11-12' 800 Pro Reliability

pura vida · May 7, 2012

Let me be clear, I'm in no way saying the poo motor is as strong or reliable as cat or doo. Best chassis, worst motor. And I'm not saying Polaris should be hammered for their issues, and they are. I also believe it is over hyped some on the internet, not to take anything way from those that have had issues. But as a consumer I'm fully aware of the issues and still choose to ride the pro. If a person is that paranoid about it ride and ride with something else. It's not worth the stress to be that focused on the possibility of a failure. Maybe let your buddies with pros know that you will help him out of the back country but his sled is on him. Then you don't have to worry about it.

PV

0neoldfart · May 7, 2012

tlm700 said:
just wait till it happens too you! "Oh wait it wont happen to you your not buying a 800" not all of us are stupid! I am 51 years old and have been a motor head for 40 of them years. my sled gernaded all on its own! it gets all the special care you can imagine, and is totally stock! It lasted 806 miles running great till I shut it off and restarted it! May be you shouldnt comment on this till it happens to you! I am sure you will look at this subject differently Then!!

Fair enough. I suppose I am not entitled to my opinion on this forum. However, let me ask you this: Was your engine covered under warranty? Is the Polaris 800 the only sled you have ever owned that failed? If that is the case, you must be the luckiest sledder I've ever heard of. Does the polaris 800 have some reports of engine failures? Sure does, and it has since it's creation - may be why I don't own one - yet. The aftermarket has taken runs at attempting to repair "design flaws", but no real feedback has been presented as of yet. Frustrating? Yes. Will you buy another polaris 800? That's your decision. I guess what I'm saying is if you want a manufaturer to fix the issues, make your voice heard with your wallet, and buy a competitor's sled. Poor sales will eventually sway R&D.

pura vida · May 7, 2012

the other option if you have to have a polaris b/c you really want the pro chassis is to get a 600 and then put a 660 on it. as reliable as it gets, it will run with any 800 out there. a couple thousand more expensive in the end but if someone is that concerned about it, that would be pretty small potatoes for piece of mind and in the over all scheme when considering the cost of a season of sledding.

pv

Rick! · May 7, 2012

pura vida said:
the other option if you have to have a polaris b/c you really want the pro chassis is to get a 600 and then put a 660 on it. as reliable as it gets, it will run with any 800 out there. a couple thousand more expensive in the end but if someone is that concerned about it, that would be pretty small potatoes for piece of mind and in the over all scheme when considering the cost of a season of sledding.

pv

Maybe any un-maintained or not proper 800. BTDT. 131-133hp doesn't equal 143 or 148 or whatever the latest numbers are. of course, at altitude, the delta is less...YMMV, literally. A 660 will eat more fuel compared to an 800 in the same conditions.
What was the question again?

Pro-8250 · May 7, 2012

Super Sled said:
As a Polaris shareholder (I do own a couple, being a loyal Minnesotan like I am), this is embarrassing. The CEO ought to be all over this. Just sayin......

Couldn't agree with you more. As far as the CEO, he's a clown. Wall Street is his task master so don't expect to much from him.
As far as some saying the engine failures are being blown out of proportion, I would say, if it happens to you then its a 100%.

knifedge · May 7, 2012

$375 fixes the issue. Plus turn up the oil pump.

http://www.2strokeheads.com/Polarispistons.htm

--Cheaper than extended warranty
--Cheaper than a lost vacation
--Cheaper than a helicopter rescue
--Cheaper than a possible riding injury due bad timing of engine failure
--Cheaper than frostbite from camping in the woods
--Cheaper than ruining a day of riding for your buddies, although still an adventure

--New belt, beer, and dinner for your buddies to pull you out is almost the cost
of the parts to prevent it in the first place.

Super Sled · May 8, 2012

Pro-8250 said:
Couldn't agree with you more. As far as the CEO, he's a clown. Wall Street is his task master so don't expect to much from him.
As far as some saying the engine failures are being blown out of proportion, I would say, if it happens to you then its a 100%.

You sure are right Pro -- it's all about the almighty $, no one cares about quality anymore.... :face-icon-small-dis

FCR112 · May 8, 2012

knifedge said:
$375 fixes the issue. Plus turn up the oil pump.

http://www.2strokeheads.com/Polarispistons.htm

--Cheaper than extended warranty
--Cheaper than a lost vacation
--Cheaper than a helicopter rescue
--Cheaper than a possible riding injury due bad timing of engine failure
--Cheaper than frostbite from camping in the woods
--Cheaper than ruining a day of riding for your buddies, although still an adventure

--New belt, beer, and dinner for your buddies to pull you out is almost the cost
of the parts to prevent it in the first place.

That would be nice to believe.

How many of these "fix" kits from the few different aftermarket engine guys have 1000-2500 or more miles on them? What is the measured reliability gain over stock? Where are these numbers for the PRO RMK?

I don't disagree that the design may be better, however I do highly object to any unsubstantiated claims of gained engine longevity. Where is the factual proof of these gains? Who has run high mileage on these fixes? How many sleds run, how many miles, and with what failure rate?

The truth is your money is already spent and if you have a failure the warranty on the sled was voided by this aftermarket install and you are on your own.

I would love to slap a couple pistons in and call it fixed forever too, but I am having a really hard time finding the data proving longer engine life without any further problems.

or better yet, wouldn't it be nice if Polarry would step up and recognize more than 1 out of every 8 Pro 800's that left their Quality Controlled Facility has had an engine related failure... Then state clearly that this is an unacceptable failure rate because they take pride in producing a high quality product... Identify the failure cause(s)... and issue a factory recall fix for all units affected.

...wouldn't that be nice...

Old Scud-doo · May 9, 2012

FCR112: I full recall will never happen. Polaris would lose way too much money. I just wish they would fix the issue on the 13's. Yes I snowchecked a 13.

Just seems to me that they keep sticking their head in the sand instead of fixing the issues. I would personally believe that if the 13's have the same issues and relatively the same percentage of sleds with said issues, the consumer will speak for 14 model year with their wallets.

Polaris, you have an awesome chassis. Would you please put an engine in this chassis that is worthy in comparison? Please!

beamslayer · May 9, 2012

Falling on deaf ears their polaris and our government are one in the same as long as they are extracting dollars from your wallet. Auto makers do recalls all the time it does not but them under. Being a recreation vehicle I would imagine there is a high profit margin.

backcountryislife · May 9, 2012

I just posted this EXACT same poll (except I allowed the use of 2010 MY M8's in the poll) in the cat forum.

I did my best to make it exactly apples to apples aside from giving the cat motor an extra year of benefit compared to the poo.

I've seen on here that people think that 14% failure rate is "par for the course".... and I simply say BS.

Initial failures that happen in the first few rides... quick fix quality issues, poo & cat both have them. I consider that acceptable, warranty is guaranteed with just about any sled, and it was a "mistake".

Long term failures, that happen at say 300+ miles... I don't find acceptable. By then you've got mods, you're in the middle of the season & THAT is an engineering failure.

Engineering is exactly where the poo motor fails imo, not quality control. I think it's a phenomenal sled, best one made, the ONLY reason I don't have one is the motor. Cat's 2012 sled is a bit of a joke IMO, but I bought one because I trust it. That is huge to me. I could have a 90 day warranty on a cat & I'd still buy it, but a poo with a 4 year warranty that may get denied because I modded it... is worthless to me.

Check the poll in a few weeks to see how they compare... we had a MISERABLE start to the year on the 2012 with blown cat motors, but in general I honestly feel that the cat motor is somewhere in the 5-10x more reliable range than the poo. I ride with a lot of folks, and I see a lot of failures of both sleds... and that is just what I see in comparison.

Btw... the belt issues we have are DISGUSTING this year... but it really is a far cry from a non warantied motor. (and poo charges WAY more than cat for a motor, which is BS... like double. What a scam.)

AKSNOWRIDER · May 9, 2012

you are such a chit disturber...but I like it..one thing on the poo's, that wont show in the poll...how many of the bottom ends are from the oil feed line kink that the 11's came with? thats a hard one to quantify considering the dragons use the same crank and it is rare to hear of a dragon getting a crank..that and polaris leaned the oil out so much on the pro for EPA reasons..you almost need to disregard the cranks issues(or a majority of them)..the piston/cylinder issues..yep they are an issue ...but the cranks would live if they get a good supply of oil...........(at least that is my opinion after looking at a few that lost cranks)be interesting to get a poll up in the doo section as well but them boys get pretty grumpy if ya talk about their motors..or sleds...

backcountryislife · May 9, 2012

AKSNOWRIDER said:
you are such a chit disturber...but I like it..one thing on the poo's, that wont show in the poll...how many of the bottom ends are from the oil feed line kink that the 11's came with?

By that note I could disregard the 2012 failures of the cat as a simple setup issue, but it's a failure either way, so I left it... we lost a bunch of them, and without that one issue I think the difference in results would be embarrassing. (btw, I made it so you can see who is voting, so we can tell when snowmobiler & fred vote that theirs blew up

)

I personally think you'll see WAY less failures after breakin than with the poo.

I'm not here to gloat... riding the 2012 cat we've got nothing to gloat about, this is SIMPLY about the difference in motors, and the fact that people saying "that's normal" or "they're all like that" I feel have their heads in the sand.

SH**disturber out :face-icon-small-ton

Just give me a DAM pro with a cat motor & I'll STFU & go ride

AKSNOWRIDER · May 9, 2012

very true..cat may end up ahead in the blowups under 50 miles section..they lost a lot of them it looked like..but hey..chitter...I give up...cats motor is more reliable..hands down....but their sled dont come close....me thinks you really want a pro too..bwahahaha..good luck with your poll....

knifedge · May 9, 2012

--BC would fold the OEM Pro chassis in half and he knows it. He wouldn't give up plush Cat suspension either. Then, of course, there are the engine issues.:face-icon-small-hap

AKSNOWRIDER · May 9, 2012

uhmm...didnt he fold up the frt part of the bulkhead already on his climb?..seems to me he did.....am surprised he doesnt buy a cat motor and drop in a pro considering how cheap they are compared to the poo motor...

aksnopro · May 9, 2012

04 1m600
06 m7
08 m8
10 m8
12 hcr

Put 2500 miles on everyone but the 12 hcr (yet to come) before i sold them not one engine failure in the last 7 years for me.

Step it up polaris so that pro chassis can be on the platform it deserves!

-Aksnopro

geo · May 9, 2012

Bend a pro in half? I think they are now the strongest chassis on the snow (MO).

My own "poll" got about 4% failure rate on the Poo engine (but whatever lol). I BELIEVE in lots of oil and lots of fuel for a 2-stroke. I always set-up my engines that way.

AK, I got 8 M-sleds over 2500 miles in my past and no failures. My PC should be there too but I had to stop and let the clutches cool too much this season LOL.
I also have 4 800 Doos in my past and not one made it past 1800 miles.

Here's my take on my Pro next year. 1500 miles of well oiled riding and do the top end and check the rest. 1500 more and do it again. 1500 more and do it again LOL. At 500 bucks a pop that's 1500 bucks.
Or, keep and ride my well oiled PC. Replace belt every 300 baby-the-belt riding miles (many say they would be happy to get 300 lol) and after 4500 miles you godda do the top-end but you spent 3000 bucks on belts to get there LOL.

I'm going to save money riding and get to enjoy that pro chassis too lol.

" Polaris please make a motor that lives up to the chassis-drivetrain" or " Cat please make a chassis-drivetrain that lives up to the motor". I picked which statement is most important to me and voted with my wallet lol. Every one should.

A interesting Snowest poll would be 2012 customer satisfaction. Everyone rate their sled by how much it effected their sledding experience this season in a percentage. 100% to 0%, your pick, no rules. Poo, Doo and Cat (we only want real mountain sleds LOL).

I kissed a Pro and I liked it.

sledr900 · May 9, 2012

I noticed that on the AC poll you can see who voted. On the Pro poll you cannot. Is there anyway to see this on the Pro poll? I think this is going to make the AC poll more accurate.

knifedge · May 9, 2012

Pro poll to date--

16% have had engine failure

50% have under 1000 miles

34% have over 1000 miles

--Does this indicate that over half the failures occur in under 1000 miles?

11-12' 800 Pro Reliability

11-12' Pro 800 Engine Failure

Engine Failure - Piston Related (rings, skirt, etc.)

Engine Failure - Cylinder Related (cylinder skirt, etc.)

Engine Failure - Crank Related

No Major Failure - 0-1000 miles

No Major Failure - 1000-2500 miles

No Major Failure - 2500+ miles

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