my buddy has a 2002 classic 550 and it got 10560 miles on still going strong

 

i just recently rebuilt a 550 for a guy and took it out for a test run after and WOW what a gutless POS. the 488 was a way better motor. hell my 292 yammi single beats it!

 

Changes in 2008

Polaris made some MAJOR changes in 2008 and those appear to have stopped the engine problems. All you hear about are 2007 and older.

 

15mpg on a poo 550 fanner.. Ya right.. You're lucky to get 10

 

own a 2007 Trail Touring Deluxe, with about 450 miles on it, have the Polaris cylinder modifications taken care of this problem. This makes me nervous.

 

My 2012 IQ lxt melted down after 400 miles but I don't think the oil injection was turned up enough. Dealer turned it up after rebuild.

 

Just keep it out of mid throttle and or vary your revs and it should be fine is what I was told.

 

these 550's are recommended for 89 octane, does 91 octane help, hurt, or have no bearing on it. With the ethanol issue what's one to do?

 

these 550's are recommended for 89 octane, does 91 octane help, hurt, or have no bearing on it. With the ethanol issue what's one to do?

All the OEM's have recommended jetting richer for oxygenated fuel.

E-10 can be used if jetted richer. E-15 is not recommended.

 

there more then one problem with the 550 fan in the edge chassis. first of all most of these seized or scored the pistons side walls from a heat soaked motor that cavitated the oil pump. which is different then a lean burn down. no top piston damage in these heat seizure's. yes and some burned down also.(melted top of the piston's toward exhaust side) I have fixed 25 of these to date. not one has come back. some have 6000 miles after repair. but its not cheap to do it right. the major problem is the motor is trying to cool its self with hot air. open the hood on any edge sled. (550) and look how close the exhaust can is near the recoil housing.(the cooling air intake) you have to make a alum. heat shield between the can and the recoil housing out of .100 alum. you have to add vent's to the front under the bumper,and both shock tower wells, and side vents like what was used on the older wedge chassis sports,trails, etc. you have to install a .020 shim under both needles. up the main jets two sizes. they are staggered jets. bigger on the mag. side. install a oil pump bleed kit. install a fuel pump relocation kit. and you will have to by a new $100 fuel pump in some cases. in some cases you will have to enlarge the hood opening on the air out side. so it can move enough air though the motor. the nikasil cylinder's don't help with this. if this is a rebuild then have the tops of the new piston's ceramic coated. also having the pipe and can ceramic coated will help. so for about $1500 you can have a real reliable 550 fan. I have proven it. but you shouldn't have to fix a new sled that all this should have been done to, too start with. on a side note. I have a 550 power update kit for these with just bolt on parts, that's in the testing phase. to make sure its reliable and to get the clutching right. have had one dynoed at 82 h.p. up from about 60 h.p. stock. and the motor runs cooler with this power up date kit. Polaris has this motor very detuned.

 

Interested to read more about your 550 power update kit. My wife rides a 10' 550

 

See link below for oil pump info...and on this article on page 3, response #29, for photos of the heat shield.
http://www.hardcoresledder.com/foru...m/forums/252-polaris-general-discussion/474968-550-oil-pump-update-problem.html

 

not sure, but i've heard the 550 fan engines don't get enough oil though the oil pump unless you are working it hard. if you drive them casually they starve for oil. again, just what i've heard.

 

2001 was the first year in the Edge Chassis. 0ver 8000 miles on my 2001 over 10 years with no problems. I read about an update in Snowtech (Polaris never contacted me) and took it back to the dealer. I think they changed clutch weights, put a different CDI Box on it and rejetted. Got pretty steady 16 mpg unless riding hard with bigger sleds then it dropped. I did turn the oil pump up shortly after I bought it because I didn't like how little oil it used. Mine came with a heat shield between the muffler and the recoil.

 

Two years ago I picked up a 2005 polaris 550 fan edge touring deluxe with 200 miles on it. I read all kinds of stories of melt downs. One maintenance guy for a ski resort was talking about meltdowns once a week with a new top end. I installed the oil pump bleeder kit and I sandblaster the pipe and can then paint ceramic coated. I also wrapped both the can and pipe with 2" wide header wrap. I used 100feet of it. I bought a bag of .20 needle shims. I had to go threw the whole bag to find two that where exactly .20 . I turned the oil pump up a little more than stock. I run synthetic oil amsoil and 93gas with 10% ethanol. The .20 shims was a bad move it cut my milage from 14mpg to 7mpg give or take. I have about 1400 miles on sled now. I run it hard but friends or first time riders are running it very easy. I ran into a guy on the trail with same exact sled with 7000miles and said he never had a problem and wasn't aware of any problems. I do not have the aluminum heat shield by the recoil but I do have it wrapped. I want to get the kit that funnels air from hood to recoil cover but they were very expensive. I want to here more about the performance kit to go from 60 to 80hp.


Sent from Snowmobile.com App

 

i have an 03 edge x 550 with 2500 on it and it runs pretty good, im ready for something faster but the sled overall i have no complaints. I have read many stories about the 550 fan sleds, solution, by something liquid cooled.... And i just picked up a sled from a friend, its a 98 indy sport 440 with about 20k on the clock, had one cylinder replaced last year and needs a clutch rebuild... So to say polaris is junk is nonsense, last thing id ever buy would be a skidoo...

 

I have a 07 edge 550 and a 06 skidoo. The edge has the cold air induction kit, oil line bleed kit, needles adjusted, and vents in the front bumper. Around 1200 miles and no engine work done yet.
The last time out it developed a problem with the mag side running lean.
So, we just cleaned the carbs and found no issues. Going to check the seals soon. We checked the fuel pump and noticed a limited amount of fuel coming from the mag side supply line. Disassembled the pump and found no problem. What we did notice is that the mag side line exits the pump higher then the PTO side. So if a limited amount of fuel is making it to the pump for any reason it will be sent to the PTO side first. To fix this possible problem the pump was reassembled (different from factory) and mounted (also differently)so that the PTO and mag side exit ports of the pump were horizontal to each other ( allowing equal exit flow). We then tested and had even flow out of both lines. This issue may have been sled specific or may be a common problem. Seems to me that these pumps are made cheap. Also this could be the reason for the relocation kit.
We have started and ran the sled on the stand but cannot confirm that the original problem has been fixed. Need snow to ride and check it over again.
Even with all the upgrades (done at my expense), I still worry about the polaris more then the stock skidoo. I should have done more research before purchasing the edge.
I'm not bashing any brand but this specific model has caused me to put polaris on the bottom of my list.

Sent from my XT901 using Snowmobile.com App

 

I believe in updating post for others with similar problems.
We ran the sled in wet fields ( temps around 33 ) without snow to try it out. After about 10 minutes it started to miss at wot. Same thing as before. So everything we tried and changed before did not fix the problem.
Now I'm looking at buying another coil. But I'm not convinced that this is the problem. It makes sense that the coil may be breaking down once it get hot but it does not explain why the PTO side is running lean.
Maybe the PTO side running lean has nothing to do with the problem. It may be the side that is firing the entire time. We are changing the previous carb setting to 1 turn out to hopefully take care of any lean issue.
Side note... I ran this sled about 250 miles last year on different rides and had no problem and nothing was changed over the summer other than the sled was being stored with 2 gallon airplane fuel then topped of with 92 oc in it. Also I rode this sled for about a hour before this current problem happened. Did not check plugs yet.. ran out of time.....Will post again with updates....


Sent from my XT901 using Snowmobile.com App

 

Well a new coil didn't fix the problem. More Money wasted.... The plugs look great and like they are burning even, nice chocolate brown. Now I'm back to thinking its a fuel issue again. Maybe fuel pump is week ???? Going to try a pump off another sled or gravity feed from a temporary auxiliary tank strapped to the top of the sled.
Also sprayed starting fluid all around the seals to see if engine was sucking air and engine idle never changed.

Sent from my XT901 using Snowmobile.com App

 

Problem found. The vent line between carb and air box on the PTO side was partially blocked. This didn't effect the operation of the sled until 3/4 to wot. Then it would bog. The carbs were cleaned at the start of all this but I didn't clean the lines. Lesson learned.

BTW the aftermarket coil burnt up with 20 minutes of testing. That's what you get for $50.

We did strap a auxiliary tank of fuel to the handlebars to gravity feed the carbs. This worked good to eliminate the possible problems with fuel lines, fuel pump, and week vacuum to fuel pump. None of these were the problem.

Then we started the sled and removed 1 plug wire at a time and ran it thru the field as fast as it would go one cylinder. This is how we found the problem. Mag side would slowly climb in speed and rpm like we expected. PTO side would do the same until 3/4 throttle then fall on its face. Then it was time to pull carb out and go over it the second time. Sprayed air and cleaner in all lines and finally problem solved.
Hope this helps somebody else find there problem.


Sent from my XT901 using Snowmobile.com App

 

we had 21,000 on ours before it burnt in my garage fire, spent all its life with 2 200 lb passengers or pulling a 10 ft sleigh full of gas cans ..but never ride it wide open,.never..I did cut a vent hole on right side to allow cool air into motor when it was few months old.Polaris actually had a vent kit... for that purpose..looking for another 550 touring now..

 

The 550 issues were mostly in the Edge chassis. We have had good luck with them in the Gen II. 1000s and 1000s of no problem miles for years. And it's by my parents in their 70's now and the women and children who are in no hurry to get down the trail. The Edge was not designed for fan cooled engines and need lots of modifications due to poor chassis and set up design and that has given the 550 a bad rap. Some say no issues with the Edge 550. I personally wouldn't buy a fan cooled edge.
I too am curious on the mods to get them to 80+ dependable HP ?

 

The 550 issues were mostly in the Edge chassis. We have had good luck with them in the Gen II. 1000s and 1000s of no problem miles for years. And it's by my parents in their 70's now and the women and children who are in no hurry to get down the trail. The Edge was not designed for fan cooled engines and need lots of modifications due to poor chassis and set up design and that has given the 550 a bad rap. Some say no issues with the Edge 550. I personally wouldn't buy a fan cooled edge.
I too am curious on the mods to get them to 80+ dependable HP ?

I owned 3 550 fanners. Only one was in an Edge chassis. NEVER had any problems, of coarse non of mine were stock.

I had a 2000 Super Sport, with porting, pipe, that was suppose to be pushing 80 HP. I never dynoed it.

I did run it lean once and stuck a piston, then once I fixed that,last I knew it was over 10,000 miles on it.

 

I'm out

Wife sled had a 2000 550 fan supersport, put 12,000 miles on it with no issues, she rode with all 700's. Never had one issue wit this sled.

Faster forward to 2012, purchased a new 550 fan IQ ES, engine blew at 1400 miles the second ride of season two on it. Polaris paid for only parts after many conversations going back and forth. Season three, blew up again at approximately 1350 on the new parts. Definitely a heat management issue.

I should have just scrapped the whole sled, instead I fixed it again, just traded it in on my sled Doo... We got my wife a 14' Rush 600 last year... she loves it.

I'm done with Polaris... the service, parts, etc. pushed me to Doo.

 

I just had a trail touring 550 in my shop for pre-season service. I rebuilt this sled 5 years ago. did all the up dates, made a heat shield between the ex. can and recoil housing, and added some vents. wiseco piston's. 125 p.s.i. both cylinders. 3000+ miles since the rebuild. woman driven @ 35 mph all the time.

these can be made bullet proof. I've done it 30 times now. not one come back.

it is a heat issue with the edge chassis. just slapped a 550 fan motor in this chassis. with no ducting to direct cold air to the motor. all other fanners doo, cat, have ducting. just look at one. piss poor design by Polaris. and they should be held accountable for it? and they will never take # 1 back from ski-doo selling junk.

 

+1,

Ive seen way to many ads here like "Nice 550 for sale. 2000 miles, new engine at 1xxx..."

 

I almost bought one of these 550 Edges for my wife today. Glad I found this write-up. Ill be looking for a liquid 2-up now. I use to be brand specific. Now I dont care what brand it is, as long as it is depenable

 

I bought a 2014 Polaris Indy Adventure 2-up last year and then came across posts about this very issue with the 550 fan cooled. I spoke to a gentleman on this board named po1ar1s who knows a guy that works in development for Polaris. He said that all of these issues were true and were in the earlier sleds, and that they fixed the issues in the 2014, to my great relief.

"Yes, all of these modifications were done on the 2014's. They also revised the piston for last year which also was a huge help with reliability for 2014. We have had the opportunity to get to know the guy in charged of snowmobile testing at Polaris and I guess the piston was a big part of the problem with the 550's. I would not worry about your machine, we pretty much refused to sell a 550 up until last year." - po1ar1s

 

According to the Polaris parts lists
2012-2015 came with the same pistons.
2016 has a different piston.

I have rebuilt a few of these 550's in different ways to figure out the problem. Some had success and some did not. My spare sled is a 2005 Trail Touring and it has 8,000+ miles on the rebuild with stock pistons bored 0.20 over, but we added the fan duct kit.

My wife's 2006 Trail Touring only made it 2200 miles on the rebuild with Wiseco pistons (broke the ring lands) and it also has the fan duct kit. At the time I was following a thread on SnoWest, so I added extra cylinder clearance for the forged pistons to compensate for how hot the 550 ran in the edge chassis, but that did not work out, because the fan duct did it's job keeping the engine cooler. Just got done boring it and put SPI pistons with standard ring clearance in. It is running great with 135 PSI in both cylinders.