I hope you realize I was taking a shot at Murph.
Yeah, I got that. I understand.
Udaho, sorry for your troubles. Hate to see when one guy has a problem and then forum trolls jump in and start brand bashing..... Watching it happen in the AC forum right now regarding the Pro Climb.
I love forums for learning. If I can't post knowledge or questions that inspire knowledge I won't. I raced snocross in mn for 10 years ending in 2008. I feel I know a fair amount about sleds, subsequently why I purchased a 2011 Assault (the FIXED) sled. And an assault to be riding near Pinedale,wy, yeah every group we met thought my hard lug track might as well be made by Caterpillar. But at any rate I want to share my expierence to solve these motor issues.
Bsietsema, I wasn't jumping your sh!t. But I do have a question, no offense intended, why are you running 10-62's at 10,000 feet with no mods? That sled can't pull that much weight in the primary and as a result you were stuck in the effective midrange. With its subsequent lean spot (EPA emissions). Not saying its ok for a sled to burn down because of EPA emissions but wondering if the temp was spiking because of the rpms you were running. Without an EGT, it's hard to see temp spikes. Was your engine temp rising during your long pulls or immediately after?
Suspicion's aside I still need some words of wisdom as to who if anyone has a rhyme or reason why these sleds keep eating pistons? My yellow ! light appeared off and on for the last couple of miles of riding before I heard a high pitched ting tang ting and then could not get the sled above 5000 rpm following this. So I immediately shut her down...came to a stop pulled my left panel off and tried to rotate the primary through...and to my SUSPICION she had decided to seize up. after cooling for a half hour or so I could rotate the primary all the way through but not without trouble and immense/extra friction. Long of the short is we hooked on with a couple of sleds and pulled it out of a couple of holes...just waiting for someone to act as though they know how to fix it. My personal anger and disappointment has led me to signing up on snowest over this matter...I own two polaris's now and had hoped that they had nipped this matter in the butt although this doesn't seem to be the case.
Let's be clear. I am not trying to start a pissing contest with you.
The yellow light was on the last couple of miles and you kept riding without investigating? THEN you heard a high pitch whine then tried to rev PAST 5000 rpm? Was it the DET sensor going off? Was the engine light trying to tell you something BEFORE you rode it a couple more miles and it blew up?
With the number of Pros out there I don't think we are seeing an epidemic of burn downs. Have some burnt down? Absolutely. We are talking about 150+ hp two strokes ridden in extreme conditions. And I understand your frustration, nothing sucks more than when it happens to you.
One problem we saw last year was the "cold shot" issue. If the sleds shut down, even for a couple of minutes, the temps drop dramatically. When the sled is fired back up and pinned immediately-- especially in deep , high load snow-- the sudden expansion/ contraction can lead the piston skirts to or bottom of the cylinders to shear off. Real important to let the sled temps stabilize around 120 degrees (both going up and coming down) before pinning it.
Have you looked in your exhaust ports when cleaning your valves, how do the exhaust side piston skirts look? Are they worn or scuffed?
My 2011 Pro has over 2500 hard miles on it from last year's epic snowfalls in Tahoe. Days and days and Miles upon miles of breaking trail in over three feet of heavy snow at high rpm. Always waiting for temps to hit 120 before taking off.
Girlfriends Pro also has over 1500 miles on it in similar (pinned so long you feel sorry for the motor) conditions.
What have all of you noticed for oil consumption? Are you adding pre mix to your tank? Have you turned up the oil rod linkage? Kinks or air bubbles in your lines? Have you calculated your oil to fuel consumption to get an idea of your ratio?
Let's get this thread back on track and diagnose your problems and get all of you back on the snow.