ok 2004 Sportsman 600 twin. Past two nights I go out riding for about 20mins hard, come home and the fan is running I shut it off and turn the key just enough so the power comes on so the fan can keep running and when i do that the HOT engine starts flashing. Could this have anything to do with the new NGK plugs I put in or me cleaning the carb?

thanks guys

 

First, running the fan without the engine running is useless. That only cools down the water in the radiator. you should let it cool off a little at low speed or idle if you are concerend about it cooling off. The hot engine light is coming on because water is not circulating and the heat is warming up the water in the block beyond what is recommended.

when you put the new plug in, did you check the gap on it and make sure it was set properly. Don't trust what the plug manufacturer sets it at.

When you said you cleaned the carb, does that mean you took it apart and cleaned out all the jets, or did you just run some carb cleaner down the air filter? If you took it apart and messed with the jets, then it is possible it is running lean and that could cause it to get hot.

I would bet that just letting it cool off a little before shutting it down would fix your problem.

edit: I just saw your other post. did you check the upper half of the radiator for debris and clean it out?

 

Rad is good and clean. Ive just never had this happen till now. Im going to run it tonight the same as I did last night and Ill come home and let it run with the fan on and then Ill shut it off. Just doesn't seem right. The plugs said not to gap them, when I checked the plugs they were close to what I should have for a gap so I left them alone.

 

Had the same problem with my Sportsman last year. Even though it was clean there was a lot of dust/dirt in the radiator coils that was very hard to see, especially with my winch being mounted directly in front of the radiator. I got out my power washer & thoroughly cleaned the radiator from both sides. The water coming off the radiator was very dirty. This solved the overheating problem.

 

It just started doing this since I took the carb off and cleaned it. Thats why Im so stumped on it. The only thing I was a little worried about was this one screw I took out that I thought was a jet it looked like a pin with a spring on it. I put it back in as tight as I thought it came out, but who knows.

 

Thats what we through on a boiling over SP700 we ride with, turned out the hard to see top half of the rad was baked clogged with old mud, in other words it was running with only half a rad.

We cleaned it out and it was a hard job because it was so baked on but it solved it.

 

Did you notice any difference with the new plugs? If I shut my atv off then turn the power back on the fan will run and I watch the water temp gauge and it rises up there a bit but never to kick the HOT light on. This is normal though. The heat has no were to go but into the water jacket/coolant and the heat sendor is there.

 

It seemed fine with the new plugs, I ran it for a few days an no issues. The engine HOT does not come on when Im riding only once I park it and turn the key off and then back so the fan has power.

 

Might just be a bad senor in the motor. All the ATVs I seen that truly get hot boil over coolant out the top of the reservoir bottle.

 

well when he is riding he may being running the engine up there in temp then when it gets shut off the engine heats up the coolant in the water jacket very quickly and may turn the engine hot light on.....just a thought