Drive shaft issues

T

Tobiquer

New member
Sep 5, 2024
5
4
New Brunswick
Currently have 2000 kms on my 2024 Xpedition Northstar and the dealer agreed to replace clutch weights to reduce the engine noise and the drive shaft to eliminate a rattle between 5500 and 6000 rpm. I'm beginning to think purchasing the extended warranty was a good idea.
 
With what I saved on repairs, I coulda bought another machine. Will be heading to dealer shortly for oil pan leak. The list just keeps growing. Was told most of the early models will eventually have to have the oil pan gasket replaced.

I'm curious about the rattle. I started hearing a rattle several weeks ago. It quickly got worse to the point when I went down the road the other day my wife said, "What F--- is that?" I just shook my head. So when it goes in for oil leak that will be addressed also.

My question is, how did they find out it was the drive shaft? To give an idea of what I'm hearing, it sounds like aluminum rattling somewhere in the dash or maybe even lower than in the dash. Can't say what the RPM's are when it occurs, I'll have to check tomorrow. I was told that Polaris is aware of drive shaft/drive train issues and their engineers are working on resolving it.

Thanks for posting maybe the info you provided will give them a starting point.
 
Last edited:
If the rattle is rpm specific, itā€™s most likely in the engine or parts directly connected to the engine. If itā€™s speed specific, then itā€™s in the drivetrain.

An issue pretty much all Polaris have is the drive shafts are welded with the U-joints out of phase. While the shaft angles arenā€™t enough hard enough to make it a major problem, there are some so far out of phase that itā€™s noticeable.

One Xpedition I worked on had a bad vibration at around 32 mph. The front shaft was around 48Ā° out of phase and the splines are keyed. I had to grind the spline out so that I could get it close, but it was still a half spline off from being in phase. Even after doing that, it still had the vibration at 32 mph. This time I pulled the driveshaft completely out so we could look at it and the front shaft had about a 3/8ā€ bow to it. Rather than just getting a new shaft from Polaris and chancing the same issue, we had a driveline shop replace the shaft tube and they made sure it was welded together in phase.
Because of that bowed driveshaft, the front differential bearings were bad and that had to be replaced.

As Iā€™ve said before, Polarisā€™ quality control leaves a lot to be desired.
 
B B said:
With what I saved on repairs, I coulda bought another machine. Will be heading to dealer shortly for oil pan leak. The list just keeps growing. Was told most of the early models will eventually have to have the oil pan gasket replaced.

I'm curious about the rattle. I started hearing a rattle several weeks ago. It quickly got worse to the point when I went down the road the other day my wife said, "What F--- is that?" I just shook my head. So when it goes in for oil leak that will be addressed also.

My question is, how did they find out it was the drive shaft? To give an idea of what I'm hearing, it sounds like aluminum rattling somewhere in the dash or maybe even lower than in the dash. Can't say what the RPM's are when it occurs, I'll have to check tomorrow. I was told that Polaris is aware of drive shaft/drive train issues and their engineers are working on resolving it.

Thanks for posting maybe the info you provided will give them a starting point.
Click to expand...
It was as if they were expecting me.
In discussing this with the sales and service folks it seems that the rattle is present to some degree in all the machines and at some point when the noise gets loud enough subjective or not the service folks make a decision to change the shaft. I wouldn't be surprised if a recall is not in the works. In my case the rattle was very pronounced between 5500 and 6000. Not something that you could ignore.
 
Tobiquer said:
It was as if they were expecting me.
In discussing this with the sales and service folks it seems that the rattle is present to some degree in all the machines and at some point when the noise gets loud enough subjective or not the service folks make a decision to change the shaft. I wouldn't be surprised if a recall is not in the works. In my case the rattle was very pronounced between 5500 and 6000. Not something that you could ignore.
Click to expand...
Mine has had the drive shaft rattle since new. Iā€™ll be putting the Sandcraft shaft in once released. I expect any Polaris replacement to likely do the same. Theyā€™ve had the same issue with other models for years.
 
The rattle you heard near the dash area is actually the connector to the windshield wiper motor located under the headliner in the front passenger side. You can simply follow the wire from the motor to the connector. They didn't hold it down with anything so rattle with increased vibration.

I just wrapped my neighbors with below and fixed the problem for $8 Not worth taking to dealer even under Warranty.

Home Depot​

3/4 in. x 6 ft. Rubber Self-Seal Pipe Wrap Insulation​

 
JTBarlow said:
If the rattle is rpm specific, itā€™s most likely in the engine or parts directly connected to the engine. If itā€™s speed specific, then itā€™s in the drivetrain.

An issue pretty much all Polaris have is the drive shafts are welded with the U-joints out of phase. While the shaft angles arenā€™t enough hard enough to make it a major problem, there are some so far out of phase that itā€™s noticeable.

One Xpedition I worked on had a bad vibration at around 32 mph. The front shaft was around 48Ā° out of phase and the splines are keyed. I had to grind the spline out so that I could get it close, but it was still a half spline off from being in phase. Even after doing that, it still had the vibration at 32 mph. This time I pulled the driveshaft completely out so we could look at it and the front shaft had about a 3/8ā€ bow to it. Rather than just getting a new shaft from Polaris and chancing the same issue, we had a driveline shop replace the shaft tube and they made sure it was welded together in phase.
Because of that bowed driveshaft, the front differential bearings were bad and that had to be replaced.

As Iā€™ve said before, Polarisā€™ quality control leaves a lot to be desired.
Click to expand...
Polaris quality control seems good for your business! Cheers, and thanks for all the information.
 
Bugeyes said:
Polaris quality control seems good for your business! Cheers, and thanks for all the information.
Click to expand...
We arenā€™t really in the SxS repair and Upfit business. We just do all the work to our own machines and then Buddies see it and want it done to theirs šŸ˜‚
 
BADXP said:
Interesting. Just spoke with them and sounds like it is shipped with a new carrier bearing. Front and rear diff attachments have set screw and center slip joint is through bolted. I am tempted to pull the trigger but havenā€™t heard of the company before although they seem to be well reviewed. Any feedback?
Click to expand...
They have been making axles a long time for side by sides. And the axles get good reviews. If I was going to buy a drive shaft it would probably be theirs
 
I just saw this post on a Facebook group
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I called my dealer about the rattle (sounds like ball bearings in a pan). I was told it is a harmonics issue. Mine happens between 5400 - 6000 RPM. Greasing the zerk shuts it up for 10 miles, then its back. They said Polaris knows about it but there is no fix yet. They said Polaris has stopped allowing driveshaft replacements under warranty for this problem. Anybody else been told this ????
I've got 30 days of warranty left. Might buy the extended warranty after reading about all the issues.....
 
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