Std RMK front cooler

[flying frenchman]

Anyone ever install one on their Pro??
Must have to pull motor and stuff.
Sounds like something I might want.
Any way to get temps down for spring riding.

 

[Danny Dangles]

Anyone ever install one on their Pro??
Must have to pull motor and stuff.
Sounds like something I might want.
Any way to get temps down for spring riding.

I have not done the mod, but this was one of the reasons I went with a std RMK this year, and I can tell you its awesome. Makes my day when I never have to look at my temp gauge on the trail up, ever.

 

[Indy_500]

I have not done the mod, but this was one of the reasons I went with a std RMK this year, and I can tell you its awesome. Makes my day when I never have to look at my temp gauge on the trail up, ever.

I also got a 2015 std. Rmk Le this year, first pro chassis for me but I'm still constantly looking at water temp even though its never been a problem. Rode with a 15 pro rmk a couple weeks ago, both 155x2.4 both scratchers down I noticed my temps started to rise to 136 I pull up next to him and his read 168. Love my standard!!

 

[780ghostrider]

i dont know what temp/ snow conditions you guys are running but my i rarley see my pro rmk go above 56 degrees celcius norm is 53 degrees

 

[flying frenchman]

I know the RMKs have a front cooler are better for cooling. Buddy has one.
I'm not gonna buy a new sled just for the cooler. My sled runs and handles awesome. I'm not starting over on setting my sled up. To many hours invested in chassis alone. Thanks for posting.
Just hoping to make it better. U coolers retain snow and bulkhead cooler don't.

 

[flying frenchman]

Last mountain trip with scratchers down 210 F. Way to hot.

 

[Merlin]

Anyone ever install one on their Pro??
Must have to pull motor and stuff.
Sounds like something I might want.
Any way to get temps down for spring riding.

I was looking into this same thing earlier this season: http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383115

Read the thread & check out the homemade front cooler gunnerthesnowman installed. I bought some of the extruded cooler material from CR Racing & plan on building my own version for next season.

IMO, installing the factory std. RMK front cooler would be a lot more work than the above option.

The pics. below were borrowed from Moose's install shown on one of the threads on this forum(don't have the link). It gives you a good idea of what's involved.

 

[LoudHandle]

I just penned this for the 2.5" CE thread, but copied it here for relevance.


I'll add pics to this post this evening, at work for another 7-8 hours.

To do the cooler swap correctly I would do a complete disassembly and put it together like they do on the assembly line. You could cut a few corners but you take the chance of it ending up being twisted somewhat and risk damaging the plastics due to the heat needed to soften the glue. Not to mention it will be a pain to remove the old glue with everything else in the way, and you want good well bonded joints to retain the chassis rigidity. With a few days (long weekend, it is doable). Another reason to pull her down is you need to unglue quite a bit of joints to get it out and you need to clean all the old glue off to re-assemble. To make this easier I would; separate the tunnel from the bulkhead. Remove the lower bulkhead side pieces. Clean the old glue off of all exposed joints. Change the extruded close off for the cooler, reline up the tunnel verifying both are level and square. Re-apply adhesive and re-glue fasten lower bulkhead pieces. Let cure and continue re-assembly. For the average hobby mechanic I would allow a day minimum for disassembly and another for re-assembly. Have Fun!

I would bet it is actually spelled out step by step in the service manual as well, if you have access to one. I have not looked for that exact replacement scenario but it covers most every glued parts replacement in detail. IE; where to glue and how much, fastener torque values, etc. with photos. Probably well worth the modest manual fee, and covers everything other aspect of the sled as well.

Side view of the extruded front close off with the extruded cooler in the back ground, as you can see the bolt bosses are the highest points on either one.

As further shown in the above three photos with the straight edge the highest points in common are indeed the bolt bosses.

This photo shows the only exception in height intrusion into the tunnel, this is where they cut the coolant channel thru the bolt boss and welded this patch over it. The weld bead is the only exception, and it is less than an 1/16" and about 1/2"-5/8" wide in 2 spots. Essentially negligible in the grand scheme of things. If I were making this part, I would have saved an extra milling machine setup and machined the coolant channel from the front side (as they are already milling lightening channels in the bolt bosses from that side, as shown in the below photo) and then put the patch inside the engine compartment instead.

And a view of the Engine compartment side, again while the cooler takes up a bit more of the interior room, it does not extend past the bolt bosses, other than the hose barbs.

 

[Murph]

Last mountain trip with scratchers down 210 F. Way to hot.

210 degrees?

That is way too hot. What about an onion (mesh) sack? Just fill it with snow and ice and strap it to the top of your tunnel coolers?

For sure not as clean and sano, but costs next to nothing and should bring the temps under control.

Also, are you nailing the throttle frequently while riding or riding at constant throttle on the trail? Nailing the throttle will help squirt excess fuel into combustion chamber to counter the lean condition experienced at constant mid throttle openings.

 

[TXStarfire]

Just had it done last week on a '12 Pro. Flat rate is about 5 hours and about $400 worth of parts. You have to decide if its worth 7 or 8 hundred bucks to do it at a dealer or not. Works perfect.

 

[flying frenchman]

Thanks Merlin. That is a nice setup. I still would prefer a front cooler.

Thanks LoudHandle. If you can it would be great if you cod post some pics.
Then I could decide if its sometihing I want to tackle.

Thanks Murph. The onion sac might be a good idea .I do regularly put snow on my coolers and my jerrycans holder but that only last about ten feet after you leave. Ya I Brap the throttle a lot. But sometimes you can't. Trail is too steep. Just have to stop and put snow.

TXStarfire this is great I will look into this. Thanks
Maybe one could custom build a front cooler from an older sled???
Lots of great ideas.

 

[LoudHandle]

Pics added to post #8

 

[Merlin]

gunnerthesnowman - Front Aux. Cooler Mod.

U coolers retain snow and bulkhead cooler don't.

Thanks Merlin. That is a nice setup. I still would prefer a front cooler.

I see your point but I'm not sure how much snow would actually hang up in that area.

Hopefully gunnerthesnowman chimes in with his results?

 

[couch]

Why not ask Christopher how they got all the snow to stick on the Poo in the Viper video ....

 

[gunnerthesnowman]

I see your point but I'm not sure how much snow would actually hang up in that area.

Hopefully gunnerthesnowman chimes in with his results?

Hi, i agree , i did not notice any more snow getting hung up in the tunnel due too the front tunnel cooler ( how about the guys riding the turbo pros with the water to air intercoolers , they run a front tunnel cooler ).
The cooler i installed work good , I wanted more cooling since i am running a 870 big bore motor, with this added cooler the motor temp. runs steady at 98 , i also run the tera alps thermostate housing , with the front tunnel cooler being unregulated it takes longer to warm the coolant system up to operating temp., when i start it up you can see the temp. warming up ( at this time the thermostate is recirculating thought the engine , also thought the front cooler , when the temp. hits 97 you can see the temp. start to drop a little ( 95-96 ) this is when the thermostate starts to open sending coolent to the stock tunnel cooler, once that happens and the temp. climbs back to 98 your go to go.
Don,t get me wrong , if you ride on rock hard snow/ice it will heat up just like the stock coolant system does but it takes longer to do so.
I just find my coolant temp. more steady running this front tunnel cooler and for $150 i think it was a good investsment .

 

[Merlin]

when i start it up you can see the temp. warming up ( at this time the thermostate is recirculating thought the engine , also thought the front cooler , when the temp. hits 97 you can see the temp. start to drop a little ( 95-96 ) this is when the thermostate starts to open sending coolent to the stock tunnel cooler, once that happens and the temp. climbs back to 98 your go to go.

I picked up the material & am planning on doing the mod. before next season.

I'm contemplating connecting the aux. cooler in series with the factory & then installing TRS's BRP thermo mod. I'm thinking it might produce more of a temp. drop / delta than the std. RMK plumbing design plus the bypass thermo. will reduce warm up times & cold shock.

Either way, I'm going this route over installing the factory RMK cooler cause it seems like far less work for similar gains.