Warrior Overheating? Problem - Or Normal For Conditions?

[VT_BluYamaha54]

Ski Dog: I'm very surprised you could "ride 15 miles of road" without the warning light ever coming on based on my experience so far. I rode less that 2 miles and my light was on long enough that I stopped rather than continue & see if more speed (I was going about 20; temp about 27F) would extinguish it. I'm not saying you are crazy or anything - maybe the conditions were different. (How cold was it? How fast were you going? How many miles do you have on your sled? etc.)

I still feel the lack of a rear exchanger is a faulty design because that's where most of the snow hits - regardless of conditions There's allot of engine and the heat has to go somewhere.

I think RX1MTN has part of the picture when he says some snow hits the crossover pipe on the shorter sled. ANY snow hitting the cooling system will help lower coolant temps!

 

[kmer]

Had similar problems last year. It was during the break-in period. It was a bit frustrating to have the light come on. One thing I've learned is to NOT keep topping off the coolant reservoir to the cold fill line.... it just pukes it out right away. As long as I can see fluid in the reservoir....its fine.

You may want to make sure there is no air in the system. You'll have to raise the back end and open the air bleed screw (topside of rear crossover tube) with the engine running. Did it to mine just to eliminate the trapped-air possiblility.

 

[Vermontguy]

Hey VT_Blu, you've convinced me, there is something wrong with the overheating. We went from Morrisville to Danville and back today and the outside temp was from -10 when we started to -17 when we got back and this thing was overheating on me 2-3 times!! When I got back, by the time I started the truck and opened the trailer the thing was hot again! :evil: This is certainly something I'm going to bring up at the dealer, man if it overheats when it's -15 out what's it going to do next month. Tundra's idea may be the way to go with this.

 

[Post Herald]

Warrior temp. light came on once in hard snow on a slow trail ; a quick zap of the gas ,slightly off the trail, and it was off. A firecat with me had the same problem .
I can see where a frozen lake could be a big problem , and I won't be happy ,same as you folks, if that becomes an issue . I have noticed the running boards stay bone dry, no matter what - an indication that they might be working overtime in normal conditions.
Not good !

 

[Post Herald]

One more thing , being that there is some inconsistency in our Warrior reports here, I'd like to add the following:

Certainly not all sled set-up personnel are created equal in their choosen field , that being the case, I believe it's highly possible that there are many , many RX's out there that have cooling systems that are not properly bled . I have witnessed this proceedure (filling the system on a new sled) and it's not simple and appears to be very tedious.

I also know a shop that sent every sled out early in the season with air in their systems- all came back , simply because the set-up guy assumed he knew what he was doing. He did not .
Check it out !

 

[scottr37]

Same problem with my Warrior. In Grand Marais, MI this past week, temp's were below 0 (-8 to -17), overheats with 1-2 mile runs between 70-90 MPH on freshly groomed trails (lots of powder flying). One thing I've noticed, an extremely large block of ice under the skid, below the muffler. Now, if that flew onto the crossover tube, like my RX1, I probably wouldn't be having this problem. Looks like Yami needs to come up with a fix-FAST! I will be checking with my dealer tomorrow. BTW, according to Yamaha's parts finder, there are no changes in any of the cooling system components from last year (water pump and impeller, thermostat and housing, temp sending unit, etc.) I will be checking to be sure that there is no air in the crossover tube today. I will follow up with what I find.

I'm also wondering if anyone has tried to install an SX Viper rear cooler directly above the back of the track, similar to Tundra's, but directly below the muffler heat shield (about 12 inches forward). Think there would be a clearance problem with the track? That would fix my icing problem, but, I don't want to do it at the expense of causing problems with track clearance (I intend to stud the track). Anybody got any ideas?

I think all of us as loyal Warrior owners need to bitch LOUDLY to our dealers, and NOW. Lets get this fixed.

Other than that, I really like this machine, even better than my '03 RX1. Just a bit of push in the corners (6" of carbide, with SX Viper Skis, so I expected it), but I fixed that with a bit more spring pressure (2 threads on each front shock). Suspension is much better than my '03, especially above 55 MPH.

 

[scottr37]

Okay, an update to my previous post.

Cracked the purge bolt in the crossover pipe (never totally unthreaded it)-green within 5 seconds, so, there might have been a bit of air bubble, not too sure.

One thing I find very interesting is that the crossover is basically in the same place as the RX1 shorty. Why does so much ice form on the Warrior when it never did on the 121" short track? All of the ice forms directly above and forward of the rear axle-never did that on the '03 RX1.

 

[rx1mtn]

scottr37, the same thing happens on my RX1 Mountain. This weekend at Kalkaska area I over heated cruising at 35 mph with plenty of snow dust, went off the trail for like 15 seconds. Hot light went off. As in my last post, Im sure its because the snow dosn't hit that cross over tube on the Warrior and Mountain like it does on the shorty. With the mountain sled the ice and snow builds up under the "porch deck" adds like 15 lbs. I tried "Pam" like it was suggested, but I dont think I had that area cleaned off good enough and ice still build up there.

 

[scottr37]

RX1, I've heard that suggestion, but, I don't think that's the answer (regarding the PAM). Yamaha has a problem, and, they need to fix it. If this sled overheats at -10 degrees, what is it going to do at +50, that we rode last year on March 16th, in the UP? (no overheat problems with my '03 RX1) I rode 300 miles that day, on my RX1, no gloves, and everything zipped wide open. The Warrior would be on permanent overheat. Thats not acceptable. I never had to do that with my A'Cats, and for 10 G's, I don't expect to have to do that with my Yami's either! Yes, I'm Pissed!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, I forgot to add, in my original post, my riding buddy, on his '03 RX1 never experienced an overheat condition! He was on point, within 500 feet, until I overheated. Then, he was gone (about 5 miles)

Sounds like the Viper overheat problem, all over again, and, I'm not happy about it!

 

[VT_BluYamaha54]

Well, now it appears that mine is not a fluke! Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences and the specifics of the failures. I believe each and every one of us need to contact our dealer tomorrow to get the ball rolling on this.
As I said in an earlier post, this has "design problem" written all over it. I believe the amount of coolant in the smallish front exchanger and the 2 running board units is insufficient to cool such a large motor. Because there is such a small volume of liquid, the circulation time is too short and consequently the coolant has insufficient time/exposure to ambient air and/or snow to lose enough heat before it is back where it began.
I checked mine for air earlier this week and didn't see enough to amount to anything. I was out riding Friday night in conditions that absolutely should not have caused a cooling problem!! It was approx. 0F and there was between 1-2" of fresh snow on a groomed trail. My overheat came after climbing a fairly long, steady hill at about 18mph. Before I could reach the top I was forced to get over and stop. Again, my faithful riding partner's Ski Doo 600 Legend gauge was right in the upper end of the normal range. Again, I have ridden the same trail many times with my 600SXR and never seen the light even blink! Even going back to my (ancient) Exciter, cooling was not a problem.
Mine is going back to the dealer later in the week to have "everything else" checked prior to requesting assistance from Yamaha. I believe it is going to be hard to get a fix this season - but hope I am wrong. Something needs to be done that will add capacity as well as cooling surface area.
So contact your dealers and document everything. Be firm but not excessively demanding. We are going to need our dealers to be our advocate to help resolve this!

 

[scottr37]

VT, if you refer to your 2003 TOG, the front exchanger is regarded as a secondary radiator circuit. The primary circuit is the running board exchangers, and the crossover tube at the back of the sled. As I said in a previous post, all parts are the same as 2003, at least as far as Yamaha's parts site is concerned. Yamaha didn't do their homework on this one! (Damn, I hate saying that )

I agree with VT, for all of you (and I hope ALL of you) that are affected with this issue, remember, it's not the dealers fault, they're just delivering a product, and have absolutely no control over its manufacture. Your dealer is the best avenue that we have at this point of the game, so, be nice, but firm with them. Remember, your dealer didn't make this thing.

 

[JDKRXW]

If this sled overheats at -10 degrees, what is it going to do at +50

From what I've seen, the warmer the outside air temp., the LESS likely it is that the overheat light will come on.
I think the problem is that the colder it is outside, the less efficient the running board exchangers become. I attribute this to the fact that cold dusty snow doesn't 'stick' to them the same way slushey snow does (see post above about how dry they seem to be in cold weather).
Adding a rear exchanger is probably the easiest way to cooling capacity, but a it MUST be as far back in the tunnel possible to keep clear of the track/suspension when it bottoms out at 100 mph (look at an A/C 1M 151".... it doesn't seem possible for the track to come anywhere near the rear exchanger,,,,,but I know guys who've had the hoses pulled right off the exchanger by the track)

 

[sledheadgeorge]

I to have a Warrior and I think there will be some serious issues for Yamaha to deal with. Just the location of the rear tube that connects both heat exchangers should have been installed at the rear of the tunnel were the flap is. That way it would get hit with the snow from the track spin.

 

[low flying missile]

I installed the 136 inch kit from MPI on my 2003 short tracker. They suggest bleeding the cooling system by tipping the sled up on its right side and running the sled long enough for the thermostat to open. Do this then refill the coolant reservoir and repeat until the sled won't take anymore coolant. Works excellent. I wouldn't hold my breath for a recall from Yamaha.

 

[eraaen]

First time I've posted to this site. This one caught my eye. A buddy and I both took our new '04 Warriors up to N'th WI a couple of weeks back. Both our sleds had the blinking light within 1 min of each other. I had two-up on my sled, he did not. Out of 19 sleds, we were the only two to overheat. Both sleds had less then 200 miles on them. No problems since.