09 D8 Blew up

[09DragonRMK]

Hey ive seen quiet a few of these topics on here already. My sled has 1240 miles on it and like 79 hours on the engine. Updates done in September of 09. Rode it sat for about 40 miles....ran perfect! Looked it over in the shop last night, oiled it up, greased the suspension and tightened the track. Got it all cleaned up and was planning on going for a ride tonight.

Got it off the trailer rode it about 2 miles, ran great. It kind of bucked and the check engine light started flashing consistently so i stopped, shut it down checked everything out and looked fine. Fired it up, ran like crap (acted like bad fuel) shut it down again. Decided to throw new plugs in it for the heck of it. fired it up, ran great! Just got it moving again (RPMs about 5 grand) and then it died....but as it came to a stop i heard some not so pretty noises. She locked up......pulled a plug and looked down in the piston on the PTO side and there is a lot of aluminum chucks in there ontop the piston. Other cylinder looks fine.

So what should be my action on this situation. Im afraid its gunna be costly. The thing that bugs me is that it was just rebuilt about 400 miles ago.....because of the update. Thanks for any advice!

 

[800 Dragon 163]

Are you under warranty? If so take it to the dealer have them take care of it! If not plan on spending around 4500 Do not take it back to stock! There are places on here that claim they have the fix. Check them out! I think one of them is PMS.. People are saying good things about them. I have the same sled as you! I have been through 4 motors.. Good luck

 

[zilla]

Whaaat!?

 

[rmkboxer]

Are you under warranty? If so take it to the dealer have them take care of it! If not plan on spending around 4500 Do not take it back to stock! There are places on here that claim they have the fix. Check them out! I think one of them is PMS.. People are saying good things about them. I have the same sled as you! I have been through 4 motors.. Good luck

$4500 into the motor? I could buy a crate motor for less then that

 

[fatcat65]

polaris shortblock (as they call it) is right around $5000 sounds about right to me.

 

[09DragonRMK]

Talked to the dealer, going to have it rebuilt out of my wallet. After that will be trading for a new one.....(hahaha not a f'ing Polaris either!) I was sooooo happy with this sled until this, the customer service/customer satisfaction is TERRIBLE! The dealer is great! Luckily they are going to work with me. Polaris themselves is the problem. To be told on the phone by Polaris industries that i cant talk to anyone higher because they are not at that location is ridiculous. I called your headquarters and that is all i get.....im sorry about your problem. What about the other 1000's of people that are dealing with the same thing. I was cool, calm and collective when i called also. Being an prick about it "usually" doesn't get you far.

In my business if something happened like this to a piece of equipment that was just 3 months out of warranty....any manufacturer would bend over backwards to take care of you. Not just at the dealer level. Naaaa not Polaris, all i get is im sorry, submit a complaint! WTF, they can take this 9 grand boat anchor and shove it up their a$$! What a joke, im sorry my rant is over. I was die hard Polaris until this, i loved their products until this. Im done with them....cutting my losses and moving to a manufacturer that will build an engine and take care of their customers. I dont mean to offend anyone either. Take it with a grain of salt and put yourselves in my shoes or the other many many peoples shoes that are in the same boat.

O and if you have an issue.....dont bother calling them. Save that air for breathing because all youll get is someone that tells you "ooo thats too bad"


So my question to Polaris is "When will it be enough?" When someone is climbing the side of a mountain and it blows....you and the sled come sliding down the side of a mountain. Chance of getting seriously injurered or killed if the conditions are right? Is that what its going to take Polaris?

Im done.

 

[Zrider]

09DRMK:

Sorry to hear about your issues. You mentioned the update rebuild 400 miles ago. I would be curious to see what your dealer finds out when he breaks the motor down. Look at the injection system O-rings and see if they are pinched or cracked. One of my riding pals just lost his right side hole on his 09 D8 and it was because the guy who did the update didn't lube the O-ring and it dried out/cracked/pinched and caused a lean condition and the motor went "poof". Needless to say, he was pissed when he found out. His was still under warranty, but still cost him about a $100. They did new cylinder, pistons, and head.

Yup, it would be nice if Polaris stepped up, but it ain't gonna happen.

Good luck.

 

[09DragonRMK]

Thanks! Ill make sure i tell them to look at everything real good when they tear it down. The next thing is....im a mechanic myself and do lots of diesel engine work. should i just rebuild it since it is getting sold after the rebuild or let them do it.....most dealers have a short warranty on stuff after they touch it.

 

[skibreeze]

Putting a new top end is pretty straight forward, especially if you are aready used to wrenching. I had pretty good luck with mine after adding a PCV and getting the EGTs in line.

 

[Zrider]

Thanks! Ill make sure i tell them to look at everything real good when they tear it down. The next thing is....im a mechanic myself and do lots of diesel engine work. should i just rebuild it since it is getting sold after the rebuild or let them do it.....most dealers have a short warranty on stuff after they touch it.

If you have the capability to do it yourself, go for it. You'll save yourself a lot of labor $$. Personally, I don't trust work done by shops. Seen way to many screw-ups over the years. If you have some gearhead buddies, have them help you. Entice them with free beer; that usually works.

 

[09DragonRMK]

i know for a fact that i am more than capable of doing it. The only thing that worries me is that since im not as big of a 2 stroke guru as i am a diesel mechanic i may miss something that "may" have caused it to burn down. If i decide to tear it down....ill completely empty the gas out and put fresh in. Any suggestions? Thanks

by the way another thing that has me torn on it is that usually dealers put like a 60 or 90 day warranty on their work so that also makes me kinda think about taking it to them.....

 

[Adobe-Al]

Putting a new top end is pretty straight forward, especially if you are aready used to wrenching. I had pretty good luck with mine after adding a PCV and getting the EGTs in line.

Just wondering if you open the lowerend after every topend failure? I didn't on my last rebuild. I found what I thought was the problem for the failure(non-venting oil cap). Now I have some light scuffs in the PTO piston. I'm wondering if material was in the bottomend? or if I had more problems than the oil cap. I also don't know what to do run it or rebuild it. Still has great compression.

 

[phish700]

what is the compression supposed to be on the 800 ? My dealer did a check on mine and was around 100 on mag and pto. was told by my dealer that it should be around 120. they said i will probly need to put pistons in it, but they have not torn it down yet. mouth out of warranty, my dealer is going to try and get polaris to cover it ! crossing my fingers but not holding my breath on polaris !

 

[Zrider]

i know for a fact that i am more than capable of doing it. The only thing that worries me is that since im not as big of a 2 stroke guru as i am a diesel mechanic i may miss something that "may" have caused it to burn down. If i decide to tear it down....ill completely empty the gas out and put fresh in. Any suggestions? Thanks

by the way another thing that has me torn on it is that usually dealers put like a 60 or 90 day warranty on their work so that also makes me kinda think about taking it to them.....

If you can get a 60-90 day warranty in writing from your dealer, then you might want to consider that option. Until you open up the motor, you're not really going to know what went wrong and what parts you will need.

 

[Outlaw525s]

Talked to the dealer, going to have it rebuilt out of my wallet. After that will be trading for a new one.....(hahaha not a f'ing Polaris either!) I was sooooo happy with this sled until this, the customer service/customer satisfaction is TERRIBLE! The dealer is great! Luckily they are going to work with me. Polaris themselves is the problem. To be told on the phone by Polaris industries that i cant talk to anyone higher because they are not at that location is ridiculous. I called your headquarters and that is all i get.....im sorry about your problem. What about the other 1000's of people that are dealing with the same thing. I was cool, calm and collective when i called also. Being an prick about it "usually" doesn't get you far.

In my business if something happened like this to a piece of equipment that was just 3 months out of warranty....any manufacturer would bend over backwards to take care of you. Not just at the dealer level. Naaaa not Polaris, all i get is im sorry, submit a complaint! WTF, they can take this 9 grand boat anchor and shove it up their a$$! What a joke, im sorry my rant is over. I was die hard Polaris until this, i loved their products until this. Im done with them....cutting my losses and moving to a manufacturer that will build an engine and take care of their customers. I dont mean to offend anyone either. Take it with a grain of salt and put yourselves in my shoes or the other many many peoples shoes that are in the same boat.

O and if you have an issue.....dont bother calling them. Save that air for breathing because all youll get is someone that tells you "ooo thats too bad"


So my question to Polaris is "When will it be enough?" When someone is climbing the side of a mountain and it blows....you and the sled come sliding down the side of a mountain. Chance of getting seriously injurered or killed if the conditions are right? Is that what its going to take Polaris?

Im done.

Before switching to another brand maybe you want to consider switching to a 2011 or 2012 PRO RMK? I know there expensive but well worth the money.... just my two cents

 

[diamonddave]

what is the compression supposed to be on the 800 ? My dealer did a check on mine and was around 100 on mag and pto. was told by my dealer that it should be around 120. they said i will probly need to put pistons in it, but they have not torn it down yet. mouth out of warranty, my dealer is going to try and get polaris to cover it ! crossing my fingers but not holding my breath on polaris !

Not to hyjack the thread but what are the symptoms you're having? I mean why are you having the dealer do a compression test?

 

[theshadowrider]

what is the compression supposed to be on the 800 ? My dealer did a check on mine and was around 100 on mag and pto. was told by my dealer that it should be around 120. they said i will probly need to put pistons in it, but they have not torn it down yet. mouth out of warranty, my dealer is going to try and get polaris to cover it ! crossing my fingers but not holding my breath on polaris !

IMO I would question the dealer. 100 is about where they should be at with the updated head.

 

[09DragonRMK]

IMO I would question the dealer. 100 is about where they should be at with the updated head.

it all depends on elevation also. I would say 100 is about right.

Ive ridden the Pro-RMK for a while out west and it was a great machine. I loved it. I just am a little leery of the 800s after the issues i have had and read. I know that on forums the bad usually gets pretty well blown up because people come to a forum for advice. I know i haven't really heard about any new 800 coming unglued yet so that is a good thing for Polaris!

My experience with Polaris with the situation was not well. They didnt have a ounce of time to talk to me on the phone. Talkin with the dealer tomorrow, they are a good dealer so well see what happens. I really thank everyone for the help on here! Still trying to decide if i should do the work myself or not....i will know more when i talk to the dealer tomorrow.

 

[09DragonRMK]

well guys, i have bad bad news. I tore into it tonight....it was looking very promising at first. The head is fine.....from what i could see of the cylinder it looked fine. Took the cylinders off and holy $hit. Broke the bottom of the Cylinder off, basically nothing left of the piston. Chunks of Alum laying all over the crank....cleaned them up, crank spins great. But there is quite the hole in the block....shoved some aluminum chucks out.

So yea what a great night....any suggestions? Pics coming tomorrow.

 

[skibreeze]

Just wondering if you open the lowerend after every topend failure? I didn't on my last rebuild. I found what I thought was the problem for the failure(non-venting oil cap). Now I have some light scuffs in the PTO piston. I'm wondering if material was in the bottomend? or if I had more problems than the oil cap. I also don't know what to do run it or rebuild it. Still has great compression.

I never split the cases, the first time was the only time that it hard seized and had crap in the motor. I cleaned it out with shop towels, rotating the crank. The other times, the pistons were scored, but I never let it seize up. Looked down the exhaust valves after every ride to see what was going on. After putting on the PCV, I didn't score the pistons again. (@600 miles)