Here is the lowdown on Polaris Sportsman 700-800 T-Bap wiring:

Symptoms of broken Temp/Baro sensor wires:
1. The ATV will run very erratic at idle.
2. The "CHECK ENGINE" will sometimes come on.
3. Diagnostic codes 41 and or 45 will be present.
4. Fuel mileage will be poor.
5. Exhaust will smell really rich. Sometimes even black smoke can be seen from it running so rich.

How to test if the Temp/Baro sensor wiring is broken:
1. Turn the key switch on and off 3 times leaving it on the 3rd time. This puts the ECU into diagnostic mode. If codes are present their numbers will be displayed on the instrument cluster. When all codes have been displayed "End" will appear on the cluster.
2. Remove the seat and locate the sensor on the air intake tube. Unplug the wiring to the sensor by pressing down on the tab on the top of the connector. DON'T PULL THE CONNECTOR BY IT'S WIRES!!! Pull back the vinyl tubing that covers the 4 wires going to the connector. Gently pull on each wire with your fingers. The wire should have no stretch and feel solid. All the wires should feel the same. If one or two of them feel weak and stretchy chances are you have a broken wire. Is what happens is the wire breaks inside the insulation so it appears to still be connected.

Why do the Temp/Baro sensor wires break in the first place?
1.The problem with the current Polaris wiring is too short and Polaris used 7/32 stranded 22AWG wire. This wire has a very low strand count and should not be used in applications where vibration occurs.
2.The next problem is the mounting location of the sensor it is in a vibration prone spot on top the air intake tube going from the air box to the throttle body. Next time you're bored take the seat off and rev it up in neutral. That intake boot and sensor vibrate to the point where it looks blurry. The combination of these engineering flaws causes the cable to break in a big hurry.

The Polaris repair kits keep breaking. Why?
1. The replacement kits from Polaris use the same 7/32 strand wire that can't withstand vibration.

How do I fix this damn problem once and for all:
1. After multiple replacement kits failing and multiple hack jobs to the replacement kits so I could go riding for the weekend I finally came up with a solution. I bought a pile of connectors and sockets and built my own repair harnesses using 65/36 18AWG wire with a thick silicone jacket. This wire is the same type of flexible wire used on things like multimeter leads. It is some really good stuff. Then I used sealed butt splices to connect my new harness to the factory harness. to anyone on here who needs one. PM me.

I am an electrical engineer who has access to these very hard to get connectors&sockets and would like to offer my significantly better solution than Polaris has at a less price. I'm certainly not planning on retiring on connector profits but would be happy to help other Sportsman EFI owners with this really annoying problem and have a little extra cash for my weekend wheeling trips would be nice.

 

I have a 07 800 x2 and a 08 800 touring and its the touring that I'm getting a 45 code on mine and need to know how I can get my hot little hands on your harness fix??? Have a trip coming up and need to get a hard fix on this. Thanxs

 

After 2 repair kits and some riding the trails, guess what.
TBAP faillure once again.

It is getting to then point where I'm no longer worrying about it.
CEL turns on, run the diagnostic, keep on riding.
At least they got that wright.

As the location of the TBAP sensor seems to be the source of the problem I'm actually thinking of relocating the sensor to somewhere else.

 

going to stick this thread for as there are alot of people w/ this issue.

 

Great write up..How much for a new kit? Wouldn't mind having a spare...

John

 

I finally put up a site to buy the repair kits. http://www.otbpowersports.com and they are still on ebay as well.

Were the 2 repair kits my kits or Polaris?

 

First kit was a feable attempt I made myself.
One of the wires actually broke inside the connector to the TBAP sensor.
So I decided to grind away the TBAP sensor, so I could hook up the wires directly with small spade connectors.

Second kit was a Polaris kit and new TBAP sensor and I raised the seat by half an inch. My thinking was the wires were being trapped whilst riding.
That lasted 2 or 3 trips.

Last weekend we had a trip, and we rode 2-up again. Hey Presto CEL light comes on, code 41, 45, etc.

Thank God these machines are engineered with secondary systems and an awesome 4WD or else I would be owning some other brand.

Anyhow, had a look at it this morning, Polaris kit broke were you splice the original harness and the kit. Its the vibrations that do it, as stated above.

Here's my theory about the TBAP.

First in stead of mounting it on the rubber boot, they should mount it on a decent piece of aluminium tubing firmly attached to the airbox.
Then in order to cancel out vibrations connect this aluminium tube with a rubber boot to the throttle body.
And please don't stick it just under the seat.

Looking at the TBAP it isn't directly mounted in the airflow. So they are just monitoring atmospheric conditions in order to ease start-up and correct idle.

I'm going to try mounting the sensor somewhere in the airbox, with a small filter covering the sensitive part.

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems like a bad idea. The air pressure changes in the airbox with all cycles, from starting to idle to low revs to high revs. This would give false readings to the TBAP.

Larry

 

What's the difference between that location and the rubber boot just in front of the throttle body??
The rubber boot is where the engine puts its suction into the airfilter??

From what I've read in the repair manual, the TBAP works as a combined Temperature and Barometric Pressure sensor, it doesn't measure momentary inducted airmass.

 

Mounted the TBAP in the airbox, small testrun. No issues.
Will update if anything negative arises.