Is my 2003 Polaris RMK Totaled?

[sweddingfeld]

First ride out this year. We drove our 2003 Polaris 800 RMK about 4 minutes and then met our group where we stopped. Noticed the motor was revving high. Hit the kill switch and it didn't shut the motor off. Tried turning off the key and the motor still kept running. Opened up the hood and saw smoke billowing out from around the spark plugs. Turned the fuel switch off and then about 15 seconds later the motor stopped running. Someone made the comment about coolant but we looked at the reservoir and it was full. Smoke still billowing out so I pulled the cables off the spark plugs. Noticed the front baffles were starting to melt so then we started dumping snow on it. Towed it back home. Thoughts on what went wrong? Not sure if it is worth it to try and replace parts or try a motor replacement, or just sell it for parts. I appreciate any help on this.
We have had this sled for about ten years and had a couple problems with coolant coming out and the motor overheating as well.

 

[Fosgate]

Electrical short somewhere. I'd probably just start writing down a list of parts you need, cross reference on partszilla for the OEM part number and hit E-bay for parts. Doesn't look too bad. Probably a short in the electrical controls somewhere. Buy a cheap ohm meter if you have one and start looking for the open circuit in the ignition system or just replace it, coils and all.

 

[Jay]

Ground wire broken or disconnected, can’t ground out the ignition to kill the engine. Check the wiring where the harness comes out of the engine down behind the rewind. As for melting the ves caps and turning a red water jacket black I am thinking no coolant circulation, pull the rewind and have a look at the water pump belt, not uncommon for them to break or fail. Check your compression, if low or uneven pull the exhaust manifold and look in the exhaust ports at the pistons (wouldn’t hurt to do this anyway) go from there, might need a top end rebuild, maybe Jesus loves you, won’t know till you look. Good luck.

 

[Minndave13]

Jesus loves you regardless of your transgressions!!! It’s how much Lucifer wants to attack you that matters!!!!

 

[davesilb]

First ride out this year. We drove our 2003 Polaris 800 RMK about 4 minutes and then met our group where we stopped. Noticed the motor was revving high. Hit the kill switch and it didn't shut the motor off. Tried turning off the key and the motor still kept running. Opened up the hood and saw smoke billowing out from around the spark plugs. Turned the fuel switch off and then about 15 seconds later the motor stopped running. Someone made the comment about coolant but we looked at the reservoir and it was full. Smoke still billowing out so I pulled the cables off the spark plugs. Noticed the front baffles were starting to melt so then we started dumping snow on it. Towed it back home. Thoughts on what went wrong? Not sure if it is worth it to try and replace parts or try a motor replacement, or just sell it for parts. I appreciate any help on this.
We have had this sled for about ten years and had a couple problems with coolant coming out and the motor overheating as well.

It almost sounds like the engine was so hot the fuel was igniting without ignition causing it to keep running ??

 

[czimpel]

^^^^^^. Holy crap that sucker was hot! I would say rings and exhaust valve parts at the least. Was there any coolant in it?

 

[whoisthatguy]

There is a non-standard green wire and plug showing in the picture. How long has that been there? The high temperature cylinder head top o-ring gaskets will likely have melted. Water pump belt probably broke, but the TEMP sensor on top of the engine should have picked up the overheating and put the engine in a inefficient timing mode to tell you to shut it down. The crankshaft seals may also have been damaged. The engine will have to be completely disassembled and checked for bearing damage, and then new gasket maker used to reassemble the crankcase halves. I suspect that the pistons and rings are also toast and may have damaged the cylinder walls, which will make it an expensive fix if true.