I've got a Sportsman 500 DUSE. I was riding it hard in low 4wd and it overheated bigtime. The coolant just blew out of the overflow bottle. Air temp was in the low 90's. Fan was working fine. I got it home and to the dealer to inspect and fix. The dealer said they ran it for several hours at idle after filling the coolant tank, from under the hood, not the overflow. He said everything checked out ok. No problem with the thermostat, fan, fan switch, no warping and everything is ok. Was this just a hickup in the cooling system or should I look into it further? I haven't done any riding since, and I'm a little gun-shy, since the temp in the desert is now in the 110 range. Any insight from you band of experts. I'm too damn old to be walking in the desert heat. What do you think?

 

overheat a liguid cooled 4X4 with a fan!! damn you must have been riding hard!

 

Yeah, I was beating it up and down some ridges along a river bottom. I have never babied this machine and this was the first time it overheated. It can get really hot here in the Arizona desert. My concern is that this is the start of something nasty. I put 2300 miles on this quad last year, both here and on the Paiute trail. I depend on this machine and when something like this happens you should stop and get it fixed right or at least get an understanding of what went wrong. I just have a problem with the dealer's "no problem " attitude. I think there is something else, other than my driving, that's going on here. Just hoping that someone else had some ideas about where to look.

 

If you ride mud, I would definately pull the screens off the radiator and check the radiator for plugged fins. If you have a lot of mud in your fins, clean it out with an air hose...not water or pressure washer, this will bend the fins. My Xplorer was overheating last summer, and along with a siezed fan motor, the radiator was 3/4 plugged with mud!

 

Did you check to see if the radiator fins were clean...no mud oor dust ???

 

The radiator fins are clean, no mud or heavy dust collected.

 

Here's my $.02. Use Water Wetter in you coolant and synthetic oil. 0W-40 not 20W-50. If you're REALLY concerned, some guys who ride dunes in the heat a lot, add an automotive tranny cooler and run their oil through it.

 

Hey tsimot Ive overheated my 700 a few times so I know what your going through like 95sport said that water wetter really works.I use my 700 for alot of farm work and hear in missouri it gets pretty dam hot.clean the hell out of the radiator and add some water wetter.And the next time you go out riding just stay close to the truck till it checks out...Good luck

 

What exactly is this water wetter product and what is it supposed to improve? Is it something that can be left in over winter? Where would a person typically find it?

 

It improves the transfer of heat from your coolant. Go here: water wetter
Sorry for not making the link clickable last night, it was late[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]