heat exchanger questions...

[ragdoll]

Im referencing the following post and did not want to hijack it:

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?t=65458

I'm a newb, so bear with me. Where exactly is the heat exchanger? How does it work? Why is one even needed on a liquid cooled sled?

Seems to me there would be plenty to keep to keep a snowmobile cool, especially the winter temps.

 

[RoicIND]

Think of it as a radiator as sorts. Instead of/or in addition to injesting cold air (as the Phazers do with a small radiator) through the front, in the tunnel you'll find a large aluminum housing that flows radiator fluid. When snow is kicked up by the track, it hits the heat exchanger and cools the fluid.

 

[ZAKSTANG]

the issue is that the open hole in tunnel causes the snow hittin exhaust to turn to water which gets thrown on the heat exchanger and freezes up...hence the reason most people close the hole in the tunnel, to prevent overheating....there are pics of this problem on this website...just not sure where they are....my guess is that is what is happening to your phazer....it happened to mine before i closed the hole and put the raditor fan on

 

[ragdoll]

Think of it as a radiator as sorts. Instead of/or in addition to injesting cold air (as the Phazers do with a small radiator) through the front, in the tunnel you'll find a large aluminum housing that flows radiator fluid. When snow is kicked up by the track, it hits the heat exchanger and cools the fluid.

I see, I get it now. So air cooled fan sleds don't have heat exchangers then right?

Why would water freezing on the heat exchanger cause any issues? It still cooling the fluid running through the inside, isn't it? How would that over heat anything?

 

[RoicIND]

It requires the movement of snow accross it in order to turn liquid in order to transfer heat. If ice builds up in front of it, it begins to act as an insulator (even though it's ice)

 

[ZAKSTANG]

a gap forms between the big chunk of ice and the exchanger....also, that big chunk of ice weighs a lot...cover the hole in tunnel and get the raditor fan installed and you will be good to go...

 

[ragdoll]

ahhhh, makes sense now....my Phazer is an 08, so has a rad fan, as for the tunnel close-off, that's now on my list.

Thanks all!

 

[ZAKSTANG]

that will solve your problem...

 

[Motoman765]

Here this is a picture of what happens. This is from the first year I had the sled before I closed the hole in the tunnel. The snow melted by the exhaust, freezes over the heat exchanger in front of the track, and forms an ice dam. Not allowing any fresh snow to cool the heat exchanger. Thus over heating the engine. I carried a stick around with me the first year (before I closed the hole) to knock the ice out when the light came on.