07 RMK 600 peaks at 170 F = Problem?

[JohnJerk]

Absolutely love my bone stock 07 RMK 600 HO with 700 trouble free miles on it. I always watch the temp guage and have gotten to 169 F maybe even 170 F when riding tracked out frozen hard pack up hill. She more typically runs at 140 F to 155 F.

I know venting would help, but I'd rather ride than tinker with it. Is 170 F a problem? I haven't looked at the belt, ever, and it doesn't seem like it stays very cool. If 170 is ok once in a while, at what temp should I turn into the pow to get her cooled back down.

TIA.

 

[sledhead004]

Try barely cracking the antifreeze cap with the sled idiling at a fairly warm temp. Be careful though, keep your hand over the cap with some pressure applied, I bet it will burp a little, seems a little high on temp. My 800 runs around 125 deg. Mine got that hot when it was new, I did what I just told you to do, it vented and cooled off and has been fine since.

 

[RMKRAZIE]

the hottest i have ever seen myne get was 140 on a frozen hardpack icy trail one march morning in island park idaho. other than that it myne NEVER gets above 125.

 

[corpeleven]

put some scratchers on it and use them. You'll be good to go.

 

[bfchiro]

Today I had the same thing with my 07 600 155. We rode HARD pack today and it was getting to 170. I pulled over to let is cool, and my riding buddies told me to blip the thottle instead of running it in the mids. It helped it went to 155. I am going to vent the sled though. My buddies 700 stayed at 120 he is vented.

 

[skibreeze]

put some scratchers on it and use them. You'll be good to go.

X2, my sled always runs around 126.

 

[dotter]

My 600 will run up to 165-170 on hardpack also. On deep snow 135, I have scratchers now, but have not got to try them. I'm not sure if venting would help water temps much though. Anybody know?

 

[skibreeze]

My 600 will run up to 165-170 on hardpack also. On deep snow 135, I have scratchers now, but have not got to try them. I'm not sure if venting would help water temps much though. Anybody know?

Venting will not be nearly as effective for cooling as having scratchers. On my 600 and 800 they keep the same temp as deep snow.

 

[JohnJerk]

Excellent responses. I will try to burp her and then move on to scratchers. Probably well worth the investment if they keep temps down and preserve the hifax. My only hesitation is that they look like they can grab you in a roll over or other mishap, or grab rocks or stumps - any problems like that?

(Should have added in the original post that it is a 155" running at 8,000 to 10,000 feet.)

Thanks.

 

[skibreeze]

Excellent responses. I will try to burp her and then move on to scratchers. Probably well worth the investment if they keep temps down and preserve the hifax. My only hesitation is that they look like they can grab you in a roll over or other mishap, or grab rocks or stumps - any problems like that?

(Should have added in the original post that it is a 155" running at 8,000 to 10,000 feet.)

Thanks.

Trails usually don't have rocks or stumps. Just get them and ride. Use the scratchers on the trail to your riding area, then put them up .

 

[JohnJerk]

Oh, cool, didn't realize they could be put away. Need to tell my bro about that who rides with them down all the time on his 900.

 

[PalousePoo]

I like the Holtz style ones. (scratchers) they have alot of down pressure. The ones you can back up with and not bend don't seem to do a good job on ice. My 800 got to 170 once going uphill, very icey road, with good scratchers. There just wasn't much for them to kick up. I think if the sled gets too hot it will go into a protection mode, prob retards timing, and won't let r's get over 6k or something. I would have stopped if the temp got any higher. There wasn't any fresh snow on the side to get into.

 

[deepdiver]

Ihave an 800 and 600 both 08's...the 600 always runs a bit hotter at least on the display. The 600HO runs about 130 in decent snow. On hard pack it will get considerably warmer than my 800..by about 20 degrees on average. I run Redline H2O wetter in both machines.

 

[JohnJerk]

OP Update:

I put Slide-Kick ice scratchers ($70) on and leave them down all the time. We did 30 miles of hard pack road this past weekend (Mirror Lake Highway if you know UT) to get to and from the pow and it would have been brutal before (i.e., put me to 170 if not higher). With the scratchers it was only moderately brutal (topped out at 157). Still no venting and I did burp the coolant. I didn't go the way of the Holtz type scratchers so I wouldn't have to worry about them when reversing etc and we don't have a lot of "ice" out here. Loading the tunnel with snow helps a whole lot, but can be tough to do when running with a posse. Sctrachers seem good enough for now.

As a point of reference, my brother's 05 900 typically runs in the 120s and he got up to 150 on the road (he has the same scratchers).

 

[bfchiro]

I did a little DIY venting on my side panels and what a difference in temps. Now its 123 tops. Check them out.

 

[diamonddave]

OP Update:



As a point of reference, my brother's 05 900 typically runs in the 120s and he got up to 150 on the road (he has the same scratchers).

Some 900's can run funky on the temps. Try to compare with other 600's if you can.

As previously mentioned, blipping the throttle on/off, on/off, will run much cooler coolant temps than a steady throttle will on the trail.