Alpha stuck in the mountains BOG

shawkins · Jan 14, 2019

We have a new 2019 Alpha 200 miles on it from our group stuck in the mountains 10,000 feet elevation. Starts and idles perfect. As soon as you go to give it gas it dies out. If you continue to hold the throttle it will completely die. If you very quickly move the throttle form 0-1/2 back and forth you can get the sled to move decently but large hills are a problem. Is anyone else having issues with theirs bogging out. I have an Alpha as well and mine has bogged really bad on one ride to the point I was afraid I would not be able to get out of the ravine I was in. It ended up clearing up and has only had minor bogs since then. Another rider from our area with an Alpha had his bog and not rev up. Upon calling the service department they told him to disconnect the TPS sensor. Upon unplugging the sensor it fired up and ran as they hurried to get it out. We have ruled out several items as being the problem.

swapped out the fuel pump
Ran the fuel pump off a battery to verify that fuel pressure was not the issue
Verified readings from the sensors visible from the dash (intake air temp, coolant temp, and pipe temp).

We are taking an ecu and tps sensor with us to swap out just in case.

I am wondering about the fueling map that Cat has built. I plan on tricking the ecu into over fueling the engine as a test by raising the pressure in the tmap sensor. I have a tube slid over the end of the sensor and a bolt in the end of the tube. I can adjust the pressure to get the altitude on the gauge to read close to zero. This should put the ecu into a different fueling area on the mapping and get us more fuel.

We are also calling the dealer this morning to see if they have any additional insight.

Anyone else having this happen to them? Seems to happen at higher elevations 8000+ and cooler temps single digits.

Bacon · Jan 14, 2019

Throttle safety switch?

Fish10782 · Jan 14, 2019

I Second the throttle safety switch.... Keep it simple.
Change the plugs out?
Will it Rev up with no belt on it / no load?
The tps has to be calibrated to the throttle body plates, so might as well bring the whole assembly with you. Then you can inspect the reeds just in case.

What about the idle control valve? They could definitely do it if it is stuck open ect.

Keep us posted about this, your solution could be the solution to the same "bog" that the silber turbo guys are having.

Are you suggesting that unplugging the tps puts the sled into a limp mode base map, much like unplugging the maf a car?

jakey-boy · Jan 14, 2019

Its the throttle safety switch. There is a plug by your coolant bottle to unplug it and it will run.

This just reminds me I need to get mine pulled out before I have to fight it.

Dabull · Jan 14, 2019

Had the same thing happen to mine this weekend. its at the dealer now. ticks me off 6 years on a polaris and i never had to drop one off at the dealer for repair. just goes to show they can all have problems:face-icon-small-dis

Akwildman · Jan 14, 2019

It’s the tether. Make sure the inside of cap has no ice. Mine was stuck on the mountain with the same bog. Figured tss but I checked the tether and there was a sliver of clear ice in the cap. Bad tether shape design. 7,300 feet with Silber Turbo kit, just got mine down yesterday.

zilla · Jan 14, 2019

Only get 1 tether w the sled ? Is it keyed to the sled or just pressure snapped ?

Akwildman · Jan 14, 2019

zilla said:
Only get 1 tether w the sled ? Is it keyed to the sled or just pressure snapped ?

Yes, only one tether, it is magnetic/pressure snap-on.

goridedoo · Jan 14, 2019

X3 on the throttle safety switch

shawkins · Jan 14, 2019

Fixed

Ended up being the throttle safety switch. It is now disconnected on both of our sleds. I think that may have been my one time issue as well. I will leave it unplugged and see if any more issues arise with both of our sleds. I wish I would have known that existed before we doubled up in and out of the mountains.

CO 2.0 · Jan 14, 2019

Is your throttle flipper adjusted too tight? Cats have a good amount of play over the polaris. If too tight it can mess with the TSS

sno*jet · Jan 14, 2019

cables do stretch, but dealers should be slapped for failing to set them right from the start. when set right, should at least make it through a season before stretch issues. too common for the techs in back to overlook this on the PDI, if it runs they just hand em over to ya..:face-icon-small-dis
look your sled over! the owners manual should cover track tension, ski alignment, belt deflection, and even power valve synchronizing. check shock settings as well and don't be afraid to play with them (when weight is off of them)
shame on crappy dealers! this is why so many disconnect safety devices and run will even run goofy clutch setups to compensate for something wrong in the setup

summitizer · Jan 14, 2019

Why do you need the throttle safety switch when they have a tether now?

sno*jet · Jan 14, 2019

^not needed by everyone but it is extra insurance against a throttle getting stuck. you bail off and the tether kills it but it might hit a tree or go off a cliff, tss might catch that beforehand. I run both still.

Dabull · Jan 14, 2019

Dealer called said mine was a stretched out throttle cable and a bad kill switch ? hope there right.

killerrf · Jan 15, 2019

Dabull said:
Dealer called said mine was a stretched out throttle cable and a bad kill switch &#55358;&#56596; hope there right.

How many miles? I don’t recall ever adjusting a throttle cable. Even on sleds with 3000 miles. The power valves usually have to adjust once over the life
Of the sled in my experience. Probably setup poor out of factory or dealer didn’t check nothing.

jakey-boy · Jan 15, 2019

shawkins said:
Ended up being the throttle safety switch. It is now disconnected on both of our sleds. I think that may have been my one time issue as well. I will leave it unplugged and see if any more issues arise with both of our sleds. I wish I would have known that existed before we doubled up in and out of the mountains.

Now you know. I almost spent the night in the mountains over this once on my Polaris. Since then I have always either bypassed them before I ride or at least made sure I know how to bypass it if I need to on the mountain. Those things are a pain in the ass and I have never had one actually even kill the sled when the throttle sticks.

Dabull · Jan 15, 2019

killerrf said:
How many miles? I don’t recall ever adjusting a throttle cable. Even on sleds with 3000 miles. The power valves usually have to adjust once over the life
Of the sled in my experience. Probably setup poor out of factory or dealer didn’t check nothing.

145 miles. I agree I have never had to adjust one either. ?

goridedoo · Jan 15, 2019

Yeah we spent hours trying to tow a sled out of a ravine a couple years ago, eventually it ran enough to get it limped out. Was NOT getting towed out. Dealer couldnt find anything wrong, next trip in an even worse spot we couldn’t get the thing to run... ended up being the tss. I have had multiple sleds with them act up, as well as seen multiple other people have issues with them on both cats and poos. Pretty common problem and I think alot of people/dealers chase their tails on it.

bjd68 · Jan 15, 2019

I have a 2018 mountian cat it would be good to know where is the throttle saftey switch is so I if I ever run into this I know what to do ?

Alpha stuck in the mountains BOG

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