'04 700 EFI running hot

[Yankee]

Well today I finally was able to go out and run my new (well new to me and my first Popo) 700. I bought it used and it has been in and out of the shop do to idling issue which was the wire harness for the EFI. While it was in the shop I bought 26x 9, 26 x 12 Swamp-Lites on Vision 160 and Full Skid Plate for the bady and A-Arms. So I could not wait to try them out. So any how found a little mud pit and wanted to try it out and the new tires (swamp-lites). After playing there was another Popo 500 efi '05 playing in the mud too. Well we took off to the trails and the next thing I look down and see HOT flashing so I stopped. The guy with the 500 stopped with me, I told him what was going on and asked about the fan running (his was not even running). The fan was running, I looked at the bottle and it was all the way to the top (like over filled, which is weird since the coolant is in the middle at pre run). So I thought well my radiator might be clogged, so I unscrewed the bottom of the screen and looked up and only the bottom part was clogged but 70% was clean. The guy told me that he has had his clogged up and never ran hot. So I let it cool down and then would drive till I see HOT. Turn off and wait to cool down. So on and so until I got back to the trailer. When I got home the coolant level was in the norm.

So the question is could it be the thermostat since the bottle was full to the top or the water pump or the cap? The times I have rode my ATV it seems the fan runs a lot, my average ride speed is 5-20mph since my daughter is following on her ATV. This is the first time I have hit the mud so and it has now made me think twice.

Thanks for any info,

Jim

296

[crimbshaw188]

alot of the times your r adiator will look clean when it is acctually not.......unless you can see light all the way though them it not clean try soakung it for a long time and using degreaser to clean it......if that doesnt solve it and you KNOW for FACT its clean then i would take out the thermostat and inspect/replace

[OnlyPolaris]

yes your radiator is probably plugged. you think its clean but it aint even close. the coolant will be in the middle of the bottle while the quad is just warm. but when the quad over heats the coolant will expand which will make the bottle full and most of the time coolant will shoot out of the cap.

[Yankee]

Thanks for the info, I will pull the front off tomorrow and do a good cleaning.


I have been searching the web to see if I can find something to show me where the thermostat is. Is it an easy change and do I have to use a polaris part?

I might just go to the dealer on Monday and trade it in on an 800, but only if money grew on tree's LOL.

Jim

[800Stealth]

The thermostat is easy to change, pull off the seat and the left side plastic and it's right there where the upper radiator hose is connected to the motor. Just a couple of bolts to pop the housing off. I don't know if Polaris is the only sorce for a new thermostat.

[Rubberdown]

Welcome to the forums dude, glad you found us.

Okay, first of all, you dont need to "un-screw" those screws to take that screen off, just pull at the bottom out towards the front to get the bottom loose, then reach up and feel around, theres 2 tabs you can pull on in the same direction and bam, itsa off in seconds. They are just like a press fit rubber plug so it really is quite easy.

Next, read the post at the top of the polaris forum here on RAD CLEANING 101, it is very informative and if you follow those directions, your rad WILL BE CLEAN and you wont have to remove the rad to do it.

If you do all that and it still runs hot, you could have an air bubble trapped in your sustem, I'm no pro on that fix, but maybe one of the other guys can better explain it, I know that Badmaners has helped people with that stuff before.

[Yankee]

Thanks for all the info, I have pulled all the plastic off and did a detail cleaning. I now can see the Light thru the radiator. I now am going thru everything since it is all a part. So far have replaced the pads on the front and back and doing the rear A-arm upgrade to 8. Hopefully I will have everything back together by Friday so I can go out and really test it.

Once again thanks for all the help
Jim