Hello all,

I recently broke the wire that comes off the high temp sensor/plug. So of course I purchased and installed a new however after the quad is running for a few min the high temp light comes on. A there anything special someone has to do when replacing these sensors? I did lose a little antifreeze however not enough to make much difference I wouldn't thing, and the reserve is showing about halfway between the min/max level.

 

Sounds like trapped air. Anytime you replace a sensor,hose,etc you'll get air in the system and it can cause over heating before the fan can kick on. Raise the front wheels off the ground a little,remove the radiator cap,let it idle and let the fan cycle on and off several times. You can also squeeze the hoses to aid in air removal.When the fan cycles on usually the radiator level will drop. After the fan has cycled on and off several times top off the radiator,replace the cap and top off the recovery bottle if necessary. Hopefully should solve the problem.

 

OPT I tried your suggestion however I never had any luck, seems like the fan is not kicking in before it gets hot. I also tried squealing all the hoses as well to try and get air out. I never had the overheat issue until I replaced that temp sensor (one on the motor) which makes me believe the fan is still good.

I'm going to put a meter on it power going into the fan later to see if it's getting power... That will help rule out the fan I hope.

Anyway I just wanted to provide a bit of an update just in case you had any other suggestions.

Note: I jacked up the quad about 3 feet in the front when doing what you suggested. I'm more thinking it's something I'm doing wrong.....
See the attached picture for the sensor I replaced

 

Just jump 12 volts direct to the fan connector and see how it does. You can also do a load test on the fan. Manual calls for pulling the fan connector out enough to get meter leads in. Set meter on dc amps and when the fan kicks on if it draws more than 7 amps the fan could be getting weak.Plus don't overlook obvious things like a leaking radiator cap or partially blocked radiator especially around the fan area.If these check out ok,even the radiator sensor contacts may not be closing fast enough to provide the ground path for the fan to kick on.

 

Check fan and it's working, rad cap looks good.

OPT what do you mean by blocked rad? I have ensured there it no dirt or mud lodged into it or around it. Made sure coolant was topped up.

Thinking my next step is to remove the rad?

Also there is a 110v plug down by the motor next to where the coolant hoses enter the motor area, any idea what that's for?

Thank again OPT you don't know how much I appreciate all the help you have been providing me.

Scott

 

110v plug? Think someone(if you're not the original owner) must have had some sort of dip stick oil warmer or something of that nature. Yes there are times when a radiator needs to be removed to get to all the cracks and crevices that dirt can build up and cause over heating,BUT if you didn't have overheating problems before on the system before you installed a new temp sensor,it still sounds like trapped air is causing it to over heat before the fan can kick on.On some machine I've spent close to an hour trying to get all trapped air pockets out of systems.The more kinks and binds the hoses make,the more trouble it is to purge air pockets. Plus do you have the oem temp sensor installed? If its an aftermarket one it could be set to trigger the hot light too quick.

 

Ok so yesterday evening I spent about 2 hours squeezing the rad hoses to no avail. The fan never kicks on before the high temp light.

So today i decided to take the rad off and clean it up, and put in fresh fluid. The rad didnt look to bad other than a bit clogged on the lower portion. I poured some hot soapy water over it and used a bit of compressed air to clean it up.

Once I got everything put back together and filled the coolant system with fresh antifreeze I started to do the following;
1. Lift the front of the quad off the ground about 2-3 feet
2. I would run the quad with the rad cap off, once the fluid starting to work its way to the top of the rad filler I would shut off the quad and the fluid would go down quite a bit. I would also squeeze the hoses. I could see quite a bit of burping. I did this for about 20 mins until the temp light came on, then I would let it cool down and repeat. I did this about 5 or 6 times until finally no burping was happening. The fan never did kick in and of course the high temp light is still coming on.

The more I think about it the more i think it had to do with the sensor I bought. OPT to answer you question on if it was OEM or aftermarket, it was an aftermarket sensor. It can be seen here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281676468359?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Based on what I have already done/tried am i doing something wrong? Kinda want to double check before I go and buy the $140 OEM sensor....

Thanks for your time

Scott

 

It's a Caltric sensor,may or may not be set to trigger the hot light at the same temp as the oem sensor,but if you got this engine warm enough the fan should have kicked on and it's triggered by the radiator sensor. I think at this point,I'd either test the radiator sensor,check ohms when cold,should drop when heated up with boiling water,heat gun,etc. If it turns out to be faulty,then I'd replace it with a Wells SW526 sensor which is usually cheaper(about 25 bucks) than oem and just use your harness connector and go back through the steps again. PLUS before you do recheck the filler neck(item#3) and cap to make sure it's not warped,some models did have that problem,plus a 13 psi radiator cap is cheap at any auto store..Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Also check that you have power in and out of the fan circuit breaker up from the radiator in the sealed pouch.If it doesn't just slice the pouch open and check the terminals. If corroded,rusted out just change it as it's cheap at any auto store. Item #3.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse