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Oil Pump Priming/Bleeding

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whittaker727

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Nov 26, 2007
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Doing a belt drive requires the the oil pump to be removed from the tank. While the pump is out of the tank, oil drains from the pump. Is there a procedure for priming or bleeding the pump to eliminate air bubbles getting into the system?
 

Chewy22

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I just put on a TKI belt drive. There is a bleed plug on top of the oil pump housing. I have not noticed any air bubbles in the oil lines to the motor. All the lines from the pump stayed full during the install.
 
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whittaker727

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Nov 26, 2007
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Naples, Id
I just put on a TKI belt drive. There is a bleed plug on top of the oil pump housing. I have not noticed any air bubbles in the oil lines to the motor. All the lines from the pump stayed full during the install.

That may be the case, but the oil is so thin and similar in color to the hoses that I can’t tell. The MVM belt drive install video specifically calls out to check and or bleed the pump itself. I’m aware of the pump housing needing to be bled, just don’t want any air entering the system if it can be avoided. Mine sat, disassembled for a few weeks waiting on my kit, so I was thinking that oil could have drained from the pump.
 

Chewy22

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That may be the case, but the oil is so thin and similar in color to the hoses that I can’t tell. The MVM belt drive install video specifically calls out to check and or bleed the pump itself. I’m aware of the pump housing needing to be bled, just don’t want any air entering the system if it can be avoided. Mine sat, disassembled for a few weeks waiting on my kit, so I was thinking that oil could have drained from the pump.

I’m not sure how you bleed the pump - other then what was already suggested.
 

madmax

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Im not sure about cat, but I know your Polaris can bleed the pump by hooking up to the dealer computer and there is a bleed pump program. Ive had it done when I had the engine out on my axys. Only takes a couple minutes. I would think cat has something similar. Ill ask my cat dealer tomorrow.
 
D
Jan 2, 2009
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Coquitlam, BC
Im not sure about cat, but I know your Polaris can bleed the pump by hooking up to the dealer computer and there is a bleed pump program. Ive had it done when I had the engine out on my axys. Only takes a couple minutes. I would think cat has something similar. Ill ask my cat dealer tomorrow.

Run mixed fuel for the first tank and check to see that your oil reservoir is going down. Easy peasy.
 

kiliki

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what happens if the sled is upside down and running? :face-icon-small-dis None of us has ever had this happen...:face-icon-small-sho will the pump self prime? just food for thought.

You could just run it and look and the hoses to make sure it is moving oil.
 

Snow Fever

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If you remove the oil tank and drain it you will see there are baffles inside that hold the oil around the pump. The sled would have to be very low on oil, upside down for a long time and running before the pump would suck air. That being said, with the aftermarket tanks (plastic ones that come with belt drives) there is much less oil, and NO baffles. I installed a belt drive on my 2014 6000 C-tec and built my own tank from alum. and had no issues with the oil pump ever sucking air from roling the sled to get unstuck. The other part of this is, the oil is so thin (Cat C-tek oil) if you did get some air in the oil line, I think it would self bleed to the top pretty fast when you rolled it back onto the skis.
 
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whittaker727

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Two different dealerships have clarified now that the sled is hooked up to their laptop and the oil pump is given a run command to bleed the pump. It is a simple DC pump, so I think I’ll just jump across the wires with a motorcycle battery in order to insure that I didn’t get any oil in the system during the install.
 

boondocker97

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If you remove the oil tank and drain it you will see there are baffles inside that hold the oil around the pump. The sled would have to be very low on oil, upside down for a long time and running before the pump would suck air. That being said, with the aftermarket tanks (plastic ones that come with belt drives) there is much less oil, and NO baffles. I installed a belt drive on my 2014 6000 C-tec and built my own tank from alum. and had no issues with the oil pump ever sucking air from roling the sled to get unstuck. The other part of this is, the oil is so thin (Cat C-tek oil) if you did get some air in the oil line, I think it would self bleed to the top pretty fast when you rolled it back onto the skis.

Maybe another benefit of the TKI secondary tank that holds the pump.
 

Vern

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I know this is an older thread, but wondering if there's anymore info on this subject now days. Is everyone that does a belt drive going to the dealer to have the pump bled or are people just winging it and hoping for the best?

Reason I ask is a couple weeks ago I installed a mvm belt drive on my '20. Pump was out of the tank for maybe an hour. I have since ran the sled a few times and never noticed any air in the lines until today after having the sled on its side installing a skid plate. After doing the skidplate I took a lap around the yard and parked it and that's when I noticed the bubbles. When idling the bubbles are moving down the line so it's pumping oil, but are the little bubbles in the lines a serious threat once they hit the engine? Would y'all be worried enough to go have the pump bled at the dealer or just add some oil to the tank and run it?
 

dunatyk

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When I replaced my chain case on my 2018 Mtn cat I took it to the dealer afterwards and had them bleed the pump for me. Charged me a half an hour labor which is cheap piece of mind for me
 

ndfb35

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When I installed my belt drive and turbo there were small bubbles. I used a small syringe and had oil spills out of the lines and could never get rid of the small bubbles. They were both installed at 0 miles and so far with 274 miles I haven't had any issues and I don't have any bubbles in the line.
 

Vern

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I added a bit of oil to the gas just to be safe. Part of the reason I did the belt drive so soon was knowing the break in period over oils the engine and I figured that might add a little safety margin when messing with the pump. I've replaced mechanical pumps myself and never had an issue, but this electric pump stuff is all new to me. I'll see what other replies I get here, but I'll probably end up taking it to the dealer. I'd imagine cat won't be to friendly on warranty if I just run it and something were to happen at this point.
 
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