what is goin on?

[live to ride]

it feels like i flashed back to 2009-10, up til a month ago 99% of post on here were how good the pro is and polaris finally got their game togeather. now 99% of the post are trouble under the hood mechanical and electrical...major problems all over the board..........just sayin WTF.
I'am at the point that for 8 hour road trips to sled i don't know if the 2011 assault with 1200 miles is goin to hold it togeather.
byes what is goin on?

 

[Oregonsledder]

Keep in mind, most people don't wake up in the morning and decide to just post how good things are going. Many come here when they have a problem.

There are a LOT of PRO's on the snow, most are not having any problems.

 

[RMK-King]

Polaris sold a ton of these sleds the last couple of yrs, you get 10 guys out of 10,000 that come on here and make posts about the trouble they have, the other 9,990 are trouble free. All that the readers see are these 10 troubled posts and think they are all bad sleds. The number of problems are highly exaggerated on internet forums.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

I agree, when you think about how many have been bought....there has to be between 11 and 12's a good 40,000 if not more on the snow...

 

[live to ride]

I know what your saying, people talk about the bad more than the good, and i know there are a lot of pros out there, it just seems that all of a sudden the dragon 1200 - 2500 mile problems are right back again. the individual problems i don't mind as much as the " all 5 in our group" problems. sorry guys just a little rant/worry... i just hate when a new sled goes down and you got to sit in the cabin for the rest of the trip.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

all the manufacturers are at risk of having a motor go down at any time..the poo pro motor is different then the dragon motors...dragons were just flat out scuffing pistons till the skirts came off..the new motor is taking rod bearings out mostly(turn the oiler up till its at least 40 to 1, then add a pint of oil to every tank and warm the sled up a few minutes everytime you shut it off..that would solve many of the issues right there...many of these motors are at 80 to 1 on oil..and that is killing the bearings..adding oil to the gas does not help the bearings(the injectors are in the boost port and inject the fuel up toward the chamber).....

 

[stephenr_65]

all the manufacturers are at risk of having a motor go down at any time..the poo pro motor is different then the dragon motors...dragons were just flat out scuffing pistons till the skirts came off..the new motor is taking rod bearings out mostly(turn the oiler up till its at least 40 to 1, then add a pint of oil to every tank and warm the sled up a few minutes everytime you shut it off..that would solve many of the issues right there...many of these motors are at 80 to 1 on oil..and that is killing the bearings..adding oil to the gas does not help the bearings(the injectors are in the boost port and inject the fuel up toward the chamber).....

Well Mine has 2 more seasons of bumper to bumper warranty left so it is gonna stay like it is but after warranty is up if i still have it, looks like i have some good info on what to do to keep it from goin down thanks

 

[aebsledder]

All sleds break. We just took in my buddies supposed bulletproof 2010 M8...again. His has gone through an oil pump, secondary clutch, primary clutch, diamond drive, etc. Mine (2011 PRO RMK) has gone through motor mounts, primary, secondary, injectors, and engine. All have been covered by what I would consider the most important accessory in snowmobiling, WARRANTY. I would say reliability is not one of the strong suits of this little hobby. Just think about it. These machines are cranking between 140-160 horsepower out of engines about twice the size of a lunch box. That being said, it is extremely frustrating when they break, as we all have some pretty good money tied up in them. I am hoping engine number 2 is as fun as engine number 1 was.

 

[knikflyer]

I would say reliability is not one of the strong suits of this little hobby. Just think about it. These machines are cranking between 140-160 horsepower out of engines about twice the size of a lunch box.

In my opinion, The #1 Rule of Sledding is to make it back to the truck at the end of the day. And in Alaska not making it back to the truck can be an easy 100+ mile tow out if you are really getting out there! You may have out High Marked me or gone 5 mph faster but if you get towed out in the afternoon after showing me up it's all just BS. That the manufacture's continue to sacrifice durability for EPA emissions or to save weight is unconscionable. My '11 Poo 800 motor is so far so good but am seriously considering turning up the oil based on these threads. Has Polaris begun to acknowledge this by having dealers turn up the oil control during service visits?

 

[live to ride]

how about the 600 engine? any issues or to few out there and not enough time to really tell?

 

[Leaf27]

Add this thread to your list negative threads.

 

[akgiauque]

how about the 600 engine? any issues or to few out there and not enough time to really tell?

The 600 I know of or ride with have ben great. That engine has been a awesome runner, lots of 600's in the Iron dog and they ran great. They do modify them but that is a great test of the block, injection, hoses suspension and seat.

 

[Montana powderhound]

All sleds break. We just took in my buddies supposed bulletproof 2010 M8...again. His has gone through an oil pump, secondary clutch, primary clutch, diamond drive, etc. Mine (2011 PRO RMK) has gone through motor mounts, primary, secondary, injectors, and engine. All have been covered by what I would consider the most important accessory in snowmobiling, WARRANTY. I would say reliability is not one of the strong suits of this little hobby. Just think about it. These machines are cranking between 140-160 horsepower out of engines about twice the size of a lunch box. That being said, it is extremely frustrating when they break, as we all have some pretty good money tied up in them. I am hoping engine number 2 is as fun as engine number 1 was.

I agree they all break its just a matter of when and where , all you can do is hope you have good friends with you for help It was pretty funny after beating that cat racing in the pow we got to watch him ride a real crappy trail with the primary stuck in 3rd gear

 

[knifedge]

--I know you guys have great warranties, but any of these motors after around 700 miles may start flaking the rings, blow a skirt, and/or shell a rod bearing. Anyone with mechanical skill should pull their cylinders this summer and at least check their rings.

--Use high quality replacement pistons and rings(not OEM) and turn up the oil pump. These two things will solve the engine issues. Also using the RKT drop in kit, your engine will not be picky about fuel and you pick up some power.

--I would recommend the RKT drop in replacement kit:

http://www.2strokeheads.com/Polaris800DropIn.htm

Good luck with your warrantied sleds. Using OEM parts and
OEM oil pump settings keeps the cycle of destruction going.
Polaris should have addressed this a long time ago.

 

[8emup]

Around 300 miles and I got the electrical bug. We finally got snow and the sled hasn't worked the last three weekends. I think it's water in the TPS but it seems Polaris is out of TPS's. Dam just my luck!!

 

[Old Scud-doo]

Around 300 miles and I got the electrical bug. We finally got snow and the sled hasn't worked the last three weekends. I think it's water in the TPS but it seems Polaris is out of TPS's. Dam just my luck!!

HA! But there isn't a problem with the TPS's....right?

I guarantee that if you have 1000 miles on your motor, factory oil pump setting and you don't run oil in your tank, you will have bad rings. Chipped/flaked or whatever you want to call it. Just saw where a guy decided to tear his apart as preventitive maintainance and his rings were in bad shape. As stated, if we own these sleds long enough we will have ring failure. Polaris can not tell you to turn up the oil because it will screw up the EPA ratings. I am surprised that the ECU doesn't control the pump since I am sure that once the EPA finds out we are all turning them up, they will want it set somehow that it can't be adjusted by Slim Shadietree mechanics. Like me.

Rebuild, turn up the oil pump, add around 1oz of oil per gallon to your tank and ride the pi$$ out of it. That seems to be the way to do it and you don't lose warranty by adding oil to your tank....yet. That's next year on the 13's

 

[Calvin42]

Dealer recommended adding oil to the tank until Polaris decides how they're going to handle it. He downloaded info on his sled, and the boondocking we do and the RPM's we're running is putting the oil usage at 200 to 1! Guess I'll have him turn up the pump some.

 

[tmberro]

HA! But there isn't a problem with the TPS's....right?

I guarantee that if you have 1000 miles on your motor, factory oil pump setting and you don't run oil in your tank, you will have bad rings. Chipped/flaked or whatever you want to call it. Just saw where a guy decided to tear his apart as preventitive maintainance and his rings were in bad shape. As stated, if we own these sleds long enough we will have ring failure. Polaris can not tell you to turn up the oil because it will screw up the EPA ratings. I am surprised that the ECU doesn't control the pump since I am sure that once the EPA finds out we are all turning them up, they will want it set somehow that it can't be adjusted by Slim Shadietree mechanics. Like me.

Rebuild, turn up the oil pump, add around 1oz of oil per gallon to your tank and ride the pi$$ out of it. That seems to be the way to do it and you don't lose warranty by adding oil to your tank....yet. That's next year on the 13's

2300 miles on my stock engine. VES oil. No change to oil pump or oil in gas tank. (knock on wood)

 

[Chewy22]

Polaris can not tell you to turn up the oil because it will screw up the EPA ratings. I am surprised that the ECU doesn't control the pump since I am sure that once the EPA finds out we are all turning them up, they will want it set somehow that it can't be adjusted by Slim Shadietree mechanics. Like me.

You nailed it! Polaris is buying time with all the light weight hype and 4 warranty until they can figure out how to meet EPA regulations with a reliable motor. They have no choice. Both are smoke screens to keep focus away from the real issue. Might have to go Cats route and put a 4-stroke in the line-up. All this is probably why we are not hearing anything directly from Polaris.

If it is truly as simple as putting an RKT kit in and turning up the oiler a bit, game on give me the 417 pound sled and lets rip it up. Hopefully those with the kit will keep posting updates to see how they work after some miles on them.

 

[POLZIN]

Up untill 1 month ago hardly anyone had ridden very much . ( No failures )

Sw and websites like it are a funnels for news good and bad, bad news always travels faster,


At least 50% of what you read good or bad is BS

I would be willing to bet 50% of failures are self inflicted to some degree.( Higher with mod sleds)

I dont know about the rest of you but I seems like SOME people would have trouble with any sled the had.