How many miles or hours were you at when you did a rebuild? Were you down on compression or was it done as a preventative measure?
Top End intervals on stock (or close to) power?
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if compression is good just leave it alone.... if you are worried about it check compression every couple of rides if it gives you peace of mind its quick and easy to do but I cant see just dropping pistons in for fun.... do you replace belts at intervals or watch them for symptoms and replace them when they are wore? just my 2c
My strategy may be a little different than most, I purchase a new sled with a 3 or 4 year warranty. I ride it until the motor chews itself up, (usually around 2,500 miles) then Polaris warranty comes to the rescue and for $50.00 I get a new shortblock until it chew's itself to pieces, so on so forth for 4 years. Riding 2,500 miles a season a four year warranty is worth approximately $18,000. If you don't have a warranty to lean on I'd recommend pistons every 2,000 to 2,500 miles depending on severity of use.
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snobyrd
Well-known member
Im into my 3ird season on a 4 yr warranty, 2000 miles, my dealer is currently replacing my whole motor other than power valves and recoil.
Warranty cost me nothing, pretty good deal i think.
As far as the cost goes, is not a bad deal for sure.
But does it wait until summertime to end up at the dealer for the new motor?
I love riding polaris, but really sux that a 2000 mile engine goes bang in the middle of winter when the snow is nuts deep...
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snobyrd
Well-known member
It was my choice to do the repair now, its planned to be in the shop for 1 week. I live right in the mtns so being down for a week is ok with me.
So what are the symptoms to warrant a motor from poo? Low compression? Or ...... if low compression what kind of numbers are we talking here? Of course I know elev, gauge etc come into play. Thanks for the info.
I think the warranty threshold for the compression is 105#. Two weeks after my new warranty motor was installed compression was already down to 107... I do not know how anybody gets 2000-2500 miles from this motor, mine blew with half that.
Now Polaris is saying there is no extended warranty on my sled, even though I would NEVER have bought it without the 4 yr coverage, and they replaced the motor 4 months after the original 1 yr warranty expired. After three problem Poo sleds and getting f'ed by Poo on the "warranty", this will be my last Polaris for some time. Hopefully there is a decent used market for these because as great as the ride is, the quality isn't even good enough to swim in my toilet.
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what elevation is your toilet at? 105lb of compression for a toilet at 1000' elevation is a lot different than if your toilet is at 6000'.
I am not so sure it is "a lot different", and also not sure Polaris specifies for altitude. The dealer that replaced the engine is at ~6000 ft, same one who tested the compression. They are the ones who told me 105 was thee threshold. Keep in mind, these guys were mostly incompetent, so who knows for sure.
Regardless, do you think 107 both sides on a 100 mile motor is acceptable? Seems pretty weak. I will be talking to Poo "customer service about it after x-mas, not that I have any positive expectations with them, based on lots of past experience. Gearing up for a battle...lol
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brett soluk
Member
Polaris has always been great on warranty for me. All comes down to the dealer you deal with.
You have to be careful when purchasing a Poo. Last season they had an offer on holdovers where the price was awesome (~ $10,000) but they took the extended warranty away. I am fortunate enough to have a backup sled, when one grinds itself to pieces I ride the older Pro for a couple weeks until I get my sled back. My '14 is on it's third warranteed motor in three seasons, it's the only way I can afford to ride Polaris. Some guys only ride 800 easy miles a season and get three years out of their motor, they think the reliability is great. I ride wide open for 2,500 miles a season and have never had a motor make a season.
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So. Next question. Why a whole motor for low comp? The pistons in the photo dont look to chewed up. 2500 miles wot... what kind of hours is that? Thanks again for the info. I am seeing good mileage with good compression numbers over here at sea level. Got a few axys' S in the group now.
You may see 125-130 psi at sea level. Subtract 4 or 5 psi per 1000' of elevation on average. Don't forget to hold throttle open and warm the engine first.
107 doesn't seem that bad at 6k. Especially if both sides are equal but then again, I don't get paid to make warrantee decisions.
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I had a SKS last year. Absolutely loved riding it. Had a couple issues with it. Didn't even bother to try and warranty it.. Then I started reading about some maintenance intervals, and very common issues people were having that left me shaking my head.. By the end of the year I was afraid to ride it. I sold it this past summer. The quality could be a lot better. In all areas of the snowmobile.
But that could be said for all the manufacturers really.. You really need to pick your poison.
At 107 psi I wouldn't feel too confident taking it into the back country.. maybe a small trail ride not too far from my house lol
2,500 miles is approximately 80-85 hours for those who ride hard. One thing that is a mystery to me is why Polaris with their unlimited mileage 4 year warranty won't perform some fraction of preventive maintenance. In 2012 I had a sled with scuffed pistons at about 1,200 miles. I had the dealer inspect the scuffed pistons and they informed me that the compression was still okay, just run it. I was a wee bit annoyed as to why they wouldn't re-piston/cylinder the sled so I took it out for a couple more rides that destroyed the mag side piston wiped out the cylinders head crank and cases. Polaris then stepped up with a new shortblock motor. Why they would make poor decisions such as this is beyond me, but after all what would a consumer know? I drove a 500 mile round trip to my dealer, I turned around with the sled and rode until it cratered, I then made another 500 mile round trip to deliver the cratered sled back to dealer. In a couple weeks I drove another 500 mile trip to pick up the repaired machine. I believe I had so much smoke coming out of my ears and exhaust over all the cross country trips that my contribution to global warming is why it won't snow this year.
which dealer in salt lake are you dealing with? some are better at getting things fixed before they break. with insurance it is a game of numbers. as a fictitious example: if there are 10 guys with scuffed pistons, the odds are that only 1 of them might grenade during the warranty period. the rest blow up days after. i'd guess it also depends on if you're dealing with the factory warranty or extended. it seems the extended warranty has been tougher to work with for the dealers around here.
I have not seen any axys 800 at 107 psi at sea level.. but yes at sea level that would be pretty low. Thanks for all the info. Ive been going by the as long as it feels good run it. 2 comp checks a year and a piston inspection while your cleaning the ves valves..done. merry christmas btw.
That is a different kind of riding than we do. Living in the steep deep trees, I average about 11-12 mph. My sled has 135 hrs and ~1500 miles, same as the last two.
Your 30 mph average means some trail riding for access I suspect. These sleds only run 38 mph wide open in the pow, averaging 30? Must be pinned all day.
I agree on the rest, and that is why I am done with Poo. It is a one season sled at best. I need something that I can ride a second year. The second year on my Axys was a nightmare. All sorted now and in the classifieds...