T3 174 overheating on the trail...

ferniesnow · Dec 13, 2014

The heating is a concern and one has to be diligent. I think the scratchers work good. Could a guy add more? Absolutely!

The tail flap is a major component to keeping snow in the cooling area. I used to trim the bottom 3" off so it wouldn't get under the track coming off the ramp. Now, I fold it under the bumper. One problem with this is the flap will stick straight out which is no problem in the powder but when on the trail one has to make sure the tail flap is in the "stock" position to hold as much snow in the tunnel as possible. Here is a little video.....

[YT]UU48iFyhzIwXqUchGGWQ_9Cg[/YT]

zippymt · Dec 13, 2014

heat

rode some thin conditions yesterday and yes the t-3 got hot but both of the pro's were in the same situation. We are going to get some water wetter in the system as we have seen this to be very helpful in dirt bikes in the tight timber. first report is these are going to be a great sled for the person that wants to ride it like an elan.

Devilmanak · Dec 13, 2014

Banged on 45 more miles today, we had 3" of fresh overnight so nothing above 4 bars most of the day. I did try to break a trail down to the lake, VERY marginal snow, some dirt and no snow areas, when I finally gave up due to no snow, I was at 6 bars. It stayed there for half a mile until I got back to the snow.
The flap is a legitimate concern. It has to be down or snow will escape and not cool. Some guys put it up to try to keep from running it over in reverse off of sled decks (I forget and my flaps get scratched) or when you bury the sled and get stuck, the flap will stick in the "up" position and some guys don't notice it when getting back to the trail. Makes a huge difference in cooling!

Superduty348 · Dec 13, 2014

Hopefully Doo lengthens the cooler to help keep the T3 cooler next year, cuz most of us have to ride 20-30 kms to the mtns even thou it would be nice to be in the pow all the time but just isn't realistic.

Devilmanak · Dec 13, 2014

That's interesting, but not the norm. I would say that in your situation you should find a way to make the sled work in conditions that it was not designed for. 95% of T3 riders would not be happy with the added weight of extra cooling to satisfy a very small percentage of customers who are using it where it was not designed to be used.

Red Sketcher · Dec 14, 2014

Just to clarify something here.... A thermostat does not and can not increase the cooling efficiency if the cooling system. The theory that slower movement of the coolant keeping the engine cooler couldn't be more false.
In order to cool a material it must come in contact with molecules of a colder substance be it water, air, ect. The greater the heat energy that you wish to absorb, the greater volume of heat absorber you need to contact that surface.

What cools you better in the summer, your fan in low or high?
What heats your car faster, fan in low or high? Btw the high setting is sucking air through the heater core faster than low.

As an extremely technical/nerdy mechanic/hd mechanic for almost 20 years, plus wrenching as a hobby in everything from sophisticated 4x4's, race cars, 3000hp blown alcohol engines, I can tell you from not only the scientific side but also experience that this theory is absolutely ludicrous.

There is one exception however where a thermostat can keep the engine cooler but it has nothing to do with slowing the water to keep it cool. It is the sliding sheath type thermostat that does more than simply let weather through when it's if temperature. Rather it redirects coolant flow for quicker warm ups without possibility of hotspots then closes the recurculatiry system and opens the flow to the radiator as required. If you remove this type of thermostat you can over heat due to the fact an uncontrolled amount if coolant is constantly recirculating without ever being cooled in the rad. This system is contrary to a typical passenger vehicle/atv/bike/sled thermostat/system which simply dead heads with small curculatory bleeders until the opening temperature is met.

Further more water wetter has never lowered temps by any detectable amount that I could measure via temp gauge and laser thermo gun, and believe me i tested it out of curiosity sake. Block radiator with cardboard, adjust idle screw to 2200rpm for 40minutes, after 15 or so minutes both the gauge and temp gun were reading 227 degrees. Shut it down,let it cool down, add water wetter and repeat. Exact same results. Could I be wrong, for could there be some great marketing for a useless product? You can decide for yourself.

snowmobiler · Dec 14, 2014

trail riders could toggle switch in a mini fan to cool the engine down.LOL

eman0993 · Dec 14, 2014

snowmobiler said:
trail riders could toggle switch in a mini fan to cool the engine down.LOL

Aka "the blowhole" mtntk already has it out. Doesn't have a switch so it's either on or off but wouldn't be tough to wire a switch in.

Devilmanak · Dec 14, 2014

Red Sketcher said:
Just to clarify something here.... A thermostat does not and can not increase the cooling efficiency if the cooling system. The theory that slower movement of the coolant keeping the engine cooler couldn't be more false.
In order to cool a material it must come in contact with molecules of a colder substance be it water, air, ect. The greater the heat energy that you wish to absorb, the greater volume of heat absorber you need to contact that surface.

What cools you better in the summer, your fan in low or high?
What heats your car faster, fan in low or high? Btw the high setting is sucking air through the heater core faster than low.

As an extremely technical/nerdy mechanic/hd mechanic for almost 20 years, plus wrenching as a hobby in everything from sophisticated 4x4's, race cars, 3000hp blown alcohol engines, I can tell you from not only the scientific side but also experience that this theory is absolutely ludicrous.

There is one exception however where a thermostat can keep the engine cooler but it has nothing to do with slowing the water to keep it cool. It is the sliding sheath type thermostat that does more than simply let weather through when it's if temperature. Rather it redirects coolant flow for quicker warm ups without possibility of hotspots then closes the recurculatiry system and opens the flow to the radiator as required. If you remove this type of thermostat you can over heat due to the fact an uncontrolled amount if coolant is constantly recirculating without ever being cooled in the rad. This system is contrary to a typical passenger vehicle/atv/bike/sled thermostat/system which simply dead heads with small curculatory bleeders until the opening temperature is met.

Further more water wetter has never lowered temps by any detectable amount that I could measure via temp gauge and laser thermo gun, and believe me i tested it out of curiosity sake. Block radiator with cardboard, adjust idle screw to 2200rpm for 40minutes, after 15 or so minutes both the gauge and temp gun were reading 227 degrees. Shut it down,let it cool down, add water wetter and repeat. Exact same results. Could I be wrong, for could there be some great marketing for a useless product? You can decide for yourself.

Now that I think about it, isn't the water wetter mostly used in situations where there is no antifreeze in the system?
Also I would think that in different applications there may be different results?

hivoltagesledhead · Dec 15, 2014

hivoltagesledhead said:
Did you trim the stock flap?

I run 2 sets of scratchers on my 3" track with a stock flap that is not trimmed. I had a trimmed flap before I bought the 3" and it was overheating all the time... replaced it with a stock one and all probs went away.

^^^^^^^^ It will help with your cooling problem.

ROKRIG · Dec 16, 2014

Thanks for the reminder. I need to buy a new snow flap as I trimmed mine and with my 3" track, the hard pack trail rides are getting my sled pretty warm even with the scratchers down.

geo · Dec 16, 2014

Norona said:
The piping is still there....as it has to get to the back of the tunnel from the front, so it is less coolant but in testing it made no difference compared to a 14, in very hard conditions a summit x or summit sp can overheat as well....even with scratchers...as if it is super hard even the scratchers are not kicking up much...lucky these are rare conditions in the mountains.....

Really??

Seems to me every other brand that reduced cooling surface area has had these discussions. Don`t think they tried to say less cooling surface would be the same as more though. That was before 3" too.

Welcome to lighter weight. You, the owner, gets used to it (cooling talk) and learn to get around it in the snow conditions that cause it. How your engine 'putor deals with it is yet to be discovered.

Slick · Dec 16, 2014

Sure sounds reminiscent of the discussions regarding the Pro, and what a pain it was to deal with, but the Doo guys are ok with it now. LOL.
What goes around …………… you know .

Jaynelson · Dec 16, 2014

The newer sleds with smaller coolers just don't cool as well. All brands now. In marginal snow conditions....get used to diving off the side, spinning the track in the softer stuff, and throwing snow on the tunnel (on the brands where that helps)

Deep Powder Guy · Dec 16, 2014

Retractable tracks will be optional for 2016.

DPG

zippymt · Dec 16, 2014

cooling

Rode my old 08 163 dragon a few times in hunting season. those were the days cooling = weight. I am fine with the new reduced cooling. just have to pay attention to the machine or let it save its self.

ROKRIG · Dec 16, 2014

Another thing you can try that is easy is turn the torsion spring adjusting blocks down to a soft setting so the tunnel stays closer to the track with rider weight.

blownsilver · Dec 21, 2014

We rode this weekend 30kms each way up the trail to the renahaw in mcbride my sled overheated, to be expected, but it did help to pick up the speed a bit to throw more snow around and give the throttle a stab to spin the track when I could to help throw snow around. However I do accept the fact that if I want to run a 174" 3" track on a groomed low snow trail it's not going to be as easy as running a mxz short tracker. Pick your poison it's really not that big of deal to stop for 3 mins and pack snow on the tunnel atleast I didnt

Bocephus · Dec 21, 2014

i put 150 miles on my 2014 163 with 3'' track (half were trail miles). these were groomed trails in togwotee looking for fresh snow to play in. i am using the skidoo scratchers that come standard on T3s. i had ZERO cooling issues. temp meter was on 4 bars all the time, on and off trail. i know this is a 14 non-T3 model, but i just thought i would throw this out there for conversation sake.

fredw · Dec 22, 2014

Welcome to the three inch world.. Always like that on low snow or hard packed trails.. But after that your smiling the rest of the day

T3 174 overheating on the trail...

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