Cold engines require a richer AFR because cold fuel doesn't atomize as well therefore the mixture must be richer to get a proper air to fuel mixture for ignition.
The colder the temps the richer this needs to be. If you lean the cold fuel enrichment so that people don't foul plugs from not letting the machine warm up properly then you risk having cold start problems.
A warmer plug can help..ie leave the mixture alone and run a warmer plug..but this can cause problems as well if the plug is too hot. A plug needs to run at certain temp range,the minimum temp high enough to burn off deposits at idle while not exceeding a maximum temp during extended WOT that would cause detonation,preignition ect... If you raise the heat range to accomodate fouling plugs from improper warm up you also risk the plug running too hot under heavy load. All of this requires extensive testing to determine what is safe and changing plug heat ranges,especially to a warmer plug should not be taken lightly.
If Polaris ok'ed the warmer plug I am sure it must be fine..personally for me the colder plug and inital stock map never yeilded any problems for me..but then again I properly warm up my machines if I start them before shutting them down...that goes any engine..

Waht was the topic agai? lol...sorry oh yes freezing starter..I could see that they encased the starter in rubber..looks like it was dipped..amazing how something that looks like a great idea can have such negative consequences. If you don't regularly swim your bike and you live in exremely cold climates and or store the machine outside it might be best to remove that coating off of the starter?

 

Good reporting DavidXP! Which continues to make this forum a valuable resource...


biz
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

maybe popo should what yamaha does, the sleds have a red light that comes on when u start it, when it goes off, its warm and u can take off

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: RED800

maybe popo should what yamaha does, the sleds have a red light that comes on when u start it, when it goes off, its warm and u can take off</end quote></div>

now that is a true idiot light ...lol

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Ruggo

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: RED800



maybe popo should what yamaha does, the sleds have a red light that comes on when u start it, when it goes off, its warm and u can take off</end quote></div>



now that is a true idiot light ...lol</end quote></div>

Took the words right out of my mouth...next will be shift locks that prevent the transmission from being shifted out of park until it is warmed up..the more idiot proof they make them the more people that don't need that crap have to pay for the machine..those types of "features" are not free..

 

speaking of features i Would pay for a temperature gauge i really don't understand why polaris didn't throw one in the XP i think it is a necessity

 

Yes temp gauge and oil pressure would be nice IMO..could have it is a electronic round robin display,and if one or the other was near a limit it would automatically display and flash.
One thing that I thought was interesting that I did not know about the XP and maybe other Polaris' is the "HOT indicator will flash at certain temp(don't remeber the temps off the top of my head,I can look them up tonight)..this tells you the temp is getting high but it isn't severe yet. At this point the machine goes into "limp mode" and power is limited. If the temp increases further the "hot" warning goes steady. If the temp increases further to another preset temp the engine is automatically shut down. I knew about the indicator but didn't know about the different stages anf the auto shutdown.
This is from the service manual...would be good info for the Owner's Manual IMO and the best I remember it is not in there.

 

same as sleds, it retards the timing, i think.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: RED800

same as sleds, it retards the timing, i think.</end quote></div>

Yeah..I'v was aware of limp mode,cars use it as well. This one is more drastic once you get a solid Hot indication it misfires above idle..I just didn't realize the stages for the indicator..flashing and steady on, and the automatically killing the engine.
The ECM likely does retard timing based on ECT though..that is almost standard with EFI across the board..

Ok..I looked at the manual again..I had it wrong slightly..
257*F..Hot flashing
266*F Hot on steady..Engine misfires above idle
284*F..Engine shutoff
Since we are kinda off track anyway lol..Fan on 203*,Fan off 192*..which shoots my theory about why some people think the fan runs alot..I suggested the fan came on a lower temp than the older machines to help combat overheating..the 08 800 fan comes on at 195*,off at 180* and triggers a hot indication at 215*(which BTW sounds pretty low IMO and might explain why the 800's have a problem with "overheating"). If the hot indication comes on at *215 no wonder they trigger it rather commonly..
On the otherhand 257* is too high for a indication IMO...might be why the XP did so well on that overheat test in the Polaris video..lol