Well, it looks like it's finally happening. There does appear to be a permanent fix for the trouble prone 550 Polaris fan engines.

In the sub-arctic land where snow is often both scarce and hard, it is the fan cooled machines which reign for reliable season-long performance. Sure there are many liquid cooled machines too. However, they cannot be relied on in some conditions. Consequently it is the fan engine that is purchased by they guys who don't want down time.

So, what has been Polaris' solution to the fan engine market? A "new," peppier, more powerful fan engine - and they beat everyone else to the up-size displacement. The problem is it has earned a reputation as the "king of down time," not good when avoiding downtime is why many people have bought them.

Polaris should have taken a clue from the fairy tale about the tortoise and the hare. Getting "there" first-est and fastest is not always a good way to win. And from what I am seeing, it seems that Pol-hare-is is being outdone - even in this Polaris stronghold- by the Canadian company with its non-Japanese engines.

Loyal Polaris customers are seeing the light, and that light is yellow and black. Polaris, too, should have seen it coming. That engine needed fixing and should have been fixed once and for all, years ago. But, the customer is always right and that has got to be a large and bitter pill to swallow after staring at it for so long...

is this sarcasm,yes polaris loyals have switched over to other brands because of the bull and troubles put on owners instead of polaris backing them up 100% and fixing their mistakes. so what is the fix nic kits,fuel relocation kits,more air vents and air intake duct,heat shields etc.differant customers get differant parts instead of one complete overall covering everything.take myself i got the nic kit only and in my area onlt 3 were done.even though there were about a 100 that would qualify,the dealer could not get authorization to do them.i had to pay for the carb parts,the first burndown was at 22 miles.the kit was put on at 1450 miles, now i have only 2014 miles so im not confident in the machine and use it always with another one to follow and dont go far.im not sure of the purpose for the fuel relocation kit.it is suppose to cool the fuel more so it dont vaporise just atomize.but the fuel dont stay in the pump long nor does it hold much.the fuel temp is what it is in the tank.the oil pump gasket that comes with the kit is suppose to cool the pump but really.the gasket is about 30 thou thick and this bit of clearance up off the engine will not make any diff.30 thou is the uncompressed gasket.the vents and duct will make a real diff but why not just put intake ducting directly to outside air or isolate the exhaust compartment so no hot air can be drawn into the engine .why the bigger oil line if the pump has not been changed.as far as i know oil scavanging has never been a prob just overheating or a result of.what about this fan upgrade i keep hearing of but no luck in getting a part num or polaris to admit to it or the dealer. WHAT IS THE REAL FIX AND WHY CANT POLARIS PAY FOR THE ENTIRE THING..............ITS THEIR FAULTY PRODUCT......... WERE LEFT HOLDING THE SHORT END AND THEY GOT OUR MONEY