Another not car project but at least it has 4 tires. Polaris Ranger 800.

I picked this up yesterday for less than half a Challenge car. It's a 2010 Polaris Ranger 800 XP.

760 CCs, dry weight is 1237 pounds, 4WD, 46 hp, 53 mph.

Holy carp, is that a fuel rail??? Why yes, it does have EFI.

It does have a few issues. Namely this.

3 years ago it was pulled apart for a radiator replacement that was never completed. It's been sitting ever since.

All those removed parts, and I have 4 bolts and one nut to put it all back together. Also missing are the passenger side inner fender, the bows for the top, the headlight fixtures and bulbs, and the winch.

There was a brand new radiator with it, but it was the wrong one.

Engine

In car mileage, that's not much. I don't know about UTV mileage.

Radiator and fan should go here.

Missing battery.

It may need tires. I can almost see the air in a couple of them.

What I have accomplished so far.

A bath. It has been sitting under a tree for 3 years, it was nasty and full of leaves. The worst of it is removed. I also hooked up the jump box and turned the key. Surprisingly enough, it fired right up. Thank You EFI!

There is a radiator and a set of tires on the way.

Long term, it will end up as a work vehicle on the family farm. We will do some playing with it first.

Interesting tidbit. It's 1" wider than the Samurai, and only 1.5' shorter.

More to come.

We have the six wheel version at work, and I actually used it today. They are astonishingly capable. It will go over just about anything. Just be careful on pavement. Those low pressure tires will tuck under on corners and come right off the rim.

Sweet deal. I've been keeping an eye out for one of these or a similar gator or mule and good deals don't happen very often.

I vote you make a jet-boat out of it.

In reply to Pete Gossett:

Hmmm. Amphibious maybe?

Watching with interest. I've always wondered exactly how thrashed these can be before it becomes an issue.

So how does someone put EIGHTEEN THOUSAND MILES on a UTV? I just can't even imagine how that happens. I have to imagine that is equivalent to about a million miles on a car. It's seriously impressive, and I wonder if it was a service vehicle for an absolutely massive farm/ranch or private neighborhood or ...?

Can you plate these where you are?

In reply to dculberson:

You can't put plates on them, but SC does have a "Low Speed Vehicle" permit that allows you to use it within 5 miles of the house on secondary roads.

This particular one was out by the national forest and Lake Marion. There are 100s of miles of roads out there you can ride on.

The radiator showed up today, so I got it installed. I also installed the battery and got most of the front end put back together.

I dumped part of a can of Seafoam in the tank, checked the oil, and fire it up. It ran on one cylinder for about 10 minutes and then started running like it should, so I ran it around the block a few times.

I did determine that the AWD system is not working, though the locking rear diff is. I've done some research on that and will have to troubleshoot that tomorrow. It uses a Hillard system with an electromagnet to engage the front axles. According to the interwebs, it's usually an electrical problem.

The windshield is trashed to the point I couldn't see through it, so it got removed. I'll have to figure out a replacement for it. UTV parts and accessories are stupid expensive, so I may just do without.

I'm hoping the tires will show up before the weekend. If so I'll get them mounted and take it somewhere to put some miles on it.

More to come.

It was my father's toy. He had a massive stroke 24 years ago and is paralyzed on his right side. There are three things he likes to do. Smoke (yes, note the irony of a stroke victim smoking), watch television and drive this toy.... everywhere. He bought another one and it took him about two months to wreck it and ruin the tires. So we fixed the issue and got new tires. 72 hours until we had to fix that one. Now he has a completely stock and very slow golf cart. He hates it but my grandmother's purse is much happier. So Daddy's little girl got a bit of a deal on the Polaris and now hubby is happy.

dculberson wrote: So how does someone put EIGHTEEN THOUSAND MILES on a UTV? I just can't even imagine how that happens. I have to imagine that is equivalent to about a million miles on a car. It's seriously impressive, and I wonder if it was a service vehicle for an absolutely massive farm/ranch or private neighborhood or ...? Can you plate these where you are?

In reply to Toymanswife:

Thanks for the back story. That's fun but also kind of sad. :-|

Toyman01 wrote: The windshield

I have repurposed some large sheets of plastic from old projection TV's at the dump.

In reply to Toyman01:

I bet one of the GRM sponsors could cut a shatter proof windshield for less than what Polaris is asking.

In reply to dculberson:

I put nearly 20k miles on one in six months working a security gig. It worked out great for me, the maintenance/security manager kept the thing in good shape and needed someone to put a buttload of miles on it because nearly all the guards were retirees and wanted to sit around in the resort's security cute-utes.

This afternoon, it got a oil change. I'm pretty sure that oil had been in there forever. It was the nastiest oil I have ever seen. Black enough to use for ink. The poor engine was actually noticeably quieter with some fresh oil in it.

I also did some troubleshooting on the AWD system. The AWD system is a Hillard system that is activated using a electromagnet, so I started by checking for voltage at the coil. I was showing 6 volts and needed 12. I determined it to be a bad ground and with a little hot wiring, I got 12 volts to the front diff, but still no engagement. That means something inside the front differential has problems. The first thing the internet recommends is a oil change, so I did that this afternoon. What came out looked pretty bad. I'm not sure it had ever been serviced. It got a load of fresh oil, and we will hope that some mileage will free things up. That will happen tomorrow. If that doesn't take care of it, I'll have to pull the front diff and dig into it. Broken spragues or a warped armature plate are the next common problems.

More to come.

coexist wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: The windshield

I have repurposed some large sheets of plastic from old projection TV's at the dump.

Where do you find an open dump that you can just walk around in 2017? Does Riff Raff from Heathcliff live there?

The kind of place that puts out a calendar:

That's cool!

Today I put about 3 hours on it. Still no AWD, so I guess I'll be pulling the front differential.

Another thing discovered is the cooling fan doesn't work. It has power to the relay, but it never gets the signal to turn it on from the ECU. I have a service manual on the way so I can trace that one down. I also never got a hot indicator on the dash. That makes me think there is a sensor somewhere that isn't working. I jumpered out the relay to get the fan operational and everything stayed cool.

Not much of a video, but it's all I shot today.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/CglCFDUrziU

More to come.

Found the problem with the cooling fan.

This is supposed to be mounted in the head. The rest of it is still there. It was dangling from a wire under the engine.

I'll say this much. Polaris parts are priced like P-car parts. That sensor is $50.

This morning I started on the seat. The seat base was badly damaged from heat, age, and lots of ass time.

It's been broken for a long time from the looks of it, and since it's also the engine cover, I want it fixed. So, I priced a replacement seat. $560, so that's not going to happen.

Unfortunately the seat bottom isn't flat. There is a center hump for engine clearance. (More on that to follow.) So, fastening it to a sheet of plywood is out. I did have some 24oz cloth and epoxy left over from the Jet Boat project.

I may have to add some additional support if this isn't strong enough. I'll find that out tomorrow.

Another issue has raised it's ugly head. Yesterday, if my son sat back in the center seat, it would backfire and shut off. I thought he was dislodging the plug wires.

Maybe not.

That ladies and gents, is a broken intake manifold caused by people sitting on the throttlebody because of the broken seat base I just finished fixing. This is why letting broken things stay broken isn't a good thing. Another $30 in parts are on the way.

Slowly but surely I'm working through the issues.

Toyman01 wrote: Interesting tidbit. It's 1" wider than the Samurai, and only 1.5' shorter.

That comparison runs through my head every time I see one of these side-by-sides. I could have a road legal car for way less that does the same job. Then again, most Samurais and Sidekicks are 50% rust by now.

In reply to Nitroracer:

I always thought the same thing. But owning both shows the differences.

I'll admit, the Samurai is pretty cool. Go anywhere from deep in the woods, to the store on a milk run. I do love the little beast.

The Ranger has some advantages as well.

For one, it's a lot quicker than the Samurai. In the realm of 0 to 50 the Ranger is pretty quick.

For two, dump bed. Enough said. The Ranger is going to be a farm vehicle.

For three, the body is plastic and very durable. This one is 7 years old and has 0 rust anywhere.

For four, 4 wheel independent suspension with lots of travel and damn good shocks. It rides 1000% better than the Samurai. 40 mph down a bumpy dirt road is stable and comfortable. In the Samurai, that's a death wish. https://youtu.be/YicTPmxiQ1Y?t=374

For 5, 12" of ground clearance compared to 7" in the Samurai.

If I hadn't gotten a deal on the Ranger, I wouldn't own one. For what a used one costs, you can buy a truck. But, I won't mind owning one at all.

First order of business, check the seat.

It's not pretty, but it should work. I added a little heat shielding above the engine and exhaust and am calling it good.

Now I'm in a holding pattern waiting on parts.

Must be time to get back on SanFord.

As somebody who has been into off-road motorcycles and quads (two-stroke racing models) for 25 years, I kinda never liked these things taking over the powersports industry. Seeing the complexity, issues and parts expense of one that has a lot of wear isn't helping. I just don't like how everything has to be so large and heavy now to sell well on the primary market. It like people who like oversize things are the only ones with money.