Debating a used pro turbo?

RobertTrivanovic · Jun 22, 2015

Well the original plan was to snowcheck, but with that I wouldnt be able to have a turboed sled so I backed out of that, anyways...

Ill cut to the chase, the polaris motor terrifies me, but I must add I have NO personal experience with it just from hearing stories im hesitant to buy one. That being said, what year pros seemed to be the most reliable, how many km till you should be worried about them going? Im coming off a M8 turbo and the debate im having with myself is to buy another or to cough up a bit more money and find a used pro turbo. A 2014 pro turbo is most likely out of the budget, im looking at more of a 2011-2013 (most likely 11-12 due to budget), any tips, pointers, or years to stay away from? Just anything that would help me in my decision.

Any brand turbos to stay away from? Is aerocharger all that they talk themselves up to be?

Also can anyone speak to why Silber turbos are so cheap compared to the rest, does the price show in the quality/reliability of the product?

Thanks for any info here guys

joshkoltes · Jun 23, 2015

your probably going to have more down time than the m8 no matter what kit you go with.
they all take maintainance which your well aware but the pro has some pretty hoaky parts that need addressed like the motor mounts and the bulk head.
any kit will work as long as its put together right.

jerrydecoy · Jun 23, 2015

I've had 2 turbo pro's. One boondocker and 1 silber. They both ran good with minimal tuning. I just ordered silbers new kit with the re-flashed ecm so I'm hoping it works since tuning is not an option. I was around/rode 3 silber pro's last winter with the newer kits and they all ran flawless so it appears they're mapping is good to go. That being said... I highly doubt you'd complain about a boondocker kit!!!!

RobertTrivanovic · Jun 23, 2015

joshkoltes said:
your probably going to have more down time than the m8 no matter what kit you go with.
they all take maintainance which your well aware but the pro has some pretty hoaky parts that need addressed like the motor mounts and the bulk head.
any kit will work as long as its put together right.

I'm aware the bulkheads arnt the greatest but that should only break/bend if you have a hard hit unless I'm missing something? As far as the motor mounts what is up with them? Do they twist or what?

jerrydecoy said:
I've had 2 turbo pro's. One boondocker and 1 silber. They both ran good with minimal tuning. I just ordered silbers new kit with the re-flashed ecm so I'm hoping it works since tuning is not an option. I was around/rode 3 silber pro's last winter with the newer kits and they all ran flawless so it appears they're mapping is good to go. That being said... I highly doubt you'd complain about a boondocker kit!!!!

Good to hear the silbers are running good, because if I end up building my own sled again I will go with their kit if I buy a new kit

Hardass · Jun 23, 2015

from what i have seen if it doesnt have a good ballbearing turbo stay away from it. I know some have had good luck with the polaris but many have not and of course the early years of the pro had more issues it seemed. But you can research all this. your budget is the main factor in what ever it is you build no matter the brand. Have you rode a pro?

RobertTrivanovic · Jun 23, 2015

Hardass said:
from what i have seen if it doesnt have a good ballbearing turbo stay away from it. I know some have had good luck with the polaris but many have not and of course the early years of the pro had more issues it seemed. But you can research all this. your budget is the main factor in what ever it is you build no matter the brand. Have you rode a pro?

I rode a pro a few times and really liked the chassis, never rode a pro turbo though. I found some used stock 2013 pros for a pretty good with about 1000-1500km which doesn't sound bad to me but that's coming off a cat and the price on pros actually isn't to bad, I decided I don't want less then a 2013.

From what I see I could get a 2013 pro with around 1000km maybe a bit more and put a silber turbo on it and stay around the budget I want.

But I could also buy a cat for a little over half the price of building a polaris and i know it would be reliable and a fun sled. Tough call

TRS · Jun 24, 2015

2013 or newer is my vote. Belt drive or chain case is your next option. Make sure you stuff some 2014 pistons in it.

RobertTrivanovic · Jun 24, 2015

TRS said:
2013 or newer is my vote. Belt drive or chain case is your next option. Make sure you stuff some 2014 pistons in it.

Did they figure out all their issues with the pistons in 2014? I was thinking about droppin a fix it kit in it. How many km or miles are people getting out of their boosted pros? I can't seem to find any of this info on the site

Wheel House Motorsports · Jun 24, 2015

Silber reflash kit on a 2013 or newer. We got plenty of guys pushing 1500 miles on boost with this setup. Motors hold together a fair amount better when the tuning is not so sketchy in the mid range. With the reflash the motor is tuned for pure performance and reliabilty, not stock EPA tuning with a piggyback on top to add fuel on boost.

Only had 1 of the reflashed pro's go down, and it was because the factory oil line popped out of the oil pump and bottom end ran dry. So, The kit was more reliable then the Polaris. lol

Food for thought.

mountaincat 800 · Jun 25, 2015

Reflash? You can get reflashed ECU's? Who reflashes them? Reflashed to who's spec's?

Thanks.

Wheel House Motorsports said:
Silber reflash kit on a 2013 or newer. We got plenty of guys pushing 1500 miles on boost with this setup. Motors hold together a fair amount better when the tuning is not so sketchy in the mid range. With the reflash the motor is tuned for pure performance and reliabilty, not stock EPA tuning with a piggyback on top to add fuel on boost.

Only had 1 of the reflashed pro's go down, and it was because the factory oil line popped out of the oil pump and bottom end ran dry. So, The kit was more reliable then the Polaris. lol

Food for thought.

Wheel House Motorsports · Jun 25, 2015

mountaincat 800 said:
Reflash? You can get reflashed ECU's? Who reflashes them? Reflashed to who's spec's?

Thanks.

http://www.silberturbos.com/collections/polaris-snowmobile/products/polaris-pro-rmk-turbo-kit

He has a few notes regarding the setup in the description.

They reflash the OEM ecu with a new calibration for larger fuel injectors and 3 bar map sensor as well as a host of other changes to accomodate the turbo on the sled. They mapped them for their kits.

By far the cleanest running turbo sleds I have EVER ridden, and not just one of them, I have 5 local and they all rip day in and day out. They are stupid simple, they work great and they work great every day.

Teth-Air · Jun 25, 2015

RobertTrivanovic said:
Did they figure out all their issues with the pistons in 2014? I was thinking about droppin a fix it kit in it. How many km or miles are people getting out of their boosted pros? I can't seem to find any of this info on the site

Everybody seems to focus on the pistons but don't be fooled this is not where the problems end. The cylinder skirts were failing before 2013 (pistons aggravated this) but once the pistons and cylinders were fixed, the lower connecting rod bearings will be the next issue. The reality is that these motors do not use enough oil to keep them lubricated. My 2014 and a buddies 2014 had this failure, mine also had the oiler turned up 2 turns. We will see what 3 turns yields in reliability now that it has a new warranty motor.
His bearings were blue colour when inspected after cratering. The turbo could save these motors via adding more fuel to cool things down but without more oil, your just washing it away.

RobertTrivanovic · Jun 25, 2015

Teth-Air said:
Everybody seems to focus on the pistons but don't be fooled this is not where the problems end. The cylinder skirts were failing before 2013 (pistons aggravated this) but once the pistons and cylinders were fixed, the lower connecting rod bearings will be the next issue. The reality is that these motors do not use enough oil to keep them lubricated. My 2014 and a buddies 2014 had this failure, mine also had the oiler turned up 2 turns. We will see what 3 turns yields in reliability now that it has a new warranty motor.
His bearings were blue colour when inspected after cratering. The turbo could save these motors via adding more fuel to cool things down but without more oil, your just washing it away.

Yeah ive been reading up about the oil issue youre talking about, how many km or miles did you get out of your 2014 before it failed?

mountaincat 800 · Jun 26, 2015

Do they reflash for pure performance and reliabilty for a stock setup?
I.E. More fuel in the mid as needed.

Wheel House Motorsports said:
http://www.silberturbos.com/collections/polaris-snowmobile/products/polaris-pro-rmk-turbo-kit

He has a few notes regarding the setup in the description.

They reflash the OEM ecu with a new calibration for larger fuel injectors and 3 bar map sensor as well as a host of other changes to accomodate the turbo on the sled. They mapped them for their kits.

By far the cleanest running turbo sleds I have EVER ridden, and not just one of them, I have 5 local and they all rip day in and day out. They are stupid simple, they work great and they work great every day.

Hollywood99 · Jun 30, 2015

ive got an2011 pro with boondocker turbo with 3000 miles on it, 2800 turbo total and no issues with the sled other than regular minor issues as u will have in most sleds, we redid the top end last yr and after we got it apart found we didn't need to even do it but I did anyways. don't let anybody sway u from buying a pro, it is a very reliable engine since the 11's came out. they all have issues of some sort at one time or another!!!! I snowchecked a 16 and she is going straight to reid hedlund at boondocker Canada in bc for a turbo!!!!

adamg · Jun 30, 2015

Hollywood, that sled sounds very similar to mine (on kijiji as ad 1060716324). Where are you located?

Hollywood99 · Jul 2, 2015

little over 2hrs south of ya!!!!

friscospices.com · Jul 2, 2015

I have a silber kit form 2012 with the dobeck box, fuel rail, turbo, pipe, and wiring, the only thing missing is the corrogated tubes for the boost tube and intake. that can be purchesed at any local hardware. complete instructions, tuning guide, plus a bunch of extra stuff as well as I upgraded along the way. First 1000.00 takes it .

friscospices.com · Jul 6, 2015

800.00 make offer

Ricks 32 · Jul 8, 2015

I ride with a lot of turbo pros (all BD) and my personal sled is a 2014 pro with a BD turbo. I know of three of them with over 3k miles, two '12s and one '13. All top ends replaced at 2000 miles, and all three sets of pistons looked good at 2k miles.

Keep in mind, all the pros I ride with are race gas kits which contain the additional injectors. I've been told that the additional injectors provide the lubrication that the pro needs. I've seen the pistons from all three sleds that we replaced at 2000 miles and they looked great.

I'm sold on buying the best kit available and using good fuel. I did the pump gas route once and it was a poor experience. Since 2010 I've gone with race gas kits from BD and OVS and my reliability and ease of use has been excellent.

Debating a used pro turbo?

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