Hello -

I've been a lurker here for a long time. This is my first post.

I have a 2001 Kodiak that I bought new. It has 640 miles on it and roughly 70 hours. Today while I was out, I noticed the coolant light had come on. I shut the engine down, and put the key back on. The fan did not come on. I let it sit for a while as I decided what to do. I was out by myself and it was getting dark. To top it off, I was lost on a side trail.

After about 10 minutes, I started heading back. The light went out, but soon came back on. I had no choice but to ride as quickly as I could to get air flow to the radiator. Since the outside temp was about 45/50 degrees, I hoped for the best. I made it home about 45 minutes later. The engine did get fairly warm, the light stayed on the entire way - however the engine ran fine. Hopefully no damage has been done.

I started to do some troubleshooting as per the manual. I checked the fuses on the trail, and they were good. I hotwired the fan, and it turned. So I decided to take a heatgun and heat up the temp sensor with the key on. The fan came on. I heated up the circuit breaker as well as the temp sensor, and the fan came on.

While I was doing some searching here, I started to think - maybe the waterpump quit working, causing the engine to get hot, but not letting the coolant get hot enough to trigger the temp sensor. Does this sound logical?

All of the electrical connections were tight. Infact, this is the first time anything in that circuit has been unplugged.

Would anyone have any other suggestions as to what to check?

Thanks,
Perry

 

i'd say check your connections

it most likey didn't do any damage.. it'd be differnt if it was a broken water pump

 

Speedy2222 -

Thanks for the reply. You think it is possible that the electrical connections might have been the problem even though they have never been disconnected? I suppose I should put some silicone grease in there to preven any corrosion.

Thanks again -

Perry

 

it might of just not gotten fully connected when assembled.. ssoo that is my first suggestion.. if that is not it.. i am not 100% sure but maybe check the fuses ..

 

I had the same problem with my 01 Kodiak twice. The second time was the fan (what an expense!!!) the first time my water pump was leaking enough that my coolant level was WAY low. This being the case the water temp sensor would not close because there wasn't enough (or any) water to sense. What this did was made my oil temp light come on beacause the oil got too hot (remember it is an oil temp light not a water temp light). I changed the water pump, filled with water and anti freeze and all was OK. Also, the 01 Kodiaks were known for water pump failures. Mine was replaced twice before I sold it with app. 4,000 mikes.
Buck

 

Thanks for the info. I checked the antifreeze level. It was low, but I think it was above the switch as I could see the level. I will double check that tomorrow. I'll also test the waterpump to see if that is the problem.

The waterpump is sold as a complete unit - correct?

 

Yes it's sold as a complete unit. I can't remember the price though.
Good luck
Buck

 

the ENTIRE assembly is about $130-140 just the impeller is liek $25 tho..

 

Is the impeller the part that usually goes bad? I would think the internal seals go, causing leakage at the weep hole. I have not noticed any leakage - but the radiator was low when I checked last night. When the light came on, I checked the coolant overflow/reservoir and it was full. This leads me to believe there may be a leak somewhere, which is causing a loss in vacuum and not allowing the antifreeze to get sucked back into the radiator.

I'm going to run the bike today to see if the fan will come on.

 

The antifreeze level was just below the sensor. I ooked the kodiak over and noticed that it was still wet in some spots. It seemed almost like antifreeze droplets on the 4wd mechanism. Then it caught my eye... a slight tear in the 'back' radiator hose , just below the clamp. I should be able to cut the hose and reuse it since it is that close to the clamp.

Thanks for all the help!

Perry