polaris sportsman 500 sand in motor ?

Question

the dealership is claiming that sand in the engine enabled the piston to hit the spark plug hard enough to close the gap & leave aluminum coloring on the plug. Its a 2006 with aprox. 800miles on it & less than 200 hrs oil has been changed on or before it was needed but ther saying its not under warranty because the sand so it will cost me $400 just to get it back or $1650 for them to fix. I think ther full of **** but id like a second opinion thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me

every thing other than a k&n air filter & 3"taller than stock tires is stock

ive gone thru some water but nothing above foot rest which is ok acording to the owners manual ive gone thru sand dunes with lots of dust but isnt that what an air filter is for to keep the sand & dust out

Answer 1

Did they show you evidence of sand?

I guess they are saying it entered through the air cleaner?

Anyway, it seems unlikely that sand would allow
the piston to hit the head like that, unless it had first worn out your lower end crank bearing.

Take photos and post them.

Answer 2

In a roundabout way, sand in the motor can definitely cause the piston to hit the plug. Here's how:

Sand wears away metal on the cylinder wall, piston, piston pin, rod and crankshaft pin & needles.

These worn parts now have excess clearance - causing the piston to travel further (like a stretched chain being longer) and the piston hits the spark plug.

If this is the case, $400 would be an extremely cheap fix.

Did the filter fall off in the airbox? Did the intake boot come off the back of the carb? Was it ridden on the beach in the water? What actually precipitated the problem?

Answer 3

Sand? Somebody's joking.
Was the sparkplug changed? Perhaps a longer one was substituted?
Sand will do many things, but not that.

Answer 4

That is ridiculous, take the sheriff with you and get your bike away from that crook.