tough to believe

[cateye5312]

I run between 8 and 13 sleds every year. Up until the 2006 model year I never burned down a sled and I've been riding for 30 plus years. Since 2006, I've had 6 burn down - all (supposedly bulletproof) 600's. (3 2006's and 3 2012's) three of those exhibited "classic cold seize" signs according to the mechanic. I've tried about every warm up procedure known to man and I still have no idea what the right answer is. We burned another one down two weeks ago. So - if you've got the right combo I'm all ears.

On another note, though, I have never had any mechanical issues other than normal wear and tear. I read a lot on here about all kinds of problems but I haven't experienced any of that - except for the burn downs of course which are about $1,200 every time it happens.

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

Really? So if all the "parts" are cold.....then what makes the coolant hot?

chicken or the egg?

The heat in the coolant comes from the cylinders / head.
so if coolant is hot, wouldn't the "parts" have to be hot as well?

A full warn up is a good idea however, to ensure that you get ALL of the coolant warmed. Not just the section behind your thermostat.

All the coolant is in the top end.
The piston and cylinder top get warm before the lower "skirt" area. (Any poo failures in this area?)
The crank being cold and inflexible is a recipe for failure.

A heat soak in the morning is critical for any engine longevity.

And yes the poo shuts off after warm up automatically if the flipper is not touched.

 

[Scott]

Is that a new feature on the 2016 Axys?

Yes, I've heard that is. The Axys will shut off if it warms up to 150.

All the coolant is in the top end.
The piston and cylinder top get warm before the lower "skirt" area. (Any poo failures in this area?)
The crank being cold and inflexible is a recipe for failure.

A heat soak in the morning is critical for any engine longevity.

And yes the poo shuts off after warm up automatically if the flipper is not touched.

YES!!!

I do it on a brand new sled before it leaves the shop. Probably 3 times.

 

[sledheader]

All the coolant is in the top end.
The piston and cylinder top get warm before the lower "skirt" area. (Any poo failures in this area?)
The crank being cold and inflexible is a recipe for failure.

A heat soak in the morning is critical for any engine longevity.

And yes the poo shuts off after warm up automatically if the flipper is not touched.

It does? Mine idles too rich to have it get that warm. Just loads up so when I walk by it I always give it a little "Waa-waaa" of the flipper while I'm getting ready.

I start them in the trailer and immediately unload them (very light throttle) and pull beside the trailer so I get them out of the way without smoking up the trailer so I can still see to get my gear on. I let them idle a bit while I get ready, then I grab my oil and head to the sleds. Give a little throttle on each and shut them down while I oil and get hot doggers on and water loaded. Then fire them off and finish locking up the trailer/pickup and head down the trail. I always take my time down the trail for the first 1/2 mile or so. Always feels sputtering just leaving and a couple hundred yards or so it'll clean up and I hit 6000 or so rpm a few times then after the half mile or so it's game on. No rhyme or reason as to why I do it this way, just always seemed to make sense to me. You can kinda feel when the sled starts to get warm and ready

I've always been one to be off/on the throttle and hardly ever just hold a constant throttle position. I was told to do that when I was about 14 while breaking in my new motor on my AC Cougar 550. That sled ended up blowing up the brand new motor on the second ride because of a failed wrist pin cage, and ever since I've been very mindful of the on/off throttle and of how the engine responds

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

It does? Mine idles too rich to have it get that warm. Just loads up so when I walk by it I always give it a little "Waa-waaa" of the flipper while I'm getting ready.

I start them in the trailer and immediately unload them (very light throttle) and pull beside the trailer so I get them out of the way without smoking up the trailer so I can still see to get my gear on. I let them idle a bit while I get ready, then I grab my oil and head to the sleds. Give a little throttle on each and shut them down while I oil and get hot doggers on and water loaded. Then fire them off and finish locking up the trailer/pickup and head down the trail. I always take my time down the trail for the first 1/2 mile or so. Always feels sputtering just leaving and a couple hundred yards or so it'll clean up and I hit 6000 or so rpm a few times then after the half mile or so it's game on. No rhyme or reason as to why I do it this way, just always seemed to make sense to me. You can kinda feel when the sled starts to get warm and ready

I've always been one to be off/on the throttle and hardly ever just hold a constant throttle position. I was told to do that when I was about 14 while breaking in my new motor on my AC Cougar 550. That sled ended up blowing up the brand new motor on the second ride because of a failed wrist pin cage, and ever since I've been very mindful of the on/off throttle and of how the engine responds

Moving it right after starting is the worst thing you can do to a motor.
Jes sayin

 

[sledheader]

Moving it right after starting is the worst thing you can do to a motor.
Jes sayin

Idling it just enough to engage the clutch? Doubt it's killing it.

 

[sledheader]

I should also add, it's normally in the 20's when I'm unloading. If it is colder, idle time is longer

 

[turboless terry]

I fire mine up and my buddy and I drag them out of trailer. Everyone always looks at us funny. They sit running until warm. Shut them down and get dressed. Fire them up and let warm again before I take off. I have a lot of buddies that just fire them and head out of trailer. Belt, track and everything are cold. I won't do it.

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

Good information.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ynotride]

I've caught a lot of grief over the years because of this. "why do you start your sled to add oil?" umm, just because that's what i do.

Then I smoke one more and put the rest of my gear on.
My smoking habit has probably saved a minimum of 9 other sleds from cold seize.

 

[Laundryboy]

I've caught a lot of grief over the years because of this. "why do you start your sled to add oil?" umm, just because that's what i do.

Then I smoke one more and put the rest of my gear on.
My smoking habit has probably saved a minimum of 9 other sleds from cold seize.

Just messing with you but I'd rather seize my sled than my heart

 

[Latitude 62]

I too am a big promoter of proper engine warm up in all brands!! I will add though, proper idle down after hard running can be just as important. How many times have you seen that person running wide open on hard pulls or across plateaus, come screaming into the vicinity and coast in after hitting the kill switch? If you idle down for a minute or so, hot spots on the cylinder walls will normalize as will coolant temps and metal pieces internally. Just as important as warm up imo.

 

[1Mike900]

Exactly! let it cool after a hard pull or spinning above 5500 rpm. Piston needs to cool along with cyl. wall. Mike

 

[utahviper]

I just got a new Axys and I am having a similiar problem. Road the sled two times, no problems, just low on rpm (8000). About 6 hrs and 50 miles. Third ride, riding for two hrs no problems, then going down a big hill through the trees, just idling. All of the sudden the sled dies and won't start. Seems like a kill switch issue. Look for loose wires, bad connections, etc, nothing. Unplug dash and it fires up. I'm thinking must be some short in the dash harness, no big deal. Go down the hill to get my sons and turn around to back up, wot for 2-3 seconds and sled dies agai, going up hill. This time I can't get it to start. I leave the sled. Climb down to my boys and get there sleds up a hill and hike back to my sled. Mess with the wires in the nylon bag and it finally starts back up. I then baby it up the hill, no wot, and get to the top. We are probably 15 miles from the truck. I limp it back at 1/4 throttle or less and it makes it back with no issues.

Off to the dealer. We will see, not happy...

 

[slyrydr]

epilogue to original post

so after 1st return to dealer, they went through it completely with no discernable problems, i also took off all plastic and double checked for plug connections, etc. zip tied connections....sled continued to start and run normally in shop...took it to hill started and ran good for 3 hrs engine time...back home, filled with gas and oil, went to hill next day, perfect repeat of 1st day with normal start and warm up, put on clothes, sled won't start, not even a pop...poo dealer was in parking lot that day and came over and the two of us tried for over half hour to start/discover problem to no avail....selling dealer took the sled back, full refund....i don't seem to have the knack for riding a doo in more difficult terrain, don't like the new cat front end (i've ridden it several times, too squirrely in difficult terrain for me) and poo seems out of the question for now....guess i'll ride the 14 the rest of the year..

 

[CO Powder]

so after 1st return to dealer, they went through it completely with no discernable problems, i also took off all plastic and double checked for plug connections, etc. zip tied connections....sled continued to start and run normally in shop...took it to hill started and ran good for 3 hrs engine time...back home, filled with gas and oil, went to hill next day, perfect repeat of 1st day with normal start and warm up, put on clothes, sled won't start, not even a pop...poo dealer was in parking lot that day and came over and the two of us tried for over half hour to start/discover problem to no avail....selling dealer took the sled back, full refund....i don't seem to have the knack for riding a doo in more difficult terrain, don't like the new cat front end (i've ridden it several times, too squirrely in difficult terrain for me) and poo seems out of the question for now....guess i'll ride the 14 the rest of the year..

The dealer is all out of new sleds already? Why not just swap out for a non gremlin version? There are thousands of us that are not having that problem, it isn't like they all behave that way...

 

[Err]

Bummed to hear about this. I had a Pro with similar difficult to diagnose electrical gremlins a few years back. I decided to tough it out and let them try to fix it rather than trying to return it. In retrospect that was clearly a mistake and it cost me almost my entire season of riding. Somehow it still didn't turn me into a Poo hater and I even I bought another Pro a few years later. It's just very clear to me how little Poo's warranty is worth now and how willing they are to let months pass with a sled down rather than throw a couple hundred in parts at the problem to cover all the bases. My issue came down to a cheap faulty harness that they were unwilling to replace until they could prove it was the issue. Anyhow, there are good ones out there and chances are your next Axys will be a gem.