05 sportsman 800 (knocking and blow up)

Hi,
I have an 05' 800 sportsman. It has always had a knocking sound on the right hand side by or in the case or block by my right foot. Polaris dealer I bought it from said it is normal. I had them crank another one up to prove it before I left. I have heard others make about the same noise but not quite as pronounced as mine. I take it in for all the services, usually a few hours early so I won't have any mechanical issues. The bike has always performed very well even though some occasional noises I didn't think a new well maintained bike should make. A month ago I rode for about 5 minutes and started hearing some louder knocking and tinging noises. We towed it back to camp and loaded it up on the trailer thinking the valve train was coming apart. I took it to the trusty dealer and explained in detail as I have here. After a week or so, the service manager said he rode the bike for an hour and could not replicate the noise. I asked him what to do. He said ride it untill it blows as the warranty doesn't pay them to tear into it untill it does. A couple weeks later, I rode the bike about 1 mile and the knocking and tinging went from sickening to deafening and I was worried the piston was going to come out the side. Again, I took the bike to the dealer, they tore into it and said the rod bearings at the crank were gone. The warranty company sent someone out to take pics and look at my service records. All were in good shape. Luckily I have an extended warranty. It is paying about $4500.00 to get a new crate motor.
My friend has the same bike but an 06', his bike did the exact same thing. We both have about 600+ miles on each one and take good care of them.

Has anyone had this problem or heard of this occuring? I find it hard to believe tis is a coincidene. We don't even have them serviced at the same place.
THANKS!  

i have seen the same problem at my shop numerous times on the same model machine.

i eventually started buying aftermarket replacement parts and the problem went away.  
Keep it RUBBER SIDE DOWN!!

Yeah, i have an 03' sportsman 700 carb model.  It did the same thing and the piston rod broke in half and took out the crank too and maybe even the bottom engine case half... i have been looking for parts and, i am stuck on trying to find a good aftermarket crank... does anyone know where or what would be most reliable.  If so e-mail me at maschev1981@yahoo.com  

Yeah, i have an 03' sportsman 700 carb model.  It did the same thing and the piston rod broke in half and took out the crank too and maybe even the bottom engine case half... i have been looking for parts and, i am stuck on trying to find a good aftermarket crank... does anyone know where or what would be most reliable.  If so e-mail me at maschev1981 at yhoo  

Yeah, i have an 03' sportsman 700 carb model.  It did the same thing and the piston rod broke in half and took out the crank too and maybe even the bottom engine case half... i have been looking for parts and, i am stuck on trying to find a good aftermarket crank... does anyone know where or what would be most reliable.  If so let me know  

05800twin:
Hi,
I have an 05' 800 sportsman. It has always had a knocking sound on the right hand side by or in the case or block by my right foot. Polaris dealer I bought it from said it is normal. I had them crank another one up to prove it before I left. I have heard others make about the same noise but not quite as pronounced as mine. I take it in for all the services, usually a few hours early so I won't have any mechanical issues. The bike has always performed very well even though some occasional noises I didn't think a new well maintained bike should make. A month ago I rode for about 5 minutes and started hearing some louder knocking and tinging noises. We towed it back to camp and loaded it up on the trailer thinking the valve train was coming apart. I took it to the trusty dealer and explained in detail as I have here. After a week or so, the service manager said he rode the bike for an hour and could not replicate the noise. I asked him what to do. He said ride it untill it blows as the warranty doesn't pay them to tear into it untill it does. A couple weeks later, I rode the bike about 1 mile and the knocking and tinging went from sickening to deafening and I was worried the piston was going to come out the side. Again, I took the bike to the dealer, they tore into it and said the rod bearings at the crank were gone. The warranty company sent someone out to take pics and look at my service records. All were in good shape. Luckily I have an extended warranty. It is paying about $4500.00 to get a new crate motor.
My friend has the same bike but an 06', his bike did the exact same thing. We both have about 600+ miles on each one and take good care of them.

Has anyone had this problem or heard of this occuring? I find it hard to believe tis is a coincidene. We don't even have them serviced at the same place.
THANKS!

Yeah, i have an 03' sportsman 700 carb model.  It did the same thing and the piston rod broke in half and took out the crank too and maybe even the bottom engine case half... i have been looking for parts and, i am stuck on trying to find a good aftermarket crank... does anyone know where or what would be most reliable.  If so let me know  

I bought a brand new 800 replacement motor. I have the whole block w/ all the parts, although they are for an 800. As far as I know, the block and pistons are fine, the crank, rods and bearings are bad but they are still attached. If you know someone who might want to buy the whole block w/ all the parts, let me know.  

I have a 06 sprotsman. I might need what you have. How much?  

Mine did the same thing with about 800 miles on it.  Factory warranty was done and polaris would not cover the cost of a crank bearing going out at 800 miles.  I sent three emails to the company before any one would call me back.  They told me take it to the dealer, (your loss, sucks to be you.)    I will never purchase purchase there stuff agian, and I will tell everyone about it.  

My advice is to not buy a polaris.  I have had nothing but trouble with them.  It sounds a though the problem is widespread through the models.  I would buy Yamaha or Honda.  

SO how did you repair it? Did it give any warning before it blew? I cut my oil filter apart on the first oil change and found only normal break-in type metal. Also I found a lot of green flecks of what looks like paint. It could be some type of sealer as well. I am going to continue to cut the filters apart untill the warranty is up and I plan to put lots of miles on her too.  

I have a 2006 polaris sportsman 800 doing the same thing with the noise and it has been a problem since new and the dealor will not do anny thing about it and i am afraid that if i ride it too long it will leave me stranded
the dealor said it is covered under warranty because they noted it when i have braught it in for this problem before my warrenty ran out
its just getting them to do something about is is the problem
anny ideas  

Are they cutting the oil filter apart when its being serviced? If the crankshaft bearings are failing it will show up in the filter. If they are not doing that then your dealer mechanic is either lazy or incompetant. There is no other easy way to tell whats going on inside an engine. I wish we had X-rays for engines but that isnt going to happen. If the oil has metal in it then they need to pull the motor apart for inspection. No need to wait till it blows. I will check mine untill the warrnaty is off.