Summer project – replace tired 340 in our 2000 Indy Touring. It’s at nearly 7000 miles, and the engine has developed a noise that sounds like it’s crank/bearing related that has slowly been getting worse over the last 500 miles or so. Here’s a link to the noise: Polaris Rattle
One option is to rebuild the 340. But…we do have a good running 488 fanner from an old Indy Trail. So the question is: Will the swap fit? As I understand it the 2000 Indy Touring is a lighter weight chassis (Gen2?) designed around the 340 specifically.
Here’s the sled in question:
And here’s the 488 and 340 side by side. Engine mounts are different, but I think we could adapt the 340 mount to the 488.. The 488 looks to be a couple inches wider overall, though, which might cause issues.
The exhaust is quite similar, but the muffler/expansion pipe is bigger on the 488. We have basic fabrication and welding equipment and could modify a bit if needed. The downpipe location looks like it might work as-is, but some minor fab work on mount tabs would be required.
Any thoughts from those that have been there, done that…would be most appreciated!
PS. I’m not sure what sub-category this project would fall under, so I posted in the general Polaris section. Hope that OK!
