phazer blew coolant out on to trail, what failed?

[snomaniac]

My buddy and I took four 12 year olds riding saturday. The temp was 33f, snow was loose oatmeal type,(sled really railed) my temp light would come on if it was left idling for more than a minute.(I have all the recalls but the radiator fan which dealer wouldn't help on) I then would just take off and dip in to some off trail deep snow or get some air to the radiator(speed up) and it would go out quickly. Had no problems normal trail riding until.... one of the kids sleds went down so we towed it behind my buddies sled and since we were in some hilly terrain we decided it safer I ride the dead sled. So we put one of the kids on my phazer. I gave him instructions that if he saw the yellow light to wave his arm, pull off the trail and shut the engine off. Well you guessed it, 1 mile down the trail he pulled off. Upon going back to check it out I see a little steam, antifreeze pouring out from my skid plate, and hear the hissing of coolant on the exhaust I assume. Kid states the obvious, so I tear into it. I find the coolant resevoir empty, the side panel on that side is dry, the overflow hose is draped down pointing to where all the coolant is running off the skid plate. All connections and hoses are intact and the radiator is fine. The only thing I can't see is where the coolant goes into the engine. So my question is... would this thing heat up enough in a mile at 15mph to spew coolant out the overflow and if so would it be enough to empty the resevoir? I know the resevoir is small....or is there a connection on the bottom of the motor that could have failed? or something worse? I am going to fill it with coolant and see if anything runs out, then if nothing leaks, I think I'll try to start it ( which I haven't tried yet for fear of damage) if nothing leaks then I assume it boiled over? If it does leak under power I may have a huge problem huh? Any advice would be appreciated. Oh yeah the kids learned about being prepared for anything(bring tow straps etc which we did) and saw the not so glamorous side of snowmobiling. We did get 60 miles of good riding before murphy took over.

 

[cannondale27]

Thats what I would do.If really worried about leaks many shops can pressure check the system.Before the fan was installed on mine overheat light came on all the time going slow.Never spewed coolant though.So get the fan as soon as you can.

 

[erosled]

Wet snow, low speed, asking engine to pull double what it normally does= hot really quick. Top off the coolant and ride it.

 

[yam177]

Most likly out the overflow. You can pressure test it to be sure should hold 14 PIS for 30 min

 

[SharkAttak]

mine use to over heat all the time, i finally took all the anti-freeze out re-placed with a 50/50 mix, added water wetter, got all the air out of the system, then went to my dealer and they put the fan in for free, never over heated in any condition again

 

[snomaniac]

Wet snow, low speed, asking engine to pull double what it normally does= hot really quick. Top off the coolant and ride it.

Didn't tow with the phazer, but the low speed, and wet snow contributed.

Good news, topped it off with diluted antifreeze took about 30-40 oz. no leaks. Started it... no leaks, no error messages, runs fine at idle and on track stand(no snow to ride it here). I think I freaked and feared the worse. Thanks for the responses guys. We should be good to go and 4 inches of snow on the way to boot.

 

[SharkAttak]

good to hear

 

[woolyviper]

they don't like to sit and idle when they are hot - make sure you shut it down or it will shut itself down.

 

[yamahas]

It really shouldn't have overflowed if he pulled off to the side right away. How new is the Phazer?

 

[snomaniac]

It's an 07, with 1600 miles. I guess that's why I had the panic going. I kind of thought it might automatically shut down when too hot. (like at idle when you let it sit to long)I suppose that's what the overflow is for, before something else fails or you warp your head. I'm just happy it's still alive to ride another day. Something catastrophic would end my season.

 

[phaze5]

when it happens to mine its because the snow blocks the heat exchanger, blast some jumps and it breakes off

 

[yamahas]

1600miles is well past the break in period, just asking because when my rtx was getting broken in i would have to stop every 15 mins... same with my buddy's adrenaline. Once i got passed the break in period it hasent had the light come on since.

 

[elliotts]

well when my phazer was overheating and blowing out antifreeze, I ended up blowing it up cause the head gasket was blown, bring it back to the dealer and let them go over it just to be safe

 

[snomaniac]

I've run 250 miles since the over flow and it's running great. No leaks, coolant level is correct, all is good.(knock on wood)