Sled overheating at idle after storage?

[Yeti]

I have a 2002 600 xcsp with about 900 miles on it. It ran fine the last time I rode it before storing it away in the garage for the summer. Since we are finally getting snow, I pulled her out and fired her up. At this point, everything seems fine, I let her idle for awhile (maybe 10 min.) as I am dinking around. Then I notice that coolant is dribbling out of the hose on the coolant bottle and the temp light is on. I shut her off and feel the cylinders...hotter than a $2 pistol! I pulled the plugs, they look okay and no metal shavings on them. There is plenty of coolant.

What may be the likely source of the problem? Thermostat? Water pump?

Disclaimer: I'm no sled mechanic, I know about enough to be dangerous, maybe not even that much...

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[ttyR2]

Checked the pump belt to make sure the pump is spinning, and then bleed the water system. If the radiator cap has gone bad, it won't be able to build pressure and that can let water boil way before it should. I've never idled a sled long enough to let it get really hot (without hitting the snow to cool it off), maybe you let it run too long without external cooling?

 

[bigfoot]

Your thermostat may also be stuck closed.

 

[RMK900204]

if the cap has gone bad . most people think it is the cap most of the time it not the cap it is the botle is self . if you think it is the cap not allowing you to get presser up . call try city they make a brass bushing to put in the top of the bottle it keeps the top from egging . this happened on both my 03 700 rmk and 04 800rmk. fixed both probleams . first make sure the watter pump is working and the thermstat is working .

they cost me $ 8.00 ea 2years ago

 

[RJF]

Idling for 10 minutes is a long time, It likely got hot from a lack of snow.

The track flings snow on the radiator under the tunnel. When you aren't moving, there is no snow being put in the radiator.

It would be like asking why a car overheated from idling after someone removed the cooling fan.

 

[union76]

I had a 2002 600 XC SP and had the same issue. There was a recall for the coolant bottle on this sled. The plastic on the bottle was bad and as the coolant heated up the plastic would warp so the bottle would not hold pressure and the sled would overheat. I had this issue and I went to my dealer and got a replacement bottle and I never had another issue. You do need to make sure that you get all of the air out of the system when you bleed it. Hope this helps.

 

[Yeti]

Thanks everyone for the replies! It was damn cold out, but it did occur to me that I might of let it idle too long. It didn't seem that much longer than what I have done at other times (10 min. might have been an overestimate). Still, it seems to me that there is probably a larger issue because I had another sled idling right next to it for the same amount of time and the cylinders on it were just warm to the touch, nothing more. The 600 was blistering hot.

Thanks for the heads up on the coolant bottle recall. The sled is probably gonna go to the dealer to get checked out.

What are the chances that I did any damage to the engine?

 

[sled_guy]

No water pump belt on that motor... it's a small block.

Either bottle/cap or thermostat. Slight chance that you have an o-ring in the head bad causing it to not circulate correctly.

I doubt highly that you hurt the motor at all. Usually an overheated motor that gets damaged sticks a piston.

sled_guy