bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
So last season 2800 km, my machine didn't over heat once, all kinds of running conditions.
The other day, I realized that my coolant was not mixed at all, straight coolant. I decided to thin it out. I did not drain it down but simply took coolant from the over flow bottle and replaced it with 50/50 premix until I got it where I wanted it. I then added the prescribed amount of water wetter as well.
At first, I did withdraw some of the pure coolant from the radiator directly. When I realized this wasn't the best idea, I replaced it and sealed that back up.
Today, after driving almost 400km round trip for our first rip of the season I had nothing but problems.
First time I got 10 km before the light came on. Stopped, waited it out. Went again. got another 3 km. Stopped, waited it out. Ran sled with radiator cap off. You could clearly see when the coolant would start the circulate and it appeared to be circulating. So I don't think it is the thermostat. A fair bit of bubbles did come out doing this.
Put it back together, med it a further 17 km. No more light. Stopped for a few minutes, when I started it up again, it immediately overheated. By this time we decided to call it a day since we had missed the group we were meeting up with to show us a new play area. Decided to head back to the truck.
In the 30 km return trip I went 4, 3, 9, 5, 4, 5 km intervals, with the light coming on every time, 10 minutes for it to cool off.
This is mind boggling to me. The fan seems to be working (sure I could hear it). This sled is identical to last year with one exception. I have installed a Trail Tank.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I can't see how I would have gotten air into the system but that seems to be maybe the problem. The light is not malfunctioning. The sled was definitely hot.
Temps were between 0 and -5 Celcius. Trail conditions were ideal. Freshly groomed trail with brand new loose snow. There was no ice build up today so no ice dam by the heat exchanger.
How does one go about bleeding this coolant system of air if that is the case?
Our annual trip out to the best area in our province is coming up in three days. It is not possible for me to get this to a dealer in between and I generally do everything myself. Does anyone have anything to suggest? I can't trailer this sled to 8 hours away and go 4km at a time.
The other day, I realized that my coolant was not mixed at all, straight coolant. I decided to thin it out. I did not drain it down but simply took coolant from the over flow bottle and replaced it with 50/50 premix until I got it where I wanted it. I then added the prescribed amount of water wetter as well.
At first, I did withdraw some of the pure coolant from the radiator directly. When I realized this wasn't the best idea, I replaced it and sealed that back up.
Today, after driving almost 400km round trip for our first rip of the season I had nothing but problems.
First time I got 10 km before the light came on. Stopped, waited it out. Went again. got another 3 km. Stopped, waited it out. Ran sled with radiator cap off. You could clearly see when the coolant would start the circulate and it appeared to be circulating. So I don't think it is the thermostat. A fair bit of bubbles did come out doing this.
Put it back together, med it a further 17 km. No more light. Stopped for a few minutes, when I started it up again, it immediately overheated. By this time we decided to call it a day since we had missed the group we were meeting up with to show us a new play area. Decided to head back to the truck.
In the 30 km return trip I went 4, 3, 9, 5, 4, 5 km intervals, with the light coming on every time, 10 minutes for it to cool off.
This is mind boggling to me. The fan seems to be working (sure I could hear it). This sled is identical to last year with one exception. I have installed a Trail Tank.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I can't see how I would have gotten air into the system but that seems to be maybe the problem. The light is not malfunctioning. The sled was definitely hot.
Temps were between 0 and -5 Celcius. Trail conditions were ideal. Freshly groomed trail with brand new loose snow. There was no ice build up today so no ice dam by the heat exchanger.
How does one go about bleeding this coolant system of air if that is the case?
Our annual trip out to the best area in our province is coming up in three days. It is not possible for me to get this to a dealer in between and I generally do everything myself. Does anyone have anything to suggest? I can't trailer this sled to 8 hours away and go 4km at a time.
2008 Nytro RTX
TY 4 Stroke God
So there was good lose snow and it was cold,Still over heating? I have no idea what the problem could be then. I know last year my sled over heated but that was due to hard packed snow. When your sled is running does the heat exchanger get hot?
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Snow was perfect. Temps were about 27F for our American friends.
Heat exchanger hot. Radiator hot.
Heat exchanger hot. Radiator hot.
2008 Nytro RTX
TY 4 Stroke God
I am lost,My sled never did it. I am sure some one will chime in and give you a helpful response!
hot coolant
park the sled with the front of the sled higher than the back (front up on snowbank) run it for a few mins with the cap off then let it set. if its air locked the air will go to the highest part being radiator .
park the sled with the front of the sled higher than the back (front up on snowbank) run it for a few mins with the cap off then let it set. if its air locked the air will go to the highest part being radiator .
jeffT
Pro
Re: hot coolant
If you didnt have problems last year, then you messed with the cooling system and now you have cooling problems....... pretty obvious you messed something up. good luck
this is what you do. when you opened the radiator you allowed air to get into the system (had it happen on a polaris i had). you have to burp the system free of air. be patient and allow all the air to bubble out of the radiator.dburu2 said:park the sled with the front of the sled higher than the back (front up on snowbank) run it for a few mins with the cap off then let it set. if its air locked the air will go to the highest part being radiator .
If you didnt have problems last year, then you messed with the cooling system and now you have cooling problems....... pretty obvious you messed something up. good luck
fast shee
Veteran
You definatly have air in the system. If you have close access to a local auto dealer or radiator shop, stop by and ask if they have a air evacuator tool that will connect to the top of your radiator and pull a siphon on the system to remove any air from system. You will have to lower the coolant level in the system ( should typically be very low ) to perform this and need a compressor to hook up compressed air. When it sucks all air from system, all rad hoses collapse and you close the valve on tool. There is another hose to connect to and that one sucks coolant from a jug into the system. Works great! I am a technician and have one that use on a daily basis. Could also try a twist on funnel that takes place of your rad cap ( sustem not under pressure ) and let engine run with front of engine up about 1 foot off ground and see if air comes out. Had to do this with my quad after engine work. Good luck!
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
fast shee said:
Thanks Fast Shee.
I have done the following four times now. I elevated the sled up about two feet in front and with the radiator cap on I have run it for 5 minutes until the radiator and heat exchanger are too hot to touch. While it is doing this I have been rocking the sled side to side. Lower it back down, wait for it to cool and top up the radiator. Each time it has taken 6-7 ounces (200 ml) of coolant.
I'll look for the tool you speak of but if I can't find one or a funnel to fit the rad cap, and see if I can get it all on that way.
Amazing what a small bit of air can do. How quick I have forgotten how fussy my kids got when they had a bit of gas stuck and needed a burping ;-)
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
So I did several rounds of this elevating the front, running it till the fan comes on, letting it cool, topping up the radiator and repeat until it stopped going down. That is when I took off the cap it was still full to the top when cooled down. Thought I had it licked.
So today I took it for a long test run over various terrain. For the first hour, I never got over 60 kph (38 mph). It was perfect. Then I got to some groomed trail that was in decent shape and opened her up a bit 70-80 kph with a couple of 90 kph blasts. After about 5 minutes of this, on comes the light again. I stop for 20 minutes, turn around and come home all the way without stopping, riding harder and it didn't come on again.
I really don't know what to do now. I have our annual trip coming up this week and I think I'll have to back out as I'm not trailering to 7 hours away so I can sit in a cabin all weekend as to not ruin everyone else run.
Tonight I picked up a twist on funnel ($40 - yeah for the parts store rapists) and I will give that a try tomorrow. I plan to run it and let it go through all the cycles to make sure the thermostat is working etc (it was the other day on the trail when I was running it without the cap).
A question. When there is no air in the system, when I take off the cap, it should be full, right to the top with coolant right? If it is not right to the neck I'm taking this as a sign that air has escaped right? How does this system work with the coolant tank? When it gets hot and expands I'm assuming it over flows into the tank. When it gets cooler I assume it draws some back? Is it possible that there is something wrong overflow tank that isn't allowing this?
So today I took it for a long test run over various terrain. For the first hour, I never got over 60 kph (38 mph). It was perfect. Then I got to some groomed trail that was in decent shape and opened her up a bit 70-80 kph with a couple of 90 kph blasts. After about 5 minutes of this, on comes the light again. I stop for 20 minutes, turn around and come home all the way without stopping, riding harder and it didn't come on again.
I really don't know what to do now. I have our annual trip coming up this week and I think I'll have to back out as I'm not trailering to 7 hours away so I can sit in a cabin all weekend as to not ruin everyone else run.
Tonight I picked up a twist on funnel ($40 - yeah for the parts store rapists) and I will give that a try tomorrow. I plan to run it and let it go through all the cycles to make sure the thermostat is working etc (it was the other day on the trail when I was running it without the cap).
A question. When there is no air in the system, when I take off the cap, it should be full, right to the top with coolant right? If it is not right to the neck I'm taking this as a sign that air has escaped right? How does this system work with the coolant tank? When it gets hot and expands I'm assuming it over flows into the tank. When it gets cooler I assume it draws some back? Is it possible that there is something wrong overflow tank that isn't allowing this?
Daranello
Suspended
Not sure on the Nytro, but my Attak had a blead screw at the back of the sled. All ya do is lift the read of the sled start it up and bleed away!
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
No such screw on FX Nytro except for the MTX unfortunately.
I'm starting to think it is not air and it is my trail tank. It sure gets hot behind there with the reduced air flow between the tank and the rad.
I'm starting to think it is not air and it is my trail tank. It sure gets hot behind there with the reduced air flow between the tank and the rad.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
So a trip to the dealer and an 8 hour trailer drive to the best riding area in my province and I just got back from 3 days of sitting in the cabin while my buddies rode in prestine back country conditions.
I'm getting really pissed off with this sled.
I'm convinced now I have no air in the system. My theories now include the fact that decreased air flow from the Trail Tank behind the radiator along with a tighter clearance from my Cobra track and the tunnel protectors making icing more frequent is causing my heating issue.
Any opinions on how likely this will be? I was hoping to avoid removing the heat exchanger protectors but will do so if it means I can ride farther than 10 miles on a weekend trip that ends up costing me close to $500. Will cutting some holes in my front cowl help with this?
I'm trying hard not to give up on this machine as I'm not the type to dump my problems on someone else. Even if I decide to sell it I would hope that the new user would be able to ride in 6" of fresh powder or on a newly groomed trail for further than 4-10 km at a time.
I'm getting really pissed off with this sled.
I'm convinced now I have no air in the system. My theories now include the fact that decreased air flow from the Trail Tank behind the radiator along with a tighter clearance from my Cobra track and the tunnel protectors making icing more frequent is causing my heating issue.
Any opinions on how likely this will be? I was hoping to avoid removing the heat exchanger protectors but will do so if it means I can ride farther than 10 miles on a weekend trip that ends up costing me close to $500. Will cutting some holes in my front cowl help with this?
I'm trying hard not to give up on this machine as I'm not the type to dump my problems on someone else. Even if I decide to sell it I would hope that the new user would be able to ride in 6" of fresh powder or on a newly groomed trail for further than 4-10 km at a time.
NyTrOMaNIaC
TY 4 Stroke Master
I say pull the protectors, all they do is hold ice and snow anyway. I removed all of mine, and I run a taller lug track than yours (1.5" Intense) and never had a heat issue ever (knock on wood). I ran on packed groomed trails on Saturday as well, not a problem whatsoever. Sounds to me like you have a blockage in your coolant line or something very rare. Someone would have figured this out by now otherwise. I hope you get it sorted out soon, best of luck 
BTW, what did your dealer think the problem was ? Is your sled still under warranty ? Couldn't they have given you a loaner for the weekend ? I'm pretty sure that if I had your problem, my dealer would loan me his sled for at least a day if not more.
BTW, what did your dealer think the problem was ? Is your sled still under warranty ? Couldn't they have given you a loaner for the weekend ? I'm pretty sure that if I had your problem, my dealer would loan me his sled for at least a day if not more.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
I dropped the sled off at my dealer and picked it up 24 hours later. I was not charged anything. At that point I was assuming their was air in the system and although I was sure I had it out, I wanted them to verify this for me. There is no snow locally so no good of bringing it to them. My experience with them doesn't indicate I would ever get a loaner nor much help with this situation. I will remove the protectors myself and trailer 4+hours each way again to test it myself before going back there, even though I still have 2 years warranty.
After this weekend I'm confident there is no air in the system. The overheating behavior was different and not as frequent but due to my stubbornness, it still ruined the entire trip for me as I just let everyone else go without me as I didn't want to be constantly stopping the ride and waiting out the light.
I really think this is an ice dam issue on the front exchanger. I tipped the sled the few times this happened and both times 50+% of the front heat exchanger was chocked solid with ice. Upon removal of that ice, the light would go out very quickly. It would have been ridable but I didn't want to put it thorough constant over heating cycles as well as constantly having to stop to clear it.
The worst part is locally we are having an abysmal winter. I drove from Deerlake to St. John's yesterday. Basically from Gander east to St. John's (4 hours drive) even the groomed trails are just about bare. Forget off trail which we prefer.
After this weekend I'm confident there is no air in the system. The overheating behavior was different and not as frequent but due to my stubbornness, it still ruined the entire trip for me as I just let everyone else go without me as I didn't want to be constantly stopping the ride and waiting out the light.
I really think this is an ice dam issue on the front exchanger. I tipped the sled the few times this happened and both times 50+% of the front heat exchanger was chocked solid with ice. Upon removal of that ice, the light would go out very quickly. It would have been ridable but I didn't want to put it thorough constant over heating cycles as well as constantly having to stop to clear it.
The worst part is locally we are having an abysmal winter. I drove from Deerlake to St. John's yesterday. Basically from Gander east to St. John's (4 hours drive) even the groomed trails are just about bare. Forget off trail which we prefer.
Similar threads
