Advice on another blown D8

[villain]

I just bought an 08 d8 from Carls in Boise (about 3 months ago). Had 922 miles on it when i bought it. Rode 3 times this year without a problem, on the 4th trip out, 4 miles into the ride up the trail the cylinder skirt decided it didn't like who it was attached to. When it went on its rampage inside the engine, it took out the piston, and the case. Not really that happy. I know i bought a sled "as is" but not even getting 70 miles on a "new" sled cant be right. Went into talk to Carls about the whole thing and they are willing to sell me a new motor at cost (still over 4k). I guess that its a step in the right direction, but far from making the problem right IMO.

With that said, i love the chassis. But i don't think that the same engine will be going in. I do have a 2000 RMK 700 sitting in the garage that I'm thinking of pulling the engine out of for my dragon. Who has done it? Do I need to buy a motor mount and pipe, or do i need to buy more? Or should / can I hold Carls more accountable? I have never been in this spot so I'm not really sure how to proceed from here. The reliability of a non VES 700 really appeals to me, but i shouldn't have to tear my spare sled apart to do it. Help is much appreciated.

 

[theshadowrider]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. As far as Carl's cycle being responsible I would have to side with them that you did buy a used sled, as is. Do you have experience with engines? Rebuild it. Take the case and have someone weld up the case, new cylinders, piston, have the crank looked at. Many have good luck with these engines once you gets some Pistons in them that don't slap around and break of skirts. Or try and buy a engine out of a wrecked sled. If you spend 4k on a new engine you are right back to where you started in a sled that may go down in a few hundred miles with poor pistons. Another option is call Indy Dan and get a motor from him.

 

[Caper]

Yup Contact INDY Dan and see what he would charge to rebuild it the same as his Long Rod Motors. And his Engines come with a 3 year warranty so well worth the 4g IMO

 

[villain]

you would spend the money and put another cfi 800 in? wouldnt swap out for the reliability of the BB 700?

 

[jsledder]

You'll have that reliability and more with a TM.

If Carls rebuilt the motor before they sold it to you, then I might look at holding them accountable. But if they sold you a used sled with 922 miles without going through the motor, I don't see how they can be on the hook. Sounds like it ran good when you left their shop and a few more rides after, if the motor was bad it wouldn't have.

 

[villain]

thanks for the input guys. at this point i just need to decide if i want to put in another cfi or swap for the bb 700 i have in my spare sled. i never was upset with carls, just at the situation.

 

[sledmasterr]

Go with the bib block

The conversion to the big block motor is very easy to accomplish, time consuming yes, but very easy. Sounds like your CFI motor made it 1k+ miles, the stock motor in mine made it to 900 miles, you have restored my faith in Polaris as I did not think they could produce a CFI motor that would last 1k miles.
I put an 800 I big block in mine, but I' m sure the 700 will perform also, I'm located here in Boise, just pm me if you need pics or info on this conversion, like stated earlier, an easy upgrade to replace this motor that some feel is less than optimum. Good luck on your decision...

 

[villain]

pics would be awesome! i have the chance to pick up a pretty built BB 800 in the sled for pretty cheep. im going to be riding it this next weekend and im sure it will help in the decision. my guess is that i would be able to part the 2nd gen sled out, along with all my electronics for what the sled would cost me. heck, i might even make a buck or two. that would be nice. fix my sled and make money.

btw sledmasterr, do you know snowduck?

 

[sledmasterr]

Big block

Yes, I do, he is good folk. You in the Boise area?

 

[villain]

I am in meridian, actually going to go see him this week to pick up a new VR for my backup sled. i would love to take a night and come check out your motor swapped dragon if i could.

 

[sledmasterr]

Big block

Sent you a pm with cell number and address.

 

[slash]

Hey SM you need a avatar !! hope you two had a great christmas

 

[slash]

and fyi mine went 2700 before belt dust got the intake side of the pistons .

 

[sledmasterr]

Avatar

If I had an Avatar, people might talk and we wouldn't want that. Hope you had a great Christmas also bud!!!!

2700 miles? I'm speechless....

 

[swade-o]

My advice would be to do the Big Block swap and do not look back! I did the swap on my 2008 700 RMK that broke a skirt and wiped out the entire engine. I rebuilt a 1997 700 Big Block with 220 cylinders with 2004 RMK 700 electronics and carbs so I still had PERC. I then sent the CDI to PRO-5 to be remapped with the aggressive 1997 RMK timing curve. For the engine plate / mount I went with one from Brad, which I highly recommend. I also bought the block off plate from Brad which covers the hole where the stock electric fuel pump goes in the tank. I used the gas line set-up and fuel pump from a 2001 RMK 800 and drilled a hole in the IQ tank and ran new gas line. The exhaust I had a single pipe made at CPI to match my engine / can to the chassis. I also opted to not run oil injection due to not wanting to notch the chassis, less clutter under the hood and also less chance of an oiling failure going with pre-mix. Cooling was pretty easy with using some of the stock hoses and some being purchased at NAPA with unique bends. All in all it was a pretty straight forward conversion that I would do all over in a second. If you need any help please feel free to contact me. THANKS!

 

[villain]

any pics swade-o? its looking like this is going to be the way im going. can pick up a nice 2nd gen 800 for cheep. that would allow me to long track my spare sled, fix mine, and hopefully sell whats left for about what i have into it. what all is needed to put PERC on a non ves motor? are you able to keep the gauges from the dragon working? how do you have to notch the chassis for the oil pump? is it the shock tower?

 

[swade-o]

I will snap some photos and forward them to you asap. As far as the PERC set up you need the stator, flywheel, carbs, CDI and harness. To use the Dragon MFD gauge it would require an engine computer to work so I opted to only run a tach and placed an hour meter under the hood so I knew how many hours were on the engine. In order to run the oil pump you need to notch the lower right front corner of the bulkhead in order to clear the oil pump. Even with it notched it is still a pretty tight fit.

 

[villain]

how about for the pipe? will the stock dragon pipe work on the BB 800? i noticed that the bore and stroke are the same. is their a difference in port timing that would make a big difference?

 

[swade-o]

It is worth a shot to try the Dragon exhaust set-up. You would have to do some re-working on the BB Y-pipe to the pipe but it could be done. On my 2008 RMK 700 I had a complete SLP single set-up for my exhaust for my 700 CFI engine. After checking around and speaking with Brad, he recommended to go with CPI for the exhaust. CPI built a super nice single pipe that mated up great with my HPS can. I then sold my SLP set-up and was even money to purchase the custom CPI pipe that I know matched my engine.

 

[villain]

ok cool. fab work for me is no biggie for the most part. money is the tight thing right now. spent it all on the damn dragon!