Polaris Magnum 325 4 wheeler. 4x4

[dfkrug]

Do you or others know if I can change the CV boots without removing the front drive axles
from the gear box?

I gather you do not have a service manual? You can get them for under $10 (PDF), and I
see that there is a Haynes on eBay now for $10.

Anyway, I have not replaced CV joint boots on a Polaris before, but I would remove the
half-shaft from the front diff to work on it. On ATVs and cars I have worked on, you need
to put a thin pry bar or screwdriver between the diff housing and the inner part of the
half-shaft and snap it out. Sometimes they come out very easily, other times not.

Of course, this is after you remove the outer part of the half-shaft from the knuckle. This
is a good time to replace the front hub bearings if they are bad.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

It is the driving out of the roll pin that I was hoping to avoid.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Got more parts today so we will get started back on the Polaris this weekend hopefully. Still have Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase.

partszillia/PowerSportsPlus out of Albany GA was kind of OK but very slow with one email from them. From the form with the box of parts shipped I though it said missing parts were not available so I ordered the missing parts from partspitstop.com out of Grand Rapids MI a couple weeks later. One part was the shifter boot cover. Today I received two new shifter boots one from each vendor.

I remember seeing dirtcheap but did not order from them. I think they were a bit more but not sure since I surfed several options. Of the two vendors I used both had equal pricing and PowerSportsPlus was a tad cheaper on shipping and PartsPitStop was much faster on getting me the parts and communication was about the same on both. Customer service when on the phone with each was hands down better from the lady in MI vs the guy in GA. Both were nice but PartsPitStop lady was just more on top of things and helped me greatly over a mistake I made in my ordering the first time. Summary: both sources OK but MI won out on both speed and customer service over GA folks.

While I have mentioned it in the "how to increase small engine compression" thread initially we pulled the plug and filled the cylinder with Sea Foam that just set there for a couple days then disappeared the next day if my memory is correct. We then drained the crankcase and flushed out its bottom with diesel and pulled the filter. The oil cooler had already been pulled earlier. We put on a new filter, added 1.5 quarts of 100% Marvel Mystery Oil and brought up the oil pressure with the pull rope. So we could better see the MMO circulate we made a loop at the nipples on the filter base that are to feed the oil cooler out of clean plastic tubing and a few times each day we pump the MMO through the engine with the spark plug removed so as not to load the starter and to turn the engine faster. Because we pumped the first MMO to come out into a bowl all the dirty oil was out of the engine so the Marvel Mystery oil still looks red but has hazed up a bit.

This ATV is a shop project for the kids schooling so we are going overboard. While the Polaris did smoke a bit we do not know why but want to clean the ring groves very well just in case the rings are not free to move due to carbon build up after 12 years of unknown use and service history. The ATV has not been abused by looking at it and it ran well when burning the three gallons of gas with the rich Sea Foam mix since we bought it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

At lunch I ran into a Dollar General store and noticed they had Mavel Mystery Oil for $3 per 16 oz bottle. Sea Foam was $9 for 16 oz can. The two quarts I am pumping (spark plug removed) through the 325 engine with the starter for a minute each morning and evening is the first MMO I ever purchased being a Sea Foam guy but I paid nearly $9 a quart for it at TSC so was surprised DG had it for $6 a quart price.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Today we removed the 100% pure Marvel Mystery Oil from the crankcase after pumping it through the engine for a minute each morning and evening using the starter with spark plug removed for two weeks. While it went in looking like new ATF it came out looking like ATF after being ran for 30,000 miles. We hope to get Carb and gas tank back on this week.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well with the horses and life's activities we finally got back on the ATV and made some progress and are down to figuring out the gas lines logic. Took the carb off three times because we forgot the order it came apart over the summer. Those things go together like a Rubic Cube.

We now have ethanol free gas so hopefully we get the tank back on soon so we fire it up. Since we did not get inside the engine but just took the slop out of the valve lashing specs and going back with new valve caps and seals and new rubber that connects or is near to the engine hopefully it will still run.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Because we got it with a storm (power only out 3 hours) and it rained until after lunch our temps were about 15F+ below the forecast for today we got out out and worked with the horses and putting the Polaris back together. The son and I mainly worked on the ATV and made a bit more progress. Because I wanted to replace some wiring shielding before we go back with the fuel tank that I forgot to pick up we decided to replace the single shock on the rear. Two bolts to remove so how long could that take? After 12 years the steel bushing that goes through the lower end had rust welded to the bolt. Of course it took me an hour or so of beating to figure that one out. In a couple minutes it was off when I broke out the saws all and cut of the left side of the yoke of the old shock. After getting that all done going back with the used one off E-bay was a snap and it was like new.

Some times the quickly tasks seem to take the longest. If we can figure out the gas line logic (forget to snap a photo) we should soon be ready to fire it up.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We got the gas tank on, tested the pulse fuel pump then connected the line feeding the carb and it fired up but did not run it much because it made a lot of noise with no exhaust system installed. I was good to hear it run. Other than replacing the front prop shaft U joints it is mainly putting the skin, etc back on. It sure was good to hear it run.

 

[Xfaxman]

We got the gas tank on, tested the pulse fuel pump then connected the line feeding the carb and it fired up but did not run it much because it made a lot of noise with no exhaust system installed. I was good to hear it run. Other than replacing the front prop shaft U joints it is mainly putting the skin, etc back on. It sure was good to hear it run.

Congratulations :thumbsup:

Hope the rest of the reassembly goes smoothly!

Pictures??

 

[Gale Hawkins]

OK I will get some pictures when we get back on it. We got the exhaust painted and put back together with new springs then bolted on last night and made a run down into the field to cure the paint. The paint smoked like crazy but finally it flashed off the solvents I guess. It was getting dark so we called it a day and covered it up after we cooled the exhausted well. We need to adjust the carb when we get it warm next time.

I hate to have things not running just in case I got hurt or sick but it is now where the kids can finish it if required. The son has really showed his skills on this project. We are going to change all the fluids while it is peeled and get a few hours on it looking for leaks and other issues.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

OK I am getting closer. Computer frozen, etc so I rebooted then it hit me someone must to have been streaming video.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Still trying.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well I lost the photos and will try again.

 

[Xfaxman]

OK I am getting closer. Computer frozen, etc so I rebooted then it hit me someone must to have been streaming video.

There is not a lot to see at this point

View attachment 336274
Rear shot.

View attachment 336275
Left side view.

View attachment 336291
Right side view.

View attachment 336292
Exhaust and new oil lines.

View attachment 336293
Barebones.

Thanks for the pictures, I got to see them before you removed the personal ones. Unfortunately these aren't working.

Really neat that you have an onboard battery charger! :laughing:


I see that you are still trying, good luck!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We had to replace the thermistor in the oil cooler that turns on the fan at 260F and cleaned up the fan and all when we had the cooler off



This shot shows then new red oil lines from Mexico, the new shift boot cover and while it was off we cleaned and filled with new motor oil. You can see the replaced painted exhaust system and the half circle you see is the cat food lid the son found to patch the hole in the bracket that sets on the rubber bumper that we coated with aluminum foil tape.



Right side



Left side



Rear view.



Bad shot

 

[Gale Hawkins]

This 2002 Polaris 325 Magnum ATV popped up for sale on VCI (like Craigslist except for about 100 mile radius) yesterday we bought it for parts/project ATV today. I knew the guy when his dad moved into the area like 25 years ago and he has moved about 20 miles away. The bike has never been trail riding and was used on the chicken farm. There is a very good ATV shop two miles down the road so he was driving it over to the shop and blew an oil line and pumped it dry and shut it off and the shop owner pulled it to the shop. He started it today for a couple seconds and it sounded OK but he and the shop owner stated it would knock and bog if it was shifted into gear and given gas.

It has set out all of its life and the sun over the years shows but it is not too bad. The metal and under side look new like as it has not been in creeks, mud, etc. Not sure when we will pull the engine and tear into it. It was just very nice and hated to no get it since it is clean and a full twin in all features to our 2002 except it is gray where ours is green. The odds of finding that 20 miles down the road of $500 would be low if you really needed it. It should make a nice project for me and the 16 year old son. The owner of the repair shop will do any machine work needed and said he would be glad to check ring and piston gaping before we put it back together and advice on where to just go with main/rod bears or total new crank when we show him what we found. He knows the ATV and that is it a shop project for the son. If we can get away with new bearings and rings we may just do that now to keep down expenses. If that does not hold up we could rebuild with new parts later. The second time the skills level should be higher too.

The son has ridden the first one we got some this week curing the exhaust paint so it does not smoke. After the bad storms tonight past summer is to be over as no more 80's are forecast for 2013 so maybe we will get started back with the skin if we do not decide to rebuild the carb.

One nice thing about getting the twin to it now we can figure out how things go back together after the parts have been scattered for five months.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well I started to wash up the Polaris that we bought yesterday and noticed it had different oil lines, radiator and oil pump base. Looking at the label on the engine I noticed it was a Robin make in the USA and the first one has a Fuji made in Japan. I was concerned until I read the following:

Robin (a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, which is the owner of Subaru) develops and supplies all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile engines for U.S.-based leisure equipment maker Polaris Industries Inc.

I did not know Polaris got out of the snowmobile market or that they moved their production from USA to Mexico in 2010 to save $30 million a year in wages.