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The Arctic Cat Prowler 700 XTX is a 695cc workhorse side-by-side that Arctic Cat built from 2008 through 2014, and it still shows up on used lots in good numbers. The problems owners actually talk about are specific, starting with oil that finds its way into the belt housing. Belts and clutches slip under load, EFI machines crank slow or refuse to start, and some engines run rough once they heat up. This guide covers what causes each failure and how owners fixed it. It also covers what to inspect before you buy one used.
Oil in the belt housing eats belts
Hang around the Arctic Cat forums long enough and “oil in the belt housing” shows up constantly. The 700 XTX runs a CVT with a sealed clutch housing, and when engine oil gets past a seal it pools in the bottom of that housing. The belt runs straight through the puddle, and a wet belt slips hard or grabs in jerks. Left alone, the belt glazes over and dies early.
One 700 XTX owner on ArcticChat documented the whole sequence. The one-way bearing went out and the dealer replaced it. Within fifteen minutes of riding, the belt was slipping again with oil in the housing. The dealer resealed it, and five minutes later the same thing happened. When the owner pulled the clutch apart himself he found a piece cut out of the o-ring that seals the clutch shaft. He replaced the o-ring and rode for about an hour. Oil was back in the housing, this time weeping from around the outer seal. The thread ends with him asking for suggestions, which tells you how stubborn this leak can be.
Here is how to chase it. Drain the belt housing through its drain plug and see what comes out. Clean the housing out completely, then run the machine and watch where the oil reappears. The usual suspects are the clutch shaft o-ring, the outer seal behind the secondary clutch, or the crank seal behind the primary clutch. Those parts are cheap; the work is in the disassembly. Catching the leak early saves the belt, which is the expensive part of the whole deal.
Belt and clutch slip that gets worse under load
A slipping 700 XTX has a signature feel. You drop it into gear and give it gas. Nothing happens for a beat, then it catches with a lurch. Let off the throttle and it revs free until you feather it back in. One 2009 XTX owner described getting thrown toward the dash when the clutch finally grabbed at speed, which is not a fun way to learn your CVT is tired.
That owner went deep trying to fix it. He replaced the drive belt, the primary and secondary clutches, plus the wet clutch pack, then fitted an EPI clutch kit. The slip came back anyway. His belt case stayed clean and dry, which ruled out the oil leak from the previous section, so the problem was inside the clutching itself. The machine has a wet clutch that handles engagement when you shift into gear, and it wears just like the drive belt does.
Replies in that thread steered him toward pulling the cover and inspecting the components instead of guessing, and suggested running the machine on a jack stand with the cover off to watch the clutches work. That is good advice. On the 700, check the belt for glazing and scoring on the clutch faces, then verify the wet clutch pack thickness. OEM parts are the safe choice here. Aftermarket kits change the engagement character, and owners have chased slip for months trying to tune them. If your machine revs but does not move, check the housing for oil first, then work through the clutches in order.
Slow cranking and no-starts on the EFI 700
The 700 XTX is fuel injected, and most no-start threads on the Arctic Cat forums end in the same place: the starter. One 2008-2009 XTX owner ran the full checklist. Fresh battery, new spark plug, good wiring, plus an EFI light flashing AC00 and SC00, which is the system saying it has no stored fault codes. He even installed a new idle speed control valve (part 0430-074), and the machine still would not fire. The real cause turned out to be the starter itself. The old unit spun so slowly that the engine could not catch, and a new starter fixed it on the first try. Worn brushes were the story.
The starter sits on the front of the engine at the base of the cylinder, so it is not a five-minute swap. Symptoms that point at it include a click or a slow grind when you hit the button, headlights that dim hard while cranking. Hot starts that take noticeably longer than cold ones point the same direction. A 2008 XTX owner who bought a used machine with 6,600 miles found the starter burnt up and the spark plug smashed, the aftermath of an engine that had been rocking on a broken mount. More on that one in a minute.
Before you buy a starter, load-test the battery and check the ground strap. A weak battery cripples these EFI systems exactly the way a tired starter does. If the EFI light blinks codes, count the blinks and look them up before ordering parts, because owners have swapped sensors that were never the problem.
Broken motor mounts can take the engine out
This is the expensive one, and it is specific to these 700s. The rear motor mount bolt can fatigue and break, and once the engine is free to rock, it moves around enough to destroy things. An ArcticChat owner with a 2008 XTX bought the machine used, and the rear mount bolt had broken. The engine was rocking and the piston broke apart. The damage ran to a new crankshaft and piston. A replacement motor runs $3,000 or more, and he had paid $3,000 for the whole machine, so the repair cost as much as the rig.
That failure started as a click when he tried to start it. Inside, the starter was burnt up and the spark plug was smashed, which is the telltale sign that the engine has moved inside its mounts. The mount bolts on the Prowler 700 are a good thing to check on any machine you buy, especially one with real miles. A loose or broken mount shows up as a clunk when you shift into gear, or an engine that visibly rocks when you rev it.
If the mount is bad, replace it before you ride hard. The cost of a mount and bolts is trivial next to the engine internals they protect. Owners who caught it early walked away with a cheap repair. The ones who did not were shopping for engines. When you look at a used XTX, rock the engine by hand and watch the rear mount for movement.
Rough running and misfires once the engine warms up
A 2011 XTX owner described it perfectly. The machine starts fine and pulls hard when cold, then gradually starts bucking and misfiring as it warms up. Give it throttle and it bogs. Back off and it keeps stumbling. Let it cool down and it runs great again, right up until it heats back up. He did most of his own work and was stumped.
That pattern points at an ignition or fuel issue that only shows at temperature. Compression and valves do not change with heat, so a hot-only misfire is electrical or fuel-related almost every time. The smart way to diagnose it is to test in the exact conditions where it fails: warm the machine up, then check for spark while it is misfiring. A coil or plug wire that tests fine cold can fail once the engine bay is hot. Corroded connectors and bad grounds cause the same hot-only symptoms, so clean those before buying parts.
Voltage matters here too. These EFI systems are sensitive to a weak battery, and a machine that stumbles when hot should have its battery load-tested before you start swapping ignition parts. Owners who fixed theirs usually landed on the ignition side after eliminating fuel, but the thread for this one never got a confirmed ending. Some of these are stubborn, and you work them one check at a time.
What the front differential lock actually does
The 700 XTX is a 2WD/4WD machine with an electric front differential lock, and that lock is one of the reasons the model is popular for trail work. The rear end confuses owners more than it should. A 2009 XTX owner tested his rear differential by jacking up one wheel at a time. With both rear wheels off the ground, turning one wheel spun the other. With only the left wheel lifted, it turned free without spinning the driveshaft, while the right wheel turned the shaft. That behavior is normal for an open differential, and the replies confirmed it.
Know what the front lock does before you rely on it. It forces both front wheels to turn together, which is for getting unstuck and crawling through soft ground, not for high-speed running. With the lock engaged, the steering gets noticeably heavier, which catches new owners off guard on tight trails. The lock is electric, so if it stops engaging, check the switch and the wiring first, then the actuator, before you assume the differential itself is damaged.
Use the 2WD/4WD selector and the lock as separate tools. Run 2WD for flat towing and light duty, 4WD for most trail work. Save the front lock for the moments you actually need both front wheels pulling together. Engaging it on hard ground makes the machine push wide in turns and stresses the front drivetrain, so treat it like a recovery tool rather than a driving mode.
What to check before buying a used Prowler 700 XTX
Clean XTX units are getting old now, and condition matters more than miles. The official Arctic Cat spec sheet for the 2013 model lists a 695cc SOHC four-valve EFI single with an automatic CVT (engine braking, high and low range, reverse, park) and a 2/4WD drivetrain with the electric front lock. Dry weight is 1,251 pounds and towing capacity is 1,500 pounds. The fuel tank holds 8.2 gallons. The suspension is double A-arm with 10 inches of travel front and rear on a 75-inch wheelbase. Know those numbers before you negotiate.
Start the inspection at the belt housing. Pull the drain plug and smell what comes out; oil means seals, and seals mean the clutches have been running wet. Check the motor mounts, especially the rear one, by rocking the engine by hand and watching for movement. Ask about the starter. Machines that click on cold mornings are often one slow starter away from a no-start.
Then look at how the previous owner serviced it. No records is a gamble on any 700. Test drive it until it is fully hot, because the hot-misfire issue only shows after the engine is up to temperature. Shift through high, low, reverse and park, then engage the front lock on gravel and confirm the 4WD engages cleanly. If the seller cannot show you the machine starting cold, walk away.
If the 700 XTX is not the right fit, the Prowler 650 shares the same basic layout and has its own set of issues, while the bigger Prowler 1000 is a different beast entirely. For other brands, the Polaris Ranger has specific model years to avoid, plus the Honda Pioneer 700 and Kawasaki Mule 3010 are solid alternatives if you want a lower-maintenance work rig.
Maintenance that keeps a 700 out of the shop
The 700 XTX is not a high-maintenance machine, but it punishes neglect in specific places. The belt housing is the first thing to check. If you ride in mud and water, the housing can pull in moisture; moisture plus a hot belt is how belts die early. Drain the housing and inspect it a couple of times a season, and keep the vent clear.
Oil changes matter more here than on most machines because the wet clutch shares the engine oil. Old oil carrying clutch material shifts worse and slips more. The engine is liquid cooled with a fan, so keep the radiator and cooling fins clear of mud; an overheated 700 loses power and burns belts. The air filter loads up fast on dusty trails, and a plugged filter on an EFI machine shows up as hesitation under load.
Keep the battery on a maintainer over the winter. These EFI systems are sensitive to low voltage, and a weak battery causes no-starts and odd misfires, plus diagnostic codes that send owners down rabbit holes. Grease the suspension points regularly and check tire pressure on the 26-inch tires before long rides. Replace the belt at the first sign of glazing. Machines that get this treatment are the ones still earning their keep years later.
The Prowler 700 XTX is a capable and comfortable work machine with real trail chops, and owners do not buy them by accident. The failures that show up on forums are consistent and mostly fixable: watch the belt housing for oil and check the motor mounts. Keep the starter and battery healthy, and test any used machine when it is fully hot. Do that and the 700 will earn its keep for years. If you want something sportier, the Wildcat 1000 is a completely different machine with its own problem list to work through.
If you’re ordering supplies, CVT belt and synthetic ATV oil are the items owners reach for first when they start working on these machines.
