Compression test

[09dragon800]

Has anyone done a compression test on there Polaris 800 after they had the new pistons put in from the recall. I did. I had 130 lbs in each cylinder before the new pistons and 120 lbs after the new pistons were instaled. I only have 99 miles on my 2009 Polaris 800 Dragon. The dealer in Washngton close to where i live has no idea what the compression should be. I can;t find it anywhere in the OEM manual. I am disapointed the compression droped 10 lbs. Did i lose power to? Is it at 154 HP like Polaris says it is? I would like to hear from you if you have done a copression test on your sled with the new pistons in. Thanks

 

[PCDOC]

If they were just installed and you haven't run it yet they will be lower in compression. The new rings need to "seat" into the cylinders. Many schools of thought on how to do this, but your compression should go up once the rings have seated.

 

[ghostrider dd]

Just had update done Sat....I am interested in the schools of thought on properly seating rings....any info?

 

[pumpnlead]

If they were just installed and you haven't run it yet they will be lower in compression. The new rings need to "seat" into the cylinders. Many schools of thought on how to do this, but your compression should go up once the rings have seated.

You nailed it on the head

 

[PCDOC]

Just had update done Sat....I am interested in the schools of thought on properly seating rings....any info?

Long story short....er

The rings need to basically mold themselves to the cylinder walls. I read a great article on this concept a few years ago and then did the exact steps when I redid the topend on my 800. The sled ran better than ever!!!

Warm the sled up normally - then take it for a ride. You want to vary the throttle positions, but this is the main idea. The rings need pressure on them to seat properly. What gives more pressure than wide open throttle?

Ride for a few hundred yards and then WOT for 5-6 seconds, back it down and vary the throttle for 30 seconds or so, then WOT for 5-6 seconds, back it down............ you get the idea.

I did this for a 20 minute ride when my top end was new and then never thought about it again. It works plain and simple.

Some guys recommend to run it on a track stand, warm it up, let it cool down completely, warm it up, cool down........

I prefer the WOT method and it worked great.

 

[ghostrider dd]

I just asked the dealer....he told me to ride it like you stole it.....WOT

 

[KAWGRN]

i just asked the dealer....he told me to ride it like you stole it.....wot

+1111

 

[XC700116]

One other thing to note is to switch to a conventional oil for the break in. I've found this out the hard way. Ran Klotz Synthetic in a fresh top end and the rings did not seat and caused a "cold sieze" which is when the piston expands too fast and the heat is not transferred to the cylinder wall, ie Piston gets bigger than the bore and sticks, not pretty. This is why a lot of guys reccomend a heat soak before really getting after it. I've found the WFO method with a conventional 2 stroke oil the best of both worlds. then after 1 tank of conventional oil I switch over to the good stuff.

 

[trench]

I posted this before. I gave mine a compression test before getting the new pistons it was 125psi on each and looking through the wye pipe the old pistons looked ok , slight scuffing.
After the new pistons 138 psi but I am still running the old head.
So with out even sealing the rings ,I think it may even be higher (good news for me) Also it is telling me my old pistons and rings were on there way out.
Comparing compression is hard to do unless the same guy is pulling the cord (ate the same wheates)and useing the same comp. tester...

 

[09dragon800]

Compressinon test

I do realize i will gain more compression after it has ran for awhile and let the rings seat in. How much more is a unknown question. Not alot i'm sure. I have ran 2 strokes fo years. I would just like to compare mine to others with the same thing done to it. I also know about cold siezeure and proper brake in procedure. I always let my 2 strokes warm up before i ride them hard.

 

[DragonSlayer1]

i'm not sure if compression means anthing. I tested the compression on stock skidoo 1000. The burnt down side had over 160 and the good side had 145. Still not sure why. I'll have to check what it is with the new top end.

 

[mad dragon]

2010 800 on the DYNO

YA this was a hard break in call me crazy , but my best sleds have been broke in on the dyno . My final run showed me better hp than my 09 dragon,WE got 157 hp after 8 sets of runs over 8 days!!!!!!!! numbers were alot better in the cold room!!!!! Cant wait for snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[greasemonkey3406]

One other thing to note is to switch to a conventional oil for the break in. I've found this out the hard way. Ran Klotz Synthetic in a fresh top end and the rings did not seat and caused a "cold sieze" which is when the piston expands too fast and the heat is not transferred to the cylinder wall, ie Piston gets bigger than the bore and sticks, not pretty. This is why a lot of guys reccomend a heat soak before really getting after it. I've found the WFO method with a conventional 2 stroke oil the best of both worlds. then after 1 tank of conventional oil I switch over to the good stuff.

I was thinking about using a vacuum pump to suck the synthetic oil out of the tank and just run a tank of non-synthetic 2 stroke oil to break it in after the update, then switch back to the polaris synthetic. What do u think?

 

[Polar Express]

I will also support the idea of a gentle warm up, then bursts of WOT for break-in.

As far as lubrication goes, I'm more familiar with 4-stroke designs, (and yes, I support 'normal' oil for break-in purposes prior to switching to synthetics for longer life)


i thought I heard somewhere that Polaris was wanting the first tank of fuel to have a bunch of a particular oil added. Can someone confirm or de-bunk this ?

 

[Johanw1978]

Has anyone done a compression test on there Polaris 800 after they had the new pistons put in from the recall. I did. I had 130 lbs in each cylinder before the new pistons and 120 lbs after the new pistons were instaled. I only have 99 miles on my 2009 Polaris 800 Dragon. The dealer in Washngton close to where i live has no idea what the compression should be. I can;t find it anywhere in the OEM manual. I am disapointed the compression droped 10 lbs. Did i lose power to? Is it at 154 HP like Polaris says it is? I would like to hear from you if you have done a copression test on your sled with the new pistons in. Thanks

And the new update head have lower compression so noting to worry abote...
Lower compresion means the engine can run whit a more sharp ignition curve.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

YA this was hard break in call me crazy , but my best sleds have been broke in on the dyno . My final run showed me better hp than my 09 dragon,WE got 157 hp after 8 sets of runs over 8 days!!!!!!!! numbers were alot better in the cold room!!!!! Cant wait for snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It should get better still..polaris says almost 300 miles to get the rings completely seated due to running a really hard ring material......

I will also support the idea of a gentle warm up, then bursts of WOT for break-in.

As far as lubrication goes, I'm more familiar with 4-stroke designs, (and yes, I support 'normal' oil for break-in purposes prior to switching to synthetics for longer life)


i thought I heard somewhere that Polaris was wanting the first tank of fuel to have a bunch of a particular oil added. Can someone confirm or de-bunk this ?

Polaris wants the blue oil in it for at least the first tank of fuel(both in the oil tank and the fueltank)if you run synthetic it takes even longer to seat the rings (if they ever do fully seat in)..what I do on mine is drain the oil tank and refill with blue oil..add blue to the gastank and I dont add any oil until the tank gets low..then I refill with synthetic(normally about 2 to 2.5 tanks of fuel....) you dont need to add oil after the first tank(the first tank is simply protection in case the oil pump doesnt prime up, so check during the ride to make sure the oil level drops in the tank). Also confirm that the sled burns just over 1 qt of oil for every 10 gallons of gas...there is no reason to run more oil then that thru the motor..just gets the powervalves dirty faster...

 

[ghostrider dd]

How do you adjust oiler if you are burning more than a qt to 10 gal?? My D8 goes through some oil.....I was talking with dealer, said new syn oil to be out. Non use would eliminate warranty. sound like sales pitch to me!!! I was considering running blue after reading the tread on SW and looking at comparison pic of powervalves on different oils.....Other than more smoke, I cannot see a disadvantage to using the blue....

 

[xmr256]

Hard part here is between elevation change, different compression guages , testing with wide open throttle etc ... number will be different number for just about everyone out there. Break in will also have a huge effect on the reading. As far as losing power I cant say with facts yet but there is way more to power than compression. If the the new piston holds the compression better and transfer heat better which the two ring should and there is a more effective burn with the new head it could make more power.

09dragon800 did you happen to get your work done at Clems? I just started there, name is Willie if you need anymore help!

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

How do you adjust oiler if you are burning more than a qt to 10 gal?? My D8 goes through some oil.....I was talking with dealer, said new syn oil to be out. Non use would eliminate warranty. sound like sales pitch to me!!! I was considering running blue after reading the tread on SW and looking at comparison pic of powervalves on different oils.....Other than more smoke, I cannot see a disadvantage to using the blue....

adjusting the oiler is a pain...polaris has a set of special wrenches for it..will have to dig mine out and post some pics of them...I have run polaris blue in my older edges without any problems..am sure it would work fine in the new sleds as well....polaris wants the new ves gold 2 oil used in the sleds after the update is taken care of(I will use ves gold since I have a 16 gallon drum that I havent touched from last year still)

 

[Ron]

adjusting the oiler is a pain...polaris has a set of special wrenches for it..will have to dig mine out and post some pics of them...I have run polaris blue in my older edges without any problems..am sure it would work fine in the new sleds as well....polaris wants the new ves gold 2 oil used in the sleds after the update is taken care of(I will use ves gold since I have a 16 gallon drum that I havent touched from last year still)

Hi Mike,

FYI, Polaris has reformulated the VES Gold for 2010, higher quality, more lubricity like Redline oil. There are still some learned folks that say a lot of the problem last year was the Polaris oil breaking down under the higher temps. It lost lubricity too soon....Lubricity is the measure of the reduction in friction of a lubricant. Mostly conjecture at this point but why take a chance on oil. It must have been a factor since Poo wants you running the new VES after the new top end update. Carl's Cycle recommends the new VES or Redline in the 8's and mod 8's.