Cooling Mod. Will This Work?

150+ or nothin · Apr 18, 2011

I am wondering if it would be possible to add the front bulkhead cooler to my 09 800 Dragon RMK 163 without swapping the whole cooling system to the regualar RMK system.

Can I just rivet the cooler on and route the additional hoses in series? I have attached images showing what I am debating doing. What am I overlooking? It looks like they are different sized hoses. Why are the hoses run in parallel for the regular RMK in the first place?

If this isn't the best way to add the bulkhead cooler what is?

Any help or discussion would be greatly appreciated!

mountainhorse · Apr 18, 2011

Yes, you can add the front bulkhead/tunnel cooler in series.. the 900's did this without issues.

You will need to pull the suspension, track and driveshaft to install it as well as the fuel tank, airbox, throttle bodies... but definately dooable.

come off the t-stat to the cooler and then back to the tunnel cooler.

If you have a Camo extreme track... you will not have much clearance at the front of the tunnel.

MH

150+ or nothin · Apr 18, 2011

Thanks Mountainhorse! Why do they run the stock RMK with the bulkhead cooler in parallel anyway? Wouldn't them being run in series provide more consistent temps?

diamonddave · Apr 18, 2011

150+ or nothin said:
Thanks Mountainhorse! Why do they run the stock RMK with the bulkhead cooler in parallel anyway? Wouldn't them being run in series provide more consistent temps?

Quicker warm ups.

Rick! · Apr 18, 2011

mountainhorse said:
Yes, you can add the front bulkhead/tunnel cooler in series.. the 900's did this without issues.

You will need to pull the suspension, track and driveshaft to install it as well as the fuel tank, airbox, throttle bodies... but definately dooable.

come off the t-stat to the cooler and then back to the tunnel cooler.

If you have a Camo extreme track... you will not have much clearance at the front of the tunnel.

MH

150+ or nothin said:
Thanks Mountainhorse! Why do they run the stock RMK with the bulkhead cooler in parallel anyway? Wouldn't them being run in series provide more consistent temps?

diamonddave said:
Quicker warm ups.

If I went through all that work, I would route the bulkhead cooler in parallel and change the t-stat to the one with the small bypass hole. This would allow the most flow with the stat closed and the most total flow with the stat open. It still won't allow you to run without a snow flap as snow still needs to hit the coolers. Running the system in series will drop overall flow as the bulkhead cooler fittings are 5/8" compared to 1" on the tunnel coolers. I think the bulkhead cooler fittings are sized to balance flow between the bulkhead and tunnel coolers along with minimizing warmup time.

milehighassassin · Apr 18, 2011

Ditching the T-Stat altogether would be a good start.

mountainhorse · Apr 18, 2011

Ditching the T-Stat altogether would be a good start.

HUH???????

theshadowrider · Apr 18, 2011

150+ or nothin said:
I am wondering if it would be possible to add the front bulkhead cooler to my 09 800 Dragon RMK 163 without swapping the whole cooling system to the regualar RMK system.

Can I just rivet the cooler on and route the additional hoses in series? I have attached images showing what I am debating doing. What am I overlooking? It looks like they are different sized hoses. Why are the hoses run in parallel for the regular RMK in the first place?

If this isn't the best way to add the bulkhead cooler what is?

Any help or discussion would be greatly appreciated!

I assume you have scratchers?

milehighassassin · Apr 18, 2011

mountainhorse said:
HUH???????

Sorry, I got this thread confused with the other cooling thread in the IQ section:

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267476

150+ or nothin · Apr 18, 2011

Yes I have the stock scratchers that came stock. Thanks for the info so far guys.

Anybody else have opinions of Series vs. Parallel? Are the 5/8" fittings/hoses more restrictive than the fully open 163 t-stat?

Isn't the thermostat itself enough to facilitate faster warmups? I guess I still don't understand why they couldn't run them in series with all 1" hoses/fittings and have it be more effective at cooling. Any more explanation on this would be appreciated.

chunkysoup · Apr 19, 2011

Looks like ur idea would work but it sure seems like a lot of work! Lots of alternative things u can try before jumping in that far! JMO

150+ or nothin · Apr 19, 2011

I guess my logic is that since the bulkhead cooler install would take the most time/effort of anything that I could do I wanted to do it during the summer so I would have as little downtime as possible when snow is on the ground. I can also probably get the parts for 100 bucks or so used off of somebodies sled, so it is fairly cheap.

If somebody could pretty much guarantee that doing something else that is easier would make it run 120-125 consistently in extremely hard packed snow I would be all ears. I don't really want to tear the whole sled apart if I don't have to either.

150+ or nothin · May 1, 2011

What do you guys think about how restrictive the hoses run to the bulkhead cooler are? Are the 5/8" hoses going to significantly restrict my flow to the tunnel coolers? Do you think the flow restriction is enough to matter?

How hard is fluid pushed through the system on these sleds?

trikerider · May 1, 2011

I'm sounding like a broken record but ski scratchers and a wheel kit worked for my 09 D8.

150+ or nothin · May 2, 2011

Does anybody know how hard the water pump on these sleds pushes coolant? Is restricting the flow to the full length coolers by running the flow through the 5/8" bulkhead coolers in series going to be a problem?

It looks like the 900s that did this had all of the same sized cooling lines.

chunkysoup · May 2, 2011

I dont know the flow rate it pushes the coolant but i really dont see it being a problem. JMO

Search

Cooling Mod. Will This Work?

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

mountainhorse

Well-known member

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

diamonddave

Chilly’s Mentor

Rick!

Well-known member

milehighassassin

Moderator: Premium Member

mountainhorse

Well-known member

theshadowrider

Well-known member

milehighassassin

Moderator: Premium Member

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

chunkysoup

Well-known member

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

trikerider

Well-known member

150+ or nothin

Well-known member

chunkysoup

Well-known member

Similar threads