Frozen steering?

[XP123]

A little over a week ago I went through a water hole on the trail that was pretty deep. Ever since my steering has froze in the morning. It really sucks trying to turn this sled when it's froze. It takes some time to thaw then it's fine for the rest of the day till the next morning.

What I found was the clutch side steering boot is filled with ice and when it freezes over night it is a bear to steer. I'm hoping when it finally has a chance to thaw out I won't have anymore issues.

I was wondering if the water hole is to blame or maybe just riding through all the fresh powder is to blame. Anybody else have this issue? It looks like it's only on the clutch side so maybe it's the powder melting around the clutch and not the water hole?

 

[ROCKERDAN]

No issue here Joe.....Lots of powder and crazy cold.

Bigger question is, where did you find water in these temps? haha

Im guessing it was the water...My boots seem very flexible.

Can you heat the area maybe heat gun?. Dry it out ect?

Dan

 

[geez150]

No water holes here by mine did it after riding for the weekend then sitting in the enclosed trailer till Saturday. I blamed it on being left out in that brutally cold weather we had here in Western NY. After some miles it loosened up but it did take quite a bit.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

No water holes here by mine did it after riding for the weekend then sitting in the enclosed trailer till Saturday. I blamed it on being left out in that brutally cold weather we had here in Western NY. After some miles it loosened up but it did take quite a bit.

Brutal cold? LOL...Im from Falls area, and those temps were nothing...lol

Mine at minus 33 , all is well...nothing like this happening.

I assume you guys pulled the plastics and looked in there to see if any snow got in, turned to slush and then refroze ect.

Dan

 

[RtxViper]

just experienced this the last couple days as temps are from 5 degrees to -20 here. we just got a big snow storm and was out banging drifts and the next day the steering was frozen and sucks to drive that way. put heat on in the garage over night it was fine when i left in the morning but after riding for 5 minutes it started to freeze up again, so i returned home and took the tie rod boots off and its full of snow and ice inside there cleaned it out best i could and sprayed wd40 on all of it and it was much better, not perfect though i am going to get it completely dried out today and spray it down again as we have another big storm coming tonight and crazy below zero temps coming and don't want to deal with this nothing like having 200 hp and sticky steering! any one else have ideas to deal with this issue?

 

[staggs65]

My friends did the same last week up north, no water

 

[Mr.V]

Frozen steering.

First post, been an avid user of this site for years. It has helped me through many sticky situations. Riding all the big Yamaha’s since 1987. Tried one Polaris but 3 engines later decided I couldn’t afford them. Ontario, Quebec, Minnesota blah blah. Who really cares?

When the sidewinder is on nothing else is comparable. Which day will that be? 2018 Ltx 137 with a cobra 1.6 ice ripper.

I’m experiencing the same intermittent frozen steering issue. Ive had it come and go on the same day in cold weather. I’ve lubed all steering components that are easily accessible without dismantling steering shaft. Loosesened steering clamp (twice), constant fresh silicone lube on tie rods and snow boots plus ensured interior steering area is clear of snow . Coming out of a heated garage fully melted it still occurs. Going to look at btm of shaft and see what’s up.

Saying all this I’m getting real tired of fighting handling issues with this sled. I’ve owned it 13 months and have put 7500 km on it. Gave up at 2500 km on endlessly adjusting the suspension and spent another $600 for new pilot 6.9’s for a brand new sled. I thought I had it cured at that point. I did the rollover valve bypass after my dealer complained about faulty seals on the oil tank ( I corrected him).Had a serious overheat traced to a faulty rad cap. Now I’m reading about bolts falling out of the roller in the chain case. This one is definitely not built in Japan.

Yamaha has always been so good to me with reliability, any warranty work and a great dealer. However this can’t continue.

 

[sledheadgeorge]

I've had this problem twice. Once when there was a fresh dump of powder, about 18 inches, and the second time on extreme cold weather ride with very dry dusty snow accumulation of about 4 inches.
I find that there are quite a few areas were it creeps into. The boots are the primary area of accumulation. But I think what accumulates there is coming in from other areas.
I definitely don't want to ride a big stretch of open water with is ride.
How are the mountain guys dealing with this?

 

[Pstn head]

Spray some good lube right into the boots.

 

[stevewithOCD]

There is a ball joint at the bottom of the steering post. The first year i removed mine, and noticed it did not rotate very well. When i replaced it, the new one was as loose as a summer goose on your private lake beach.
You'll have to just put a nozzle in there & spray the BOPOOPIES out of it. It may make a mess, but a little extra oil in the belly pan.............well is just messy.
BUT at least it should help. It's upside down so if you can get a penetrant that turns to grease in there while a bud keeps rotating steering, it should work.
I think i used Fluid-Film.

 

[Mr.V]

I appreciate the feed back.

Sledgeorge discusses snow dust. I looked into trying to keep it out, virtually impossible. Vents and slots all over the cowl for cooling.

Piston head had a good idea about keeping the boots lubed but this is already being done.

I think Steve has found the issue. The schematics show a cylindrical tube at the btm of the steering shaft that has a bolt up through it. My gut feeling was that this area is holding water in some hidden spot and is not lubed. Also this area receives minimal engine heat so that’s not helping.

Just back from Mont Valin so I’ll put it in the garage tmw and see what I can do. I will try and spray it for now and when convenient take it apart and see about perhaps a waterproof grease like Belray for the dirt bikes. It almost looks like it needs a grease fitting on the tube.

I will update with results. Thanks again.

 

[XP123]

Guys with 900t's are reporting issues with frozen steering also. Myself and my wife have had zero issues with any ice or snow under the hood.

I think this can happen on pretty much any sled in the right (or wrong) conditions. When my Winder did it last year I ended up putting it in a heated shop for a few days to really get it to not only thaw out but dry out also. I never had another problem after that.

 

[DennyTuna]

Had the same thing happen last week, frozen steering. Man that is some scary stuff, talk about the death grip....holy cow! The right side boot was full of ice so I pulled the boot off cleared that ice out and heated up the rest of the steering joints to clear that ice build up inside the motor compartment. Of course this was in the parking lot at the cabin we were staying at (no fun) but, all was good afterword's.

 

[Mr.V]

Broke trail through 24 inches of new snow in Quebec for over 40 km. Ride of a lifetime. I had to stand up entire time as even with the pilot 6.9’s sled couldn’t pull up out of the deep snow. Never would have made it without the 136x1.6 or the pilots. Pretty much ran the crap out of the sled, which is what we all do. Keeping snow out is not an option. I also have repeatedly left it in a heated garage for up to a week and it continues to do it. It’s is a trapped water/lubricant issue.

Update to follow

 

[Yamatario]

We were sledding for 5 days in north Ontario a week ago and we had 10" fresh snow one night. So from breaking trail and enjoying some deep snow boondocking steering was frozen next morning. 10km out next morning we had to stop as one guy on a back country had problems with his visor plug. 15 min later we started up and my steering had thawed from engine heat under hood.