Hello to all you fellow wheelers,

I own an 02 polaris sportsman 700 and must say that i love it, but I do have a coolant issue with it that i can't put my finger on.
1 st. of all just for small talk i bought this machine used with 1200 miles on it. The machine was well kept and i could'nt pass it up with a plow, winch, chains, and an 8x8 tilt trailer all for 4k. Right place right time kind of thing. Anyway the machine runs great and the fan comes on at times but when it does'nt it over heets. when the temp light comes on it seems the fan does'nt and if i run it at this point it will use coolant hard. i have been told that this yr. wheeler has had coolant issues and that there is some kind of add on kit you can buy for them but i think this issue is different. My thoughts are maybe the heet sensor and or the thermostat. Again the fan does seem to work ok but does'nt seem to always kick on when needed. Please understand that i am GREEN to the wheeler world and i'm just reaching here. Any help would be greatly appreciated .

thanks to all,
and MUD ON !!!!!!!

 

There is an issue with the waterpump that caused it to leak, but I'm not really up on the cure. If you perform a search, I'm sure you'll find a hit with an explanation of how that issue is resolved. If you don't have sufficient coolant in the system, then your fan sensor may not be able to determine that the coolant is hot and needs to turn the fan on. I'd check this first. If you're still experiencing what you describe, it may be the fan sensor. It's screwed into the cylinder block and has a single wire coming out of it.

 

as long as it is not leaking your ok in that part

now when your engine overheats the water in the coolant steams and yes it does steam out in very small quanties, your best bet is to get the coolant drained and replaced and then get the fan sensor looked at

 

it sounds like eather theres an air pocket in the coolent system or a head gasket leaking in to the cyclinder . if your temp sensor is at the top of head you can unscrew it and blead the air out as long as the radiator is full . As for a internal head gasket leak you can pull the spark plug and check for white chalk on it this, means your burning coolent .

 

I don't think it was mentioned, but don't forget to be sure your radiator is clean

 

Dribb:
Also Check and make sure your oil isn't milky looking that's a sure fire sign of a head gasket failure. I'd be real careful until you get it figured out. You can do alot of damage to all that aluminum if it get's too hot. See what oleman thinks about the fan relay. It could be a problem. I've had intermittent failure with car relays before. Talk about a nightmare seems like everytime you run a dvom the problem isn't there then when your off in the woods making out with your girlfriend and your wife calls to let you know she's in labor your friggin car won't start. I hate that.

Oleman:
Do they have two sensors one for the fan and one for the idiot light?
Could it be the fan motor relay?
I see that you have one too so I figured you might know.