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Alpha needs AIR in the pow!
- Thread starter skiutahcabin
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Great advice_ Mine is a bone stock 18' and in the dozen over-the-hood days last year it was an issue until the top was cleared consistently. Did you have issues prior to installing mountainfit defender?
Have you upgraded your upper intake screen to the 19-20 intake screen, or sealed it with silicone?
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I actually installed the defender before my second ride on the sled so not a ton of time without it and it wasn’t a blower over the hood weekend the first ride, but I didn’t have issues before it, no. But I’ve seen lots of others that have. If you seal up your factory intake it’s gonna do just fine. The defender to me is just a real good insurance policy.
Yes sir, lots of bogs come from aftermarket cans, but they won't belive you lol
not yet, I got a whole new front end in May after a date with a pine tree. I have yet to open up the rebuild, wanted to get all this great beta first.
Mine was stock because I was going to boost and didn't so can is out. It is the intake plugged. It was an insanely deep day that most don't get to ride in. Less snow that is still really good and it was fine. The top intake is flat and plugged. The side is inset so it is plugged. Really poor design. If they had a frog skin wrap over the side of the hood so there wasn't that lip to sit on and plug it off would help a million. This is the snow the alpha is made for so yes I am a little pissy.
It is 2020.
Nick, you and I both rode the same snow 2 years ago in the beginning of November. I was on an 850 doo and you couldn't make that thing bog. This was the same snow and the alpha is almost unrideable at times.
It is 2020.
Nick, you and I both rode the same snow 2 years ago in the beginning of November. I was on an 850 doo and you couldn't make that thing bog. This was the same snow and the alpha is almost unrideable at times.
I would bet money that your bog is snow ingestion and has nothing to do with your intake screens being covered. Yes wiping your intake screens helps because it opens up more air flow but the bog you are feeling is ingestion. I highly doubt your bottom intake screens are plugged I have never seen mine plug a day in my life regardless of the conditions.
I can tell you what I don't recommend and that is the SLP powder valves mounted external like they recommend. They just hold ice right there and become totally useless.
I can tell you what I don't recommend and that is the SLP powder valves mounted external like they recommend. They just hold ice right there and become totally useless.
I used these on all my proclimb sleds - https://www.speedwerxstore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2230
Never had an issue with a bog due to powder covering the intake screens. I've had exhaust bog due to can outlet getting buried.
I have not put these on the Alpha yet. No bog issues last year, but I didn't get out on one of those super deep days. Going to start with a defender intake screen and making sure there is no gaps in the intake duct.
Never had an issue with a bog due to powder covering the intake screens. I've had exhaust bog due to can outlet getting buried.
I have not put these on the Alpha yet. No bog issues last year, but I didn't get out on one of those super deep days. Going to start with a defender intake screen and making sure there is no gaps in the intake duct.
Thanks ya'll- sounds like we should start with the 'defender' cover as that makes the most sense /insurance to stop all ingestion, as well since the alpha is prone to intake gaps, those could open up at any time during the year from tumbles and brawls with trees; and who wants to be checking for that every ride... From there we can easily mod intake for increased venting if need be.
No, the defender is a bandaid, it sits inside the nose cone, the only true way is to seal your intake. It’s kind of like you need 6 stitches, a bandaid will stop the bleeding but you still need stitches or your going to get infected. Have you ever seen what snow does to pistons? It’s about the same as having to cut your finger off because you didn’t go in and get stitches
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agreed, but its a good backup in case something gets opened up, right? - sealing a defective design is great until it's not.
Some observations:
I have a 2020 alpha mountain cat (0 miles) and I just checked the intake for leaks, I removed the hood and put a bright light in the hood nose cone area and in a dark room, I noticed no leaks around the seams. That was encouraging. If the hood does get tweaked under heavy use, it may buckle and separate some as there doesn't appear to be enough screws to hold the hood sections together, hence the many leaks others have mentioned. The hood section is long and probably fairly warm as it sits right over the pipe so some of the leaked powdered snow will melt and drip to the lowest point. The Outerwear's after-market screen would help here blocking powdered snow.
On the nose cone of the hood there is a ~5"x 4" female channel that mates up with a male equal and opposite shaped channel on the throttle body intake section. It has a removable flexible rubber ribbed boot that does the sealing. It looks like it should seal OK new. Maybe not after you either tweet the hood or frame. Or if your replacing the hood below zero, as the rubber maybe to stiff to seal properly. Maybe carry a spare warm boot if removing the hood in the cold. The Outerwear's after-market screen won't help here as its on the hood not the intake section.
Cinno
I have a 2020 alpha mountain cat (0 miles) and I just checked the intake for leaks, I removed the hood and put a bright light in the hood nose cone area and in a dark room, I noticed no leaks around the seams. That was encouraging. If the hood does get tweaked under heavy use, it may buckle and separate some as there doesn't appear to be enough screws to hold the hood sections together, hence the many leaks others have mentioned. The hood section is long and probably fairly warm as it sits right over the pipe so some of the leaked powdered snow will melt and drip to the lowest point. The Outerwear's after-market screen would help here blocking powdered snow.
On the nose cone of the hood there is a ~5"x 4" female channel that mates up with a male equal and opposite shaped channel on the throttle body intake section. It has a removable flexible rubber ribbed boot that does the sealing. It looks like it should seal OK new. Maybe not after you either tweet the hood or frame. Or if your replacing the hood below zero, as the rubber maybe to stiff to seal properly. Maybe carry a spare warm boot if removing the hood in the cold. The Outerwear's after-market screen won't help here as its on the hood not the intake section.
Cinno
Observations after testing various methods to help cure deep powder bog on my 2010 M8.
Seemed to be a combination of the intakes getting covered in snow resulting in air starvation and exhaust exit pipe.
Intake - For deep pow days I had cut a few pieces of open cell foam and placed them over the intakes. The blocks were about 2” thick, so much more surface area. They helped a bunch, but I would still need to pull them off and tap them a few times to open them up but they didnt get plugged up nearly as quickly as the stock intakes so it was a more gradual bog which would give me ample warning it was starting to starve for air and I could plan when to stop. These were crude and ugly so I tried some other things.
Exhaust outlet - The stock skis seemed to be directing pow from the inside ski edge right on the exhaust outlet. I fashioned an aluminum extension and attached it to the exhaust outlet cover to help protect from excess snow buildup restricting the output. This worked really well until I noticed the plastic starting to melt below the oem metal shield. I removed it.
Skis -though I never tested this theory (didnt think about it until a few years later and then didnt have the other sled to test it) but my buddy with an 09 M8, riding in the same deep pow didnt have a bog issue. He was running the tunnel skis, name of which I dont recall. My theory was the tunnel was not throwing as much snow to the side and into the exhaust.
SLP can - after installing this can I noticed a definite improvement. The exhaust outlet seems smaller than the stock can. This would increase the velocity of outgoing exhaust and thus less likely to plug up. Another thing I noticed was reduced underhood temps so not sure if that helped as well.
Air box under hood - I think it was slp but dont recall. My buddy had installed their intake box which replaced the accordian snorkel connecting the hood to the airbox. The top of this box used a large piece of foam to make the connection and I believe the net effect was allowing the engine to pull air from under the hood into the airbox. Warm air is better than less air. I was too stubborn to buy one. My solution was to use a hole saw and drill a set of holes into the stock airbox and I covered those holes with foam. That seems to work ok, though there are still times when I get deep powder bog but it is manageable now.
Currently planning to upgrade and disappointed to hear there may still be issues in this area.
Seemed to be a combination of the intakes getting covered in snow resulting in air starvation and exhaust exit pipe.
Intake - For deep pow days I had cut a few pieces of open cell foam and placed them over the intakes. The blocks were about 2” thick, so much more surface area. They helped a bunch, but I would still need to pull them off and tap them a few times to open them up but they didnt get plugged up nearly as quickly as the stock intakes so it was a more gradual bog which would give me ample warning it was starting to starve for air and I could plan when to stop. These were crude and ugly so I tried some other things.
Exhaust outlet - The stock skis seemed to be directing pow from the inside ski edge right on the exhaust outlet. I fashioned an aluminum extension and attached it to the exhaust outlet cover to help protect from excess snow buildup restricting the output. This worked really well until I noticed the plastic starting to melt below the oem metal shield. I removed it.
Skis -though I never tested this theory (didnt think about it until a few years later and then didnt have the other sled to test it) but my buddy with an 09 M8, riding in the same deep pow didnt have a bog issue. He was running the tunnel skis, name of which I dont recall. My theory was the tunnel was not throwing as much snow to the side and into the exhaust.
SLP can - after installing this can I noticed a definite improvement. The exhaust outlet seems smaller than the stock can. This would increase the velocity of outgoing exhaust and thus less likely to plug up. Another thing I noticed was reduced underhood temps so not sure if that helped as well.
Air box under hood - I think it was slp but dont recall. My buddy had installed their intake box which replaced the accordian snorkel connecting the hood to the airbox. The top of this box used a large piece of foam to make the connection and I believe the net effect was allowing the engine to pull air from under the hood into the airbox. Warm air is better than less air. I was too stubborn to buy one. My solution was to use a hole saw and drill a set of holes into the stock airbox and I covered those holes with foam. That seems to work ok, though there are still times when I get deep powder bog but it is manageable now.
Currently planning to upgrade and disappointed to hear there may still be issues in this area.
Checked my new 19' and there is zero light illuminating through any cracks after I took the hood off and shined a light into the intake.
Looks all good to me!
Looks all good to me!
U may want to check more thoroughly,
it's impossible to have a tight seal, Design doesn't allow it..... this is not my opinion but a design flaw from the manufacturer.
U have to put a small flashlight inside the intake and shine directly at the seam to see the gaps. Intake is a matte black plastic, it's not going to reflect the light throughout the tract.......
Sent it
Id try one of these if I were at wits end with it.
I always had good luck with k&n style filters on the end of my carbs back in the day when nothing else worked on the covered hood days. Aaen did flow bench testing back in the day showing a carb with a k&n flowed better than having no filter at all. straightened out the air flow or something. I might just try one if I get bored on my 17MC collector's edition.
this is what i did on my old sled, i had a carbon hood so i needed a different intake setup but i did the same thing on my brothers stock hood, gutted the stock intake junk and had the filter come up right in front of the steering post where the google holder would go. this is also pre ascender chassis so not sure what would be different. you remove the nose cone from the hood and bolt it to the sled then install a blockoff plate where the big intake square part is that connected to the hood. drill a 4" hole in the top of the air box and also relocate the IAT sensor to the top of the air box. then install the intake hose and silicone it in. now the nose cone is bolted to the air box so never any misalignment. you gut all of the stock intake junk and delete the headlight so you lose a bunch of weight. pick where you want your intake and your done.
