My 850 XP overheated twice today and the motor automatically shut-down, the rad was very muddy so I figured that was the problem, yet the rad was not hot and neither was the rad cap, also the Electric fan wasnt engaging...

There was no blown fuses.

Does anyone have an idea? Maybe a sensor got wet?

 

was the antifreeze spewing out from overheating? i assume not as you said the rad. wasn't hot. did the engine feel real hot? wondering if maybe a bad sensor sending bad messages?

 

Not sure if they changed it or not but on other machines you could unplug the radiator temp sensor, lower right corner of radiator, this would make the fan come on with the key on, if fan didnt come on , hook 12 volts directly to fan , if it works then radiator sensor is bad.

 

Thanks for that info, I will try that tonight. I am thinking a sensor is/was wet, as I was driving around in a Lake in about 3 feet of water...

 

I bought my 850 last fall, the first ride back in my woods it start to spit/sputter and over temp light came on. Obviously something wrong; checked coolant level and it was fine. Then noticed the fan was not turning on, which should of been seeing it was overheating. Got to looking and the plug to the electric fan had fallen out of the socket and was dangling there below the radiator. Plugged it back in, fan kicked on, let sit there for a few with ignition turned on. Then rode off, haven't had a problem yet.

 

I had a similar issue this weekend. Just riding down the road and got a message on the display that the engine was hot.....fan was not kicking on. I pulled the fan out and noticed there was some old dried crusty clay stuck in the fan blades not allowing it to rotate. Luckily I caught it before the motor burnt up. Everything is clean and running great now.

 

Cleaning the radiator is one of the most important post ride maintenance items along with a quick squeeze of grease were fitting are available, this is a must. I would say the lack or cleaning the radiator and not pushing the water out of the joints has caused more damage than lack of oil changes. I live in Florida and most trips out for our group is very hot, yesterday it was 90 and it’s only April and proper cooling is a must. After each ride no matter the conditions I hose out the radiator the best I can and when I do an oil change I open up the front screen and give it a full cleaning front to back and back to front looking close to the corners for buildup, this can take some time allowing for the buildup to losen up. Once I’m confident it’s clean and radiator is "cool" I still apply a 50-50 Purple Power / water mixture(Try this stuff you will like it) and using a spray bottle to put it on, let it sit for 5 minutes and hose it out VERY good. I recommend not using any high pressure; it tends to bend the fins not allowing air flow thru the rad. The time spent will be worth it!!!!!!!!!! Happy trails.

 

Purple Power is the BOMB!