plate behind the clutch housing as somehow it got warped, but overall we are very pleased with it. And like you said it is low enough power to avoid the young ones from getting into too much trouble but at 40+ mph top end they can still manage to hurt themselves if they are not careful.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I expect a carb rebuild may be in our future after we burn out the gas with the heavy dosage of Sea Foam if there are running issues.

What is yours doing that means it needs the carburetor rebuild.

I am fine with ours being a 4x4 but so far in 2WD it will go a lot of places where our stock height golf car will not go.

Yes I am pleased we have the smaller engine but I think it has the same heavy frame as the 500. If the engine does not fail this should be a good ATV for many years but as the values drop if something major goes wrong it may be cheaper to pick up another running used one. I think the 325 is a good value today because many of the owners want to move to more power. The smaller engine does not put the same demand on the rest of the moving parts that may be identical to the ones with larger engines.

 

[Fastowl]

The carb is flooding a bit when the machine is turned off; I suspect a float issue but it could be something else in there. It runs fine generally just seems to go through gas fairly quickly (indiacting running rich as well). Reminds me of a 75 mustang I had once that was always a problem. It had a foam float and the hard plastic coating was compromised. It always ran real rich and we had issues with it randonly dying on us until I replaced that float.

In this case I have a gas smell whenever it is shut down but no apparent leakage.

We just use the machine (we also have a 2005 Kawasaki Bayou 360 4x4) to get around the ranch so we don't need high performance and power. We also use it to carry a 16 gallon spray tank for spraying prickly pear, etc. I think I paid $900 for the Polaris a couple of years ago so I don't have much into it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I did a short ride in the woods today behind the house and learned I could get over 6" logs OK. Afterwards in an open field it started loosing power and back firing so I flipped to Reserve position and kept it running then it kind of smoothed out again. When I got to the house I saw smoke coming out from under the gas tank so I got the water hose ready in case flames developed but they did not so I used the leaf blower to get some air flow over the fins. When it did this yesterday with my daughter she told me today she saw it yesterday but thought it was steam. Yes she now knows it is not water cooled just because it has a cooler and fan.

We are going to pull the gas tank to dump the crud and look for the oil coming out of the top of the engine and inspect the oil lines. I hope I can find the oil leak and it is a simple fix. After burning three gallons of gas the oil level still is at the top marks on the dip stick so that is good it does not burn oil in a major way if at all.

The carb is still loading up sometimes so I expect it needs some attention and with the gas tank off I will be able to see it well.

Fastowl I noticed the Magnum smelled flooded today after being parked overnight which was then in the full noon sun. It was kind of hard to start too. I have not looked at cost for a kit vs a new carb. Are these OK to rebuild or replacing them the best long term fix?

 

[whistlepig]

I have always used Polaris fluids and filters but I would think any good name brand oil or filter would work just as well. I rarely put mine in 4wd. Only very deep mud, climbing over downed timber, or when pushing snow with a blade do I use 4wd. I have a Warn winch also. I use this to raise and lower the snow blade. After the first winter using the winch the steel aircraft cable had chewed itself to pieces in the spool. I replaced it with an Amsteel Blue synthetic winch rope. Stronger than aircraft cable and after four years it is showing no noticeable signs of wear.

Winch Line, Rope, ATV winch lines, Recovery ropes, Kinetic recovery rope, Snatch ropes, Amsteel Blue

 

[Fastowl]

I did a short ride in the woods today behind the house and learned I could get over 6" logs OK. Afterwards in an open field it started loosing power and back firing so I flipped to Reserve position and kept it running then it kind of smoothed out again. When I got to the house I saw smoke coming out from under the gas tank so I got the water hose ready in case flames developed but they did not so I used the leaf blower to get some air flow over the fins. When it did this yesterday with my daughter she told me today she saw it yesterday but thought it was steam. Yes she now knows it is not water cooled just because it has a cooler and fan.

We are going to pull the gas tank to dump the crud and look for the oil coming out of the top of the engine and inspect the oil lines. I hope I can find the oil leak and it is a simple fix. After burning three gallons of gas the oil level still is at the top marks on the dip stick so that is good it does not burn oil in a major way if at all.

The carb is still loading up sometimes so I expect it needs some attention and with the gas tank off I will be able to see it well.

Fastowl I noticed the Magnum smelled flooded today after being parked overnight which was then in the full noon sun. It was kind of hard to start too. I have not looked at cost for a kit vs a new carb. Are these OK to rebuild or replacing them the best long term fix?

Well I haven't rebuit these particular carbs before so I can't tell you exactly. But replacing floats, etc. is not that difficult. I would talk to a dealer to pick up correct parts. You could get them on line cheaper but there is always the risk of not getting the correct stuff. If you are doing it yourself the extra $10-15 or so is not that big of a deal IMO. You could also try talking to the folks at your local auto parts store as they often stock parts for ATV's (or can get them) and can give you some advice. I would expect the repairs to take you about 30-60 minutes or maybe a bit more for cleaning and soaking parts.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

On line a new carb I found tonight was about $400. Kits were under $50 but floats alone were over $50.

It is best to shut off the fuel after every use of a Polaris? I seldom shut off any fuel tanks on anything we own.

 

[whistlepig]

I don't shut the fuel off on my Polaris or our Honda Rancher.