yet another no start problem

[yamahawk07]

Hello to all, new user here. I've a new to me '07 that I use servicing ski huts at 11-12,000 feet in the colorado rockies. Glad to have the simmons gen II to help with the powder on the backcountry un-groomed trails. I've worn out one '06 and when I took it in to the dealer he had a '07 trade in for me, with 500 miles on it. Sweet. So I am 8 miles out in the backcountry on a 6 to 8 foot deep drifted hard pack getting my fall firewood in a little early - June 7th! logs slide so easy when the surface is firm. It warms up, about 40 f I suppose, and I'm trying to pull a big log. I pull it to within a hundred yards of my log yard. The beast sputters and coughs a time or two, then simply dies on me. Yes, I'd hauled four or five good logs a quarter mile to the hut. Yes, I noticed a little red light on the instrument panel for the last run (my eyes arn't what they used to be and I'd left my reading glasses off for chainsawing safety work glasses). No telling what the light was. So next thing I know, I get nothing. Kill switch is up, the most I can get out of the key switch is a slight click, from the lower part of the engine compartment. Not quite like the vigourous clicking of a starter solenoid without adequate voltage. SO, I let it cool with the hood up funneling a brisk wind onto the engine for a half hour, but still nothing. So, wary of postholing on the eight miles back to the truck, I hiked out as fast as I could. Now I want to retrieve my sled and saw!
My questions are: What indications do you groomers have when your VKpro is overheating? I popped the radiator top open gingerly after a half hour, no geyser or anything. Is there a safety system reset I need to hit to allow me to re-sart the beast? Is my luck just bad enough that this apparently electrical stoppage is unrelated to the work I was doing? Any advice from any of you true greybeards?

 

[MrSled]

it was red light or was it yellow?? Did you check to see if you have enough oil?? or fuel??

You say you get no noise when you turn the key, no clicking?

 

[yamahawk07]

It WAS a red light. The sled did make a single little click when the key was turned, from deep under the engine compartment, very faint. Not a series of clicks like when a starter solenoid is trying to tell you that you don't have enough juice to turn over the engine. I did check the engine oil, the fuel, and the coolant. All fluids were present. Thanks for thinking about this problem!

 

[MrSled]

Is there still a red light on or a caution light and or fault codes??

 

[yamahas]

Was the light on while you where riding or once you started experiencing problems?

I would check connections to the battary and any others that you can see. I am not sure if the vk can run with no battery or not but i have seen a loose battery cable cause a big problem to some sleds.

 

[MrSled]

Was the light on while you where riding or once you started experiencing problems?

I would check connections to the battary and any others that you can see. I am not sure if the vk can run with no battery or not but i have seen a loose battery cable cause a big problem to some sleds.

Or even the positive and negative hook ups at the starter and relay by the battery.

 

[Joner]

Could be voltage rectifier failure. It's in a bad spot in the nose under that plastic flap. Water drips on it and corrodes the posts closest to the engine. Once it goes you drive until the battery goes dead. Pull the connectors off and check the posts. If it's OK I would put some dilithium grease in there as mine left me in the bush with this problem.

 

[yamahawk07]

Mr Sled, I didn't have any indicator information at all when I left the sled, and it is still out there in the boondocks. I expect to get out to it this week. I just want to go as prepared as possible for likely things I can poke and prod at. I will check the battery and starter connections, although with only 600 some odd miles on the machine I don't think the corrosion issues are a problem. I have had one guy tell me that in an overheat situation it will shut it self down and restart is only possible when it has thouroughly cooled. The red light was on before the beast coughed a couple of times and quit running. I was busy with the load and driving and was unable to see if the light was STILL on when it quit, but I suspect it was.
Thanks to all for any hints I might check on when I do get back to the sled. I'd like to get it out while there is still a snow pack to drive it out on.

 

[yamahawk07]

well, Hiked out the ridge yesterday to check on the sled, only to find the battery as dead as a doornail. I am sort of relieved as the road is melted out in many places and the drifts that remain are quite steep and angled in places- it would've been tough sledding anyway. Does anyone know if a vkpro will run until the battery is dead, and then simply not turn over or anything? I am suspecting this is what has happened. I was unable to find any corrosion or anything on the the (tight) cables. Can I assume (if this is the only problem) that a simple battery replacement will solve the problem? I'm just going to have to wait until the six foot drifts melt out and retrieve the beast with the truck...

 

[yamahas]

If the problem is simply the battery is done a simple swap will bring it back to life. Chances are that something else is up. Something in the charging system has to have gone south for the battery to die.

I have read about some cases where something in the battery brakes and can't complete the circuit and the sled dies (If the VK is one of those sleds that can't run with no battery).

When you do get a new battery on the sled check the voltage before and after the sled is running. With the sled running it should be closer to 13 or even 14V. If that is the case you may be in luck.

So try charging the battery and try it. If that does fix the problem I would replace it anyways since most of the time a battery does not like to be completely discharged. It will no longer be as reliable when the cold hits.

Good luck!

 

[yamahawk07]

Well, retrieved the beast over the summer with the truck. Added a new battery, managed to get it to run, but red light still on, flashing a "21" code at me. Couldn't find anything wrong with it, except it was barely running (carb jets dirty on 2 out of three). Gave up and hauled it to the dealer. Turns out the "21" code is coolant system fault - shop rectified it by re-fastening the coolant temperature plug (a $ ouch for my stupidity)! -Which had gotten knocked loose somehow with my poking and prodding. The carberators cleaned up and fresh high test gasoline with carb cleaner (B12) in and we are back in business. Good luck to all and thanks for your comments!