[i_play_bass]

Hi all,

Replacing the idiot light in my '95 XLT Touring with a temp gauge sensor soon while I have my sled half apart still and carbs off for cleaning anyway. If I'm going to be draining coolant to do this (though I shouldn't lose much with the sensor location right at the top of the head cover, basically the highest point in the system), I'm thinking I might give the whole sled a coolant flush since it's new to me and I don't know when it was last done.

I saw the tip about hooking up the shopvac to one of the hoses and drawing everything out, so I can handle that, reinstall hose, swap my sensor, then refill through the filler neck, top off the overflow. The filler neck on these sleds flow straight into the overflow jug though, so will I need to start the sled up and keep it running while I fill from empty to get the water pump pulling coolant through the system? Or should I just open the rad cap, fill from the overflow (which leads in to the system right at the water pump) while front is raised so it fills the exchangers and lower sections, once fluid gets to the filler cap line kill the sled and just top up to cold fill line in the overflow?

Any idea how much coolant these sleds hold, and I have three jugs of fluid at home already - One is a partial gallon of red premix Caterpiller Extended life coolant that's currently in the sled that the previous owner had (he worked for CAT, so he got it real cheap), but I also have a nearly full gallon of pink premix for a Toyota Matrix that I no longer own. Are either of these fine or should I just be going to grab a new jug of Prestone green premix?

Just want to make sure I'm putting something in it, and that if I'm using a different fluid that I'm using something that won't damage the engine/components or not mix properly if there's a tiny bit of fluid left in the system before I put the new in. Suppose I could flush it with distilled water first?

Thanks!

 

[Coolhand]

Should be green not red or pink. When filling these up you must have the radiator pressure cap off and the front end of the snowmobile must be as high as you can get it i.e. higher then the rear heat exchangers and you run it at idle with the cap off while the air dissipates from the system. Best way to do it is if you have a small hill to park it on while it runs.

 

[i_play_bass]

So the red is definitely what was run in it by the last owner. I can easily grab a jug of green, but I would imagine I'm now in for a complete flush. Suck the old out, run the hose through the system, fill with 50/50 green.

Again, do I just keep pouring into the overflow to fill it while running or straight in from the filler cap?

 

[BC_Dan]

I'd make sure it was full before starting, and like Coolhand said, get the front higher than the rear heat exchanger so the air can evacuate. Then idle with the cap off and keep filling as needed.

 

[Coolhand]

Fill it where the pressure cap is and fill the overflow bottle as well. The start it up letting it idle and letting those air bubbles out over time. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes sometimes it can take 20 minutes just hit the throttle now and then so it doesn't load up. Keep filling as it loses air and drops the level. Also Polaris runs 60-40 from factory but most people when they do it switch to 50-50.

 

[i_play_bass]

Ok. What I'll do is raise the back slightly to make sure I catch everything out of the exchangers, crack the highest rad hose up at the head, catch anything that comes out initially, take the shopvac to the open hose to clean everything out. Swap my temp sensor, then maybe give it a good flush with the hose as you mentioned in an old post BC_Dan, slurp that up with the vac, and then fill at the pressure cap and top off in the overflow. I leave the pressure cap off to allow air out and then keep filling at both the cap and the overflow.

I figure I've cleaned the chaincase out completely, so i might as well give the life-blood a transfusion too. Hopefully breathe some new life into the old girl with all this new maintenance that hadn't been done in a while.

Thanks you guys! This site doesn't seem as active as it was 7 or 8 years ago when I had my last sled, but still glad to see a few helpful folks still participating on here!

 

[BC_Dan]

It's a good idea to change the coolant, especially in an aluminum engine. The additive package does wear out over time. Changing coolant regularly can prevent issues due to loss of additives.

This site is one of the few ones that has survived. I used to frequent a few other sites, and several of those are almost done; they have maybe 5 posts a month. We must be a bit more die-hard here

 

[i_play_bass]

Got everything done today and I must say that shop vac trick was a great idea. I siphoned out the coolant from the overflow and from the filler neck, then removed the hose from the engine head and drained everything I could. Flushed the whole thing out twice and then refilled with the green 50/50 premix. Very little mess, very easy to do and the sled is currently tilted and burping overnight. The carbs are off for cleaning so I'll let it gravity burp for now then once I've got everything back together run it tilted to make sure all air is out.

To answer my original question in the thread title, it's got just under 1 jug of new coolant in it at the moment and after burping will probably take a bit of a top up, so will likely use the one jug exactly, maybe not have to crack into the 2nd that I bought.

New gauge is installed and wired. My long list of maintenance is quickly disappearing as the temperatures keep dropping! 😁