Polaris 350 4x4 quad - is it worth it? ((((PICS))))

[Nick_R_23]

I recently got done working on our neighbor's 1991 Polaris 4 wheeler. Its a 350 liquid cooled 2 stroke, 4x4, has reverse, hi, low, etc. Well anyway, he said when I got done working on it, I could play around on it for a little while. I had too much fun on it, and now I want one.

One of my friends has this exact same machine, they forgot to add oil, only had water in the radiator, and ended up blowing the motor. They took it in to get rebuilt, and after 2 years the guy never did the work, and on top of that lost nearly half the motor. :crazy: They want 150$ for it, it basicly needs the bottom end of the motor. Has new rear shock, chain/sprockets, and a few small things. The other guy said he had a lower end for the machine I could have free. So I could basicly have a whole 4x4 quad for 150$, engine rebuild, and some time.

I like the fact that its a 2 stroke (I like them better over 4 strokes), but its still fit out to be a utility quad. Would it be worth buying and peiceing a few engines together to make a decent machine? It wont replace my trike, but seeing as I only have one runner right now, it would be nice to have a backup.

One other thing, nobody can decide on what it is. It is a 1991 liquid cooled 350, plastics are grey, seat and tank shrouds are red, and it has racks. Does anybody know exactly what this thing is? Thanks in advance for the help guys!!

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[400exguy]

$150 and a few man hours and you have a running quad? If thats the case I would jump all over it.

[tbirdscott]

I'd have to say that in my experience polaris quads are the most undependable high maintenance quads out there, but for the price even I would drag it home. Part it out, the parts sell pretty well.


Scott

[RedRider_AK]

It's an Xplorer I think. They're ok, a couple people have them here in Nome, and most of them don't work (gee, I wonder why...), but I've driven a few that work. They're kinda slow and the automatic tranny responds pretty slow to the engine, but I suppose for a daily driver or hauling stuff or a beater quad it'd be ok. Just don't expect to be racing around or something :lol:

[smokinwrench]

I owned 1, it is called a 350L. Mine was a 2x4, it was damn quick for a huge utilty machine. The main problem with them is they will run forever with tons and tons of piston wear. This in turn finally causes the piston to break the skirt off then the skirt goes down and breaks the lower case when it gets sqeezed between the crank and the case. I would buy it in a heart beat, I took the racks off of mine trimmed the fenders and gave it a sportier look.

Don't let the Polaris haters scare you away from it. I'll race anyone anytime on my Polaris.

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks guys, I think Ill go ahead and get it. Its not the best condition , but I think itll be a fun machine to play around on.



They're kinda slow and the automatic tranny responds pretty slow to the engine

Not the one I drove...I punched it, and it instantly dug a hole in my driveway...needless to say it pretty much hauled.

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[Black86tri-z]

my dad has a 93 350l and i would say its a pretty nice machine, and it goes pretty good way nicer to ride and whip threw the woods than my uncles honda 3004x4 the hondas may run longer and hold value but the brakes and the handleing are soo much better on the polaris plus the ondemand 4x4 is nice!!!

[Kilborg]

Sounds like an Xplorer. Good bike for the day, and still can get you through most trails with ease.

For 150$ if the bike is mostly there, I would say get it. If you can get it running reasonable you have yourself a nice cheap quad for little money/labor involved.

[Nick_R_23]

Now that I think about it, I remember somebody saying this thing might be a trail boss?

Im probably gonna go pick it up later today, Ill take some pics and let you guys fight over what it is. :lol:


-Nick :TrikesOwn

[RedRider_AK]

Yeh you best do that LOL.

[smokinwrench]

I'm sure Trail Boss is the entire series of machien and inside that series you have machines such as the: 350L 2x4, 350L 4x4, 250 4x4, etc.

[Nick_R_23]

Alright, I went and picked it up tonight, payed 100$ for it. It has new shocks all around, new chain and sprockets also. Its quite the pile of parts, but its more there than I remembered it being.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-001F-1.jpg
Auto X project, Dad's Big Red, and my brother's 185S in the background.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-003F-4.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-002F-4.jpg
Theres 2 more boxes with just as many parts behind the 2 up front, you just cant see them. :eek:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-004F-5.jpg
:beer Look at those ITP's!!! Worth the 100$ I payed alone. :D

I took these pics at 11:15pm. It'll still be that bright for another 4 hours, Alaska summers ROCK!!! :w00t:

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[Dusty]

well ill tell you this i had a trailblazer....other than braking parts when i jumped it...the motor ran flawlessly never had trouble with the motor......

[bearclawchris]

Hey I have one just like it . Let me know if you go to part it out. I might be interested in some of it.

[Nick_R_23]

My neighbor came home yesterday, and said I could come pick up this bottom end he had. All this time he had made it sound like there was barely enough to call a bottom end, but it turns out the entire bottom of the motor is there, complete with the transmission, both clutches, shifter assy, rear brake assy, footguards, swingarm, and a sawzalled frame cradle holding it all together. All free!!! Talk about a SCORE!!!! :w00t:

The motor had water in it, but after letting it soak in 2 cycle oil even for only a few hours made it feel new again. It is full to the top in oil now, and Im gonna let it sit thru the weekend until I can get back to it on Monday.

I also got the entire 4wd setup finished. I rebuilt the center carrier, and got everything tightened and greased. Got the new shifter piece installed too.

And I found out the real reason the old motor blew up. One of the crank seals was missing a huge chunk, and the balancer's bearings also blew up, ground up the case real good and put a huge crack in it. So it looks like this other bottom end is gonna be put to good use. Ill get some more pics tomorrow when I have some time.

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[firehart]

So, does it get dark at all in the summer up there?

[Nick_R_23]

Yeah, it usually becomes a full normal night dark at around 1 in the morning, but it will be getting earlier in few days. Im never up early enough, so I dont know when it gets light again, but right now its 6:30 in the morning and bright as ever. It can be nice if you really want to get something done, just work on it all night and you'd never realize how late it is. :beer

Our weather report says sunrise was 4:13 AM, and sunset is 11:49 PM. But its still bright for a while even after the suns set. :cool: While Im at it, we will have a High of 66*F, a Low of 52*F, and its currently 46*F and the suns bright enough to blind you. :crazy:

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[RedRider_AK]

Looks and sounds like a nice deal, 100 bucks is a steal! Also, kudos on getting free parts!

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks, man! Now that I have this other bottom end, it should be done in no time! :beer I also have some parts pics now. :pics:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-001F-2.jpg
Theres the bottom end, taking a well deserved oil bath for a few days. Spins over like its brand new now. It will have a complete rebuild when its all said and done.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-002F-5.jpg
This is the whole assy that the guy gave me. I think that tranny and a Rotax snowmobile motor would make a sick go kart.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-003F-5.jpg
All thats left to be put back together. Mainly just the motor, and everything else just needs to be put back on. It coming along a lot faster than I figured!!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-004F-6.jpg
This seal is part of what killed the old motor. The camera makes it look better than it really is, in fact its a pretty big chunk missing from it.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-005F-4.jpg
This is the 2 case halves, the chewed up spots are where the balancer went. I think that it literally exploded, because theres a million metal shavings in all parts of the motor, and it also make a huge crack on the edge of the case on the right side.

More pics as things get done!!

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[Nick_R_23]

Well I got the motor out, taken apart, cleaned up, now all I need is the basics to put it together - bearings, seals, gaskets, that kinda thing.

Apparantly, one of the weak spots of the motor was the counter balancer. For whatever reason, the bearings, and either end of the balancer, would break, and create the mess shown in a previous pic. This one was still good, sort of. The bearings, although shot, were still intact, and are able to be replaced. Problem was that the shaft on the balancer that had the gear to drive the oil pump had broken off. And if any of you have tried to find an intact used balancer, they are next to impossible to find. You cant order the individual bearings for the balancer either. If you need anything, you have to buy the entire balancer assy new, which cost $414.99. Situation wasnt looking too good. :cry:

Since the shaft had snapped off flush with the rest of the balancer, and since the thing was broken anyway and we figured we couldnt make it any worse, we decided to have our neighbor machine a shaft into the balancer. This guy is good, he can create works of art from a lathe or milling machine. He decided to give it a go. Turned out to be the most beautiful job I have ever seen, it looks brand new. Best of all, it should outlast the rest of the motor.

One of the people at the Polaris shop knew where to get the bearings for the balancer individually, so we got them also.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-001F-3.jpg
Whole bare assy.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-003F-6.jpg
Check out that shiny new shaft on the end!!! :beer

So....
Bearings---70$
Labor for the balancer---30$
Saving 300$ and knowing that my neighbor is a better machinist than the guys at Polaris Ind.---PRICELESS :lol: :w00t:

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[RedRider_AK]

Wow, that makes Polaris OEM seem cheap! 419 for a new balancer is nothing, Factory Yamaha wanted 70 bucks for a new thumb throttle LEVER when I broke mine. :rolleyes:

As for "putting a Rotax in there", agree it will kick balls as long as the clutches can keep themselves together... I say this because I've seen what happens to clutches when you overload them with power, I put a 14 hp Honda engine in my Manco go-kart, the clutches on it are rated for 6 hp. It ripped and shredded for about 30 minutes and then the secondary clutch exploded LOL.

[Nick_R_23]

:w00t: We were finally able to get the last bearing on today and start putting it back together more. I got the whole bottom end and cylinder done before I thought to grab the camera.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-012F-3.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-013F-3.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-014F-3.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-015F-4.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-016F-3.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/MVC-017F-2.jpg

I will be finishing the motor tomorrow (hopefully), then Ill look over the machine one last time to make sure theres nothing else Ive forgotten, then drop it in and shes good to go!!! :beer

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[RedRider_AK]

Pimp! What's the plans for the Poonlaris now, is it gonna be left stock, or lifted and mudderized?

[junkrider]

I owned 1, it is called a 350L. Mine was a 2x4, it was damn quick for a huge utilty machine. The main problem with them is they will run forever with tons and tons of piston wear. This in turn finally causes the piston to break the skirt off then the skirt goes down and breaks the lower case when it gets sqeezed between the crank and the case. I would buy it in a heart beat, I took the racks off of mine trimmed the fenders and gave it a sportier look.

Don't let the Polaris haters scare you away from it. I'll race anyone anytime on my Polaris.

The same thing happened on a polaris sport 400 I'm rebuilding right now. Just curious, do they tend to run like crap just prior to the skirt ripping off? This one idled fine, but had no balls. Just put a bunch of cash into the swingarm, chain, sprockets and axels, so I'm destined to rebuild the motor, but I'd like to be sure that the skirt didn't break off from something else.

I did verify the CDI, timing, carb, mixture, plug, coil, wire, the reverse-safety circuit, etc before the skirt blew, but it ran like the timing was off or perhaps the reverse safety was stuck on. But, like I said, I checked all that and that was okay. I even ran compression check and compression was okay, which is why I didn't think the piston/jug were bad.

Thank you very much for any guidance on this!

-mike

[smokinwrench]

I traded for mine in the state it was. It ran good but always fouled plugs when at lower rpm's. I doen tons of plug chops and got it running perfectly jetting wise. But it never was perfect as far as how it ran. One day pop and I knew somethign bad happened. I rebuilt the topend without anythought then when I went to fire it up it wouldnt start and when it did it tried running away. That is when I seen the huge holes in the case. JB wled does wonders.

[Jolly Roger]

That thing looks wicked. Has to be the coolest Polaris ever, and I am not a Polaris fan (will never ride an automatic down a hill again). I just love it when a project comes togather. And yes JB weld does wonders

[Nick_R_23]

Damn, I seem to have forgotten about this thread!! :lol:


Pimp! What's the plans for the Poonlaris now, is it gonna be left stock, or lifted and mudderized?

Its gonna be left as it is for now, it really doesnt need any aftermarket. Id love to find a pipe for it and get it ported, but its just fine as it is. Its gonna be my trailer hauler, and since it has racks, itll be used for long trails and for camping and mountain riding, especially for Hatchers Pass.


The same thing happened on a polaris sport 400 I'm rebuilding right now. Just curious, do they tend to run like crap just prior to the skirt ripping off? This one idled fine, but had no balls. Just put a bunch of cash into the swingarm, chain, sprockets and axels, so I'm destined to rebuild the motor, but I'd like to be sure that the skirt didn't break off from something else.


Apparantly from what Ive heard from people here and from the shop, these motors are notorious for not showing any signs that the piston is gonna go out. They usually run just like they always do before the skirt breaks.


That thing looks wicked.

Thanks, I think that the rear tires make it pretty intimidating. Plus the true 4x4 makes it all worth it.

Well I guess its about time for an update.....its all together and running now.. but theres still a few tweaks to work out. First, the bolt that holds the drive clutch on keeps coming loose. Second, the shift linkage needs adjusting.. its sometimes hard to shift, and occasinally it will pop out of gear. Finally, the water pump leaks out the case. Kinda pisses me off because its all brand new seals, and ones bad already. :mad: Oh well, I guess that comes with owning any machine. Im gonna try and redo it tomorrow, I need to borrow a special socket from the shop though.

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[puftpolaris]

hey, I own that exact machine its a Trail boss 350l. that thing will run like a beast if you get it back together. One thing is if you do put the lower back together just the seal kit 4 the left side is $100, $250 for the entire motor: seals, bearings. With a big bore kit w/ wiseco piston and reeds alone... it ran oft from my friends 06 rincon Fi on 27" mudlite xtr. Mine is a 375 now, v-force reeds, bigger jet, lower gears from a 250, with a Monster coil and 400 fmf exhaust bout to be ordered.