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09 800 goes down

S
Nov 1, 2008
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09 800 without the new update pto piston 10 psi comp. 1300 miles on the sled. I didnt think it was going to happen to me.....lol. It has always run good, had 91 octane in it at the time and polaris blue oil, 1/2 to 3/4 throttle cruising through 24 inches of fresh powder and went bog .....bog ........lock.
 
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440dart

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your not the first the 800s are the new 900s polaris is junk iam sorry for you 800 guys iam surprised polaris would do this exspecially after the 900. shocks and engine are big hits on these new sleds and neither of them work right some get luckey most dont. every other thread on here is people complaining there 800s not enough power or blowing up just sucks alot of people just want to ride.


iam surprised polaris is still in buisness they must realy do good on there atv side of things because with sleds they gotta be loosing there a$$
 

mountainhorse

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440... actually ... the total number of 800CFi RMK sleds without warranty issues outnumbers the ones with.

It is just the nature of fourms etc that the Problems get a LOT of press...the satisfied people are not vocal... that goes for sleds, Tubas, Pickup trucks etc.

The Majority of the owners of the sleds leave them bone-stock... for the average mountain rider the RMK is a solid platform that performs well.

The 1/2 to 3/4 throttle range is what many refer to as the "hummers".... the hummers seem to burn down the most.... I know of some D-8's that have 2000 on the original engine and no problems... same for the shocks... All of them are ridden agressively and are very rarely kept in the "hummer" range...

Now that being said... these sled should be able to run, without damage in any RPM range....Which is what this Update hub-bub is all about... lets hope that it holds together well!!
 
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Ron

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I agree, Carl's sold a lot of 8's - 2008/2009 and had less than 2% failure rate. Some of the issues were likely altitude-worked better at some altitudes. Dealer setup must have been an issue for at least some of them, maybe fuel quality at times. My sled was ported, SLP single, milled head and lots of intake air added. Never got a lean reading-ever. My deto light was activated and it did not blink once all year either. Running the 2008 map no fuel controller.
Hope Snowmanns dealer has a kit they are getting scarce.
Edit:There was a serious problem for sure just not a 900 like problem.
 
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440dart

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well there alot more problematic compared to the 6&7 this guys burned down for no apparent reason along with quite a few others on here, and alot of people not likeing the power exspecially with the updates, you gotta get this and that to make them run right it should come from the factory running perfect for 10k. you talk to some of the 900 guys on here and there the greatest thing built they just dont tell you all the hoops and bounds they been through to get there sled to run decent. sure there are a ton of 900s still running strong


hopefully it all gets figured out
 

dragonfire

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Dec 2, 2007
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Midrange fuel issue

Last year on my first two rides I noticed on my EGTS at 5250 to 6500 that I had very lean issues at part throttle midrange RPMS. I purchased a pc3 and added alot of fuel in that area. Without the added fuel I could burn an 800 down easily. This is at low elevation riding. I know you should not have to buy a pc3,but it is just an electronic jet wrench to adjust your fuel.Too bad it costs 350.00 but it is a workable solution. Hope this helps as it did me.
 

AKSNOWRIDER

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well there alot more problematic compared to the 6&7 this guys burned down for no apparent reason along with quite a few others on here, and alot of people not likeing the power exspecially with the updates, you gotta get this and that to make them run right it should come from the factory running perfect for 10k. you talk to some of the 900 guys on here and there the greatest thing built they just dont tell you all the hoops and bounds they been through to get there sled to run decent. sure there are a ton of 900s still running strong


hopefully it all gets figured out

mine burnt down..steady rpm cruise right at the right rpms to lean it up..big deal...for the last 2600 miles and 2 seasons it has ripped...most problems are dealer caused with improper setup and owner caused by not keeping the throttle moving(like riding a mod sled) my buddy got mine, I forgot to tell him to ride it like a mod and keep the throttle moving..oh well..polaris fixed it..no questions asked..as for performance..if you know what to do and who to listen to..they rip..quality clutching, gearing, track and your choice of twins or single..I ran mine yesterday for the first time this season..fresh out of the shop with the 10 update..no oil in the gas , a 8 mile trail cruise to good snow and pinned ..was matching mark for mark with a well modded 03 vertical escape, slp race twins, race porting, slp head, great clutching and gears..both of us spinning 163 2.5 camo extremes...mine started the day turning 8100 rpm at 44 mph track speed..at the end of the day 8350 rpms and 47 mph track speed..my engine is bone stock with an slp single..
 
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440dart

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but still you SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BUY anything just to ride the darn sled, yeah its a small price to pay to make it right. i guess its to exspected for us consumers to put money into our polaris to make it rite, even though you just spent 10k.

i guess what i mean "us" as the people who buy these sleds give way to much leway to polaris almost as we exspect them to need aftermarket parts "just" to ride them. iam not saying they should be clutched perfect ect, but you should be able to ride the hell out of them out of the box and not haveing to worry if you brought a tow strap just in case
 

AKSNOWRIDER

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but still you SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BUY anything just to ride the darn sled, yeah its a small price to pay to make it right. i guess its to exspected for us consumers to put money into our polaris to make it rite, even though you just spent 10k.

i guess what i mean "us" as the people who buy these sleds give way to much leway to polaris almost as we exspect them to need aftermarket parts "just" to ride them. iam not saying they should be clutched perfect ect, but you should be able to ride the hell out of them out of the box and not haveing to worry if you brought a tow strap just in case

doesnt matter who made the sled..they all need something done to them to make them good..question is..are you going to do what needs done or not..for me..I want my stuff to run right..so I figure out what it needs and do it..I think alot of peeps do mods that arnt needed expecting to make their sled untouchable..doesnt work that way..you have to do the right things to make it work right for your conditions and riding style....
 
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440dart

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so your telling me you should exspect to buy all sorts of parts just to make your sled rideable if thats your mindset you got more money than 7/8th of us one here.

iam mean sure suspension peices, fixing clutch issues ect yes. some people just want a trail sled to putt on when there on there third engine from "not" buying pc or boondocker box ect i dont think there going to be purchaseing a polaris. yes its under warranty but its wasteing your time rideing and haveing a good time
 
K
Nov 27, 2007
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Polaris

Only Polaris knows how many sleds have warrenty issuse and they will not tell you the true numbers,and dealers like Carls always give you the 2% or 3% number.
 

thefullmonte

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I have to agree with 440dart on this. These are problematic sleds from the factory. The motors don't even meet Polaris engine tolerances when they leave the factory floor. What is that saying. :confused: Before you write off his comments try looking at it from a different perspective.
I can tell you over the years with all the sleds I've owned, I have never had to add parts to make them run right and be reliable. And to top it off, this is by far the most expensive sled I have ever owned. :mad: My $10,500 dollars looks like a scrap heap scattered across my garage and work bench.
With less that 800 mountain ridden miles my sled is just showing one issue after another and has been that way since the day I got it. I can honestly say I have wrenched more than I have ridden. I can't believe some of you guys are ok with these braking and then having them fixed under warranty. :confused: They shouldn't be braking at all.
Please try to understand that for most of you something like that may ruin your day as you live close to where you ride. For others it takes 12 hours of drive time to have our vacation flat our ruined. :( And this sled has done this to me twice already luckily never from a blown motor.
I can tell some of you have either never owned better produced sleds. Or, by nature are just more care free. I am very meticulous by nature and what should by fun riding is constantly shrouded by my worrying if my sled is going to brake or not. I have been stressed beyond belief and loosing sleep nightly as to what I'm going to do about my sled. Polaris won't even give me the common courtesy of replying to a letter I sent or even an email or a phone call. :mad: I see exactly how important I am to them. :mad: So with a sled with only 800 miles on it, I wondering how to fix it or if I will have something to ride in 3 weeks. Or, if I will be borrowing or buying a Yamaha. For all intents and purposes my sled should still be considered brand new.
I had Yamaha 2 strokes with 7000 and 5000 miles that were still running perfect when I sold them. I work with a guy with 10,000 miles on his Viper and is still waiting for something to go wrong with it. Yet some of you are willing to accept that it is just fine for these things to continually fail. :confused:Polaris is easily 10yrs behind building a motor that meets the standards of the Japanese manufactures. And Yamaha doesn't even build one anymore.

Had I taken my sled to the dealer for an update, mine would have blown guaranteed in less than ten miles from the truck. This would have been from another issue I found. These things are not acceptable no matter what you guys say. This is poor quality control. How are you guys comfortable replacing known faulty parts with more know faulty parts. :confused: And please don't tell me to take it to my dealer. He is 600 miles away and this isn't his problem. It is a Polaris problem and I am not comfortable with them replacing parts with more parts that are going to fail within another 800 miles. I can't believe you guys can support this. You all have thicker skin than I. :beer;:)
Right now I'm hoping the throttle body boots from the 900 fit the 800 since I can get those aftermarket.
And having to add a fuel controller should be a thing to fine tune, not correct running issues.
Sorry for my rant, but if this was happening to you I guarantee you would feel the same way. :rolleyes:
 
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440dart

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well said monte i dont own a 800, iam not trying to give the 800 guys a hard time either just this needs to get out more. we need a town of people to call email ect, to polaris not that it will help it mite take a more serious manner if there was 30 of you willing to sue polaris and not settle i really think they would change there ways. but after the 900s and now this its going to take something really serious for them to change. i hate arctic cat but wouldnt you guys like an ok performer that is a rock solid engine??? sure might not make the most power but it runs daily. unlike the 800poos under powerd and ticking time bomb
 
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jet2242

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Feb 8, 2008
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well said monte. you feel the same way i do... from talking to my dealer he was saying that they are having issues running them at low elevations... i have a shift 800 14 and my bro has a d8 short track and we both are having issues with the mid range hiccup still.. i can live with that but the thing i cant live with is the fact our check engine lights are coming on when we get over 6000 rpms... the last thing i want to do is burn it down and wait for a rebuild and miss out on the little riding that we get... i heard now that there may be ANOTHER fuel map update for the 800's so we will see if that happens or not. i just hope they figure it out cause i really dont want to by a fuel controller for the sled that should run good from the factory.
 
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pura vida

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monte, i'm sorry you are having so many issues with your sled. that really sucks. especially since you seem to live so far from a dealer and riding areas. and overall i agree with most of what you say, for what we pay for the dam things they should be quite reliable and run "right" from day one. i am not making excuses for polaris because a lot of blame should go their way, but... with that said the majority of the 800 have ran pretty good, without issue. granted i have not had the issues you have but i guess my perspective is with the demands from the riders, epa, and the vast differences in riding styles and areas they have done pretty dam good. obviously not including the lemons that are clearly out there (which sounds like yours is one of them, again which really sucks). and yes the old yamaha two strokes did go forever but they were also always underpowered and tanks which really helped on the dependability front. not to mention some design issues trying to get them to perform to the level of the day. my point is they all have some issue (clearly not to your level though) and none of them are going to be perfect. there will always be things i want to buy to "improve" whatever sled i have. unfortunately for yourself, i believe you are the exception and not the rule. i do hope you get it figured out because no toy is worth loosing sleep over. oh, and 440 you say you hate cat but have you seen the new ones run? they flat rip and perform as well as anything out there. plus you don't even own an 800, so your whole opinion is based off what you have read and been told? monte, if you can't get the dragon working or you finally give up you might try one of the new M8 as they are an easy switch from polaris (i can jump back and forth between a dragon and an m8 without issue, unlike anything doo). cat now has just a strong of a motor as anyone and they seem to have the track this year too. sorry for the long winded post. good luck to you.

pv
 
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J
Jun 22, 2008
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well said monte i dont own a 800, iam not trying to give the 800 guys a hard time either just this needs to get out more. we need a town of people to call email ect, to polaris not that it will help it mite take a more serious manner if there was 30 of you willing to sue polaris and not settle i really think they would change there ways. but after the 900s and now this its going to take something really serious for them to change. i hate arctic cat but wouldnt you guys like an ok performer that is a rock solid engine??? sure might not make the most power but it runs daily. unlike the 800poos under powerd and ticking time bomb

I'm carefully reading all of this as I contemplate my next purchase. I left Poo after my '03 VE crank snapped, took out both clutches & went through the bellypan.

I jumped ship to Cat only to be bitten by the dreaded Diamond Drive failure! That and inferior hand controls that look & work like they belong on something from the '80's...

If only Yamaha could make a sled that was 100 lbs lighter... I couldn't open my wallet fast enough.

No interest in Doo's at all..

-Jeff
 
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C
Dec 20, 2009
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My wife rides a 10 summit x, and my friend rides a 09 m8. They have both had to put money into them to get them to run right. Just about 1,000 bucks each. Which is what I got into my 09 D8. All the manufactuors have to meet emmisions. Just like auto, and heavy equipment or anything. And with the epa getting worse problems are only going to get worse.
my wife only has 100 miles on her doo and had to take it in for warrenty, for electrical problems. Have talked to some others that have had problems with there new doos.

It dose suck when you buy something new and it f***s up but that is how any modren technology is.
If the manufactures thested them long enough to be that reliable anymore they would be outdatted by the time they came out.

Oh ya and my 09 D8 beats both my wifes and friends sled..

SO I WILL STICK WITH MY COUNTRY AND SUPPORT IT THROUGH ITS PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't care what it is it is
 
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440dart

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i did not say cat was a bad sled at all in fact i was saying they had the best engine out there everybody says the new cat is a powerhouse now but they have said that time and time agian. ive ridden with m8's and 1000s neither of them impressed me at all. i was trading marks with a 1000 162 with slp setup my dragon 700 was stock barely broke in and he could only put 20yards on me i just wont get a cat due to my buddy with our little competition if i got a cat i would never hear the end of it.


and i cant help it that when theres alot more threads stating d8 problems or d8 burned down and i read them and then theres ten other guys that post saying they have the same problem and your not the only one. so i guess i am wrong i dont own a 800 and these threads must be a part of my imagination, or your like monte said one of those guys with a little thicker skin than we do like you and the 900 guys that think they have an awsome sled they dont mind knowing there going to need a crank every 250-1500mi
 
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