Coolant Flush Procedure and replace with Engine Ice

[Termite]

Had a couple of nytros this past weekend in the Michigan UP overheat. Temperature was 5 degrees F hard packed trails with 10-12" of base and 24-36" of powder and these machines kept overheating. These are perfect snow conditions in my opinion. Overheat light came on 30-40 times...

First Machine - 09 Nytro XTX coolant mixed 50/50 with 3-4 oz of water wetter additive

Second Machine -09 Nytro XTX coolant mixed 60
%gylcol/40%water with the mountain cooler added

Were going to replace all the coolant with Engine Ice to hopefully solve the overheat issue. This stuff is expensive at $20 for a 1/2 gallon. For those that have done this all ready is there anything that we need to watch out for or not do? We plan on rinsing the system with water before the fill and also blow out the remaining coolant with air. Any tips or tricks?

We ride these machines hard and have had overheat issues on occasion, but these conditions this past week just had both of us so ticked at our machines. We couldn't ride them like we normally would and took a little of the snowmobiling fun out of the whole experience.

Thanks,

 

[canoehead]

Obviously you live in the States because in Canada it's $30.00 for less than 2 litres. Approx 1.9 Quarts.
P.S. I gotta start wearing lipstick cuz I might as well get kissed everytime I get F***ED!! lol

 

[billymx815]

This tpoic has been beat to death so do a search and you'll see everyones tricks & answers. I ride hard packed trails in Maine and my Nytro would overheat almost everytime no matter how hard or easy I rode so this is what I did that worked great for me.
#1 Flushed out the factory coolant and rinsed with distilled water.
#2 Replaced factory coolant with engine ice
#3 Added approx ounce of Redline water wetter
#4 cut in special vents in the top, front, and rear of each side panel so cool air can push out the hot air trapped under hood
#5 cut in a vent near the gauge pod to allow heat to rise out under hood while traveling at slower speeds or stopped

I have not overheated since these mods but there are 2 more mods I am going to do once I figure out how.
#1 Close off rear of the tunnel to stop ice build up and allow snow to hit heat exchanger in front of tunnel
#2 wire the radiator fan so it comes on when the engine starts (on all the time)

 

[NyTrOMaNIaC]

I know some guys use this in their race bikes, and they say it keeps the engine quite a bit cooler and improves hp results, but I wonder if a sled would benefit the same ?

 

[sleddingfarmer]

I would just put the MTX cooler on your nytro. Problem solved.

Checking that your coolant is at the correct ratio is a good idea too, water wetter also. And Venting is also good.

But I think the main problem is the the whole cooling system is just too small, so the added cooler and fluid helps the most.

 

[mtotguy]

I got a hot light on my RTX while riding powder. Flipped the sled on it's side and found an ice dam had formed between the front of the track and the heat exchanger. It wouldn't let snow hit the heat exchanger. I knocked the dam out and all was well. In 4400 miles it is the only time it ever got hot.

 

[Termite]

Thanks for the feedback so far. We have a machine with the mountain cooler and that doesn't seem to help any. Seems like when the conditions are just right we can't stop these machines from overheating. For $40 dollars and 40 minutes seems like an easy solution. I'll let you know in a week and a half if it worked.

Thanks,

 

[bitchnblue09]

Overheating

I read about all you guys with your overheating issues, and I think -WOW!! I have the 09 XTX and have 3800 miles on it and the only time my light came on was I let it idle to long and thenthe engine just shuts down after like 10 min or so ,so i let it sit for awhile and it started up and no light... Then just took off riding and never had a problem since.. i have rode in 35-45 degrees above -- and i have rode in -15-to-25 below temps and have never had an issue with that... Have left the factory coolant in and havent even changed it... I also ride hard, on trail- off trail, deep snow, hard snow, 90+ mph for miles and no issues... Not sure why you guys have these problems.... I can also say I have had ZERO issues with my sled at 3800 miles, other than I just put on my third set of Hyfax yesterday, other than that nothing else, nothing at all...mine must of been made on a Wed...just FYI... Happy trails....

 

[09nytro]

Re: Overheating

I read about all you guys with your overheating issues, and I think -WOW!! I have the 09 XTX and have 3800 miles on it and the only time my light came on was I let it idle to long and thenthe engine just shuts down after like 10 min or so ,so i let it sit for awhile and it started up and no light... Then just took off riding and never had a problem since.. i have rode in 35-45 degrees above -- and i have rode in -15-to-25 below temps and have never had an issue with that... Have left the factory coolant in and havent even changed it... I also ride hard, on trail- off trail, deep snow, hard snow, 90+ mph for miles and no issues... Not sure why you guys have these problems.... I can also say I have had ZERO issues with my sled at 3800 miles, other than I just put on my third set of Hyfax yesterday, other than that nothing else, nothing at all...mine must of been made on a Wed...just FYI... Happy trails....

Me too

 

[09nytro]

pioneer performance has a rear heat exchanger for the fx nytro just seen it on there sit . check it out

 

[Termite]

Well we flushed our entire cooling system with water and replaced with engine ice. Long story short it didn't work or even help with the overheat light. This gets me so pissed when I can't even ride the machine the way I want to. Basically have to run 30mph like a grandma to cool this thing down. Over heat light came on 15-20 times this past weekend in -5 F to 20 F with perfect snow conditions. Didn't matter if you were in the powder, hard pack, or loose snow. SOB keeps overheating.

I wish I would of read the entire 9 pages of the overheating post before wasting my time with the engine ice and $40 bucks. Yammi Mountain cooler doesn't help either. We have two machines in our group. Both with trail tanks and one with the yammi mountain cooler. The machine with the mountain cooler the light didn't come on as often, but it still came on a lot.

Here's the link to the other overheating thread. http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... verheating

Guess it is time to make my own tunnel heat exchanger or buy one for $300-$500 bucks. I think I can make one out of 1" copper plumbing for less than $80 bucks. It will be a summer project if I decide to do it.

Yamaha really screwed up on this one. Not sure if I'll buy another one. After the hand warmers, trail tank, XTX limiter strap issues, 50lb ice tunnel babies, A-arm bushings, ball joints, and the list goes on. Never had this many problems with my 07 renegade. Yeah the yammi engines are great, but I could of rebuilt 3 skidoo 2 smokers with all the extra money to fix this machine where it should of been from the factory.

Not a very happy Yamaha owner right now.

 

[nytroman20]

Try bleeding the system. Let her idle with the rad cap off till she gets hot and no more bubbles come out. I had the same problem till I did this. I did mine with sled on an angle.. Don't know if that helped the procedure but the bleeding sure did.

 

[billymx815]

Yes...You have to bleed the system well or you will overheat. The Engine Ice, Water Wetter, and cooling vents worked for me.

 

[Old Thumper]

I just added a manual bypass switch so I can run the fan when I want/need to, rather than letting it get up to 190 deg and then turning fan on. I also installed a set of Slidekicks scratchers on the skis. I'm just running regular Prestone antifreeze mixed 60-40, and my sled stays nice and cool even when running on hardpacked trails.
Scratchers are a much more economical fix than the MTX cooler, plus they also will greatly reduce slider wear. I wish I had put them on 2 yrs ago.

 

[billymx815]

I just added a manual bypass switch so I can run the fan when I want/need to, rather than letting it get up to 190 deg and then turning fan on. I also installed a set of Slidekicks scratchers on the skis. I'm just running regular Prestone antifreeze mixed 60-40, and my sled stays nice and cool even when running on hardpacked trails.
Scratchers are a much more economical fix than the MTX cooler, plus they also will greatly reduce slider wear. I wish I had put them on 2 yrs ago.

Old Thumper - how did you wire the fan? Is it easy to do? Do you have any pics showing which wire to wire in the manual switch with?
I've been wanting to do that for awhile now.
Yes good call on the scratchers