Dear Ralph:
I’m trying to determine the appropriate quantity of isopropyl alcohol to add to the snowmobile gas tank when I fill. I would like to know how many ounces (or milliliters) of alcohol per gallon (or liter) of gas.
Pierre Parent
Quebec, Canada

One to two ounces per gallon is adequate on a preventative basis (8-16 ml per liter) assuming no ethanol in the gas already, which is already at 12-13 ounces per gallon (128 ounces) at a 10% mixture. Then de-icer isn’t needed, but won’t hurt.
Typically, using an entire 12 ounce bottle (0.355 liter) for a 8-12 gallon fill works out well. That’s what we do at temps below zero (F). Make SURE it is isopropyl, NOT methanol.

Dear Ralph:
Have you had any complaints regarding the hot grips on 2006 or earlier REVs not getting hot enough? Mine get warm, but do not seem to get hot. I previously rode a Yamaha, and before that a 1998 Ski-Doo and both were much warmer. I’ve had it in 2x to the dealer and they seem to think they’re fine. Your thoughts?
Bryan Bender
Hortonville, WI

I can’t say we’ve had handwarmer issues with any of the REVs. It does depend on the height of your windshield and engine RPMs, as a low windshield lets the cold air suck the heat out of the grips, and lower engine RPMs don’t provide as much juice to make the grips hot. This just isn’t as common of a complaint like it is on the Yamaha Apex models, or older Ski-Doos. I guess it’d be curious to see what kind of voltage is being delivered to the grips, maybe the regulator output could be on the low side.

Dear Ralph:
What is the recommended mileage for changing hyfax and changing chain case lube? Sondra and Bob

There really isn’t a specified mileage to replace hyfax, it is done on an “as needed” basis. Each model has a specification (usually listed in the owner’s manual) of minimum acceptable thickness. Whatever this number is, take an open end wrench of that dimension and run it along the length of the hyfax. If the wrench drops onto and around the hyfax at any point, then you know it has reached the spec. For example, many Polaris models specify a minimum hyfax thickness of 7/16” or 1.1cm. I like some cushion, so I’d take a 12mm wrench and run it along the length of the hyfax. If it drops onto the thickness at any point, you know you’re right at the wear limit.
As for chaincase lube, I usually figure 3,000 miles or at the end of every season. Polaris specifies every 2,000 miles, so for most riders this would be at the end of every season. It’s more to remove the contaminants (wear from the parts and water ingestion) than it is due to oil breakdown or lack of lubrication. The chain and gears and tension should also be checked at this time to avoid obvious problems, as well. Inspect the link plates on the chain, the teeth of the gears and set the tension no more than finger tight.

Dear Ralph:
Have you guys heard anything about bent tunnels on Crossfires, or had any problems with yours? Some people in various forums have posted pictures, and claim that they weren’t riding hard when they bent. But others have ridden theirs for thousands of miles without a problem. They seem to bend right behind the reinforced area where the front arm bolts to the tunnel. Is there an engineering defect here, or are some people abusing their sleds?
Darrell Eckert

We haven’t seen incidents that would be considered abnormal, as one can bend and kink most anything. Sleds of all makes and models get bent up all the time. We have thousands upon thousands of miles on numerous Crossfires over the years, with the only real damage coming from hitting that deer in the U.P. a couple years ago. And, it’s not like we abuse them, but it’s not like we ride them gently, either.
Typically, the tunnel kinks come from tail landings that induce forces at angles and locations that the suspension can’t deal with as effectively (placing the impact force horizontally into the end of the rear axle transfers the energy to the tunnel instead of being absorbed and dissipated by the shocks and springs).
That being said, and with the emphasis on making sleds as light as possible, one can look at the structure of the aluminum tunnel on all sleds and wonder why the rear arm mount and the front arm mount are not tied together by a full-length frame doubler plate (like AD Boivin adds with their suspension kits) or like BLADE does with the Delta Perimeter Frame that triangulates these mounting points for a more-solid backbone. We’re told the other OEMs can’t do it like BLADE due to patent issues. Something as simple as a plate on the outside of the tunnel running between the two mounts would seemingly strengthen the area, but again, apply impact forces at the wrong angle and something has to give, somewhere. This is why this kind of damage is logically considered abuse, even though the rider may not realize exactly which landing did the damage.

Dear Ralph:
I am looking for technical help with an ongoing problem on my ’05 Renegade 800 HO. Since new I’ve had problems with my drive belts disintegrating, with anywhere from 500 to 1500 miles on them. I’ve tried both Bombardier and Ultimax belts. I’ve had two dealers check the clutches and alignment and have been told there is nothing wrong. I currently have 6000 miles on this and at $150 CDN per belt it takes away the ‘fun factor’ in sledding. I have removed the black plastic side cover off the clutch cover to allow better cooling and have the same problem. I am thinking that there may be a heat issue, but don’t see anybody having similar problems. Any ideas on resolving this?
Bruce Jacobson

We would first want to analyze your riding conditions and calibration. Are you running the OEM clutching calibration, or have you made modifications? Since two dealers have looked at the sled, one would believe the springs, ramps, rollers and pins have all been inspected and verified, that the center-to-center is good and the offset is correct. And, the clickers are set so you are spinning at 7850 RPM.
Next would be the riding conditions. I can visualize conditions where 1000-1500 miles on a belt is about right; that would be low speed, high RPM heavy load pulls that heat soak the clutches and drive belt, typical of deeper snow, wet snow and off-trail riding. If we’re talking packed trails, then 500-1000 miles is pretty much unacceptable.
Also, what kind of track is on this sled? Belt life can be increased by gearing down in the chaincase, something that truly makes a difference with the taller lugs and longer tracked sleds. Stock gearing, like stock clutching, is always a relative compromise. It can not, by nature, be optimized for all riding styles and snow conditions. Renegades are still clutched and geared to give maximum performance across the widest variety of conditions. This means they will accelerate hard and give respectable top end while on hard pack trails, at the expense of belt life under slower going and deeper snow riding conditions. With that being said and hopefully understood, if your riding style and conditions are more concentrated in deeper snow areas and boondocking type riding it is very likely that gearing down the chaincase ratio will reduce the belt temperatures and the life of the drive belt increased, sometimes quite dramatically.
Ski-Doo has since added a note to their calibration specs that reflect this, recommending a lower gear ratio and possibly a better cam angle for deep snow applications or slower boondocking type riding. These changes may or may not affect the overall top speed capability on hardpack, but they will increase belt life by reducing belt slippage at lower speeds.

Dear Ralph:
I own a Yamaha RX-1. My problem is I don’t like the abrupt deceleration that occurs when I cut the throttle. If I’m standing or in a slight crouch when I decelerate, it nearly pitches me over the handlebars. A second or two later, the machine seems to coast or freewheel, actually picking up speed. I have talked to Yamaha owners with other models that do the same thing. Is there any cure?
Sam

What you’re experiencing is known as engine compression braking, the abrupt slow-down right after you cut the throttle, followed by the clutch releasing the drive belt which gives you the coasting, or picking up speed, feeling.
One effective cure for this is to install lighter clutch weights with an aggressive shift curve. The aggressive shift curve will maintain or improve your acceleration and help to nearly eliminate the engine compression braking. Being that the lighter weights release the belt quicker, this means they are back shifting faster allowing you to accelerate quicker when you get back on the gas.
Many Yamaha tuners use the “Heavy Hitter” flyweights for this job. The Heavy Hitters will be set up at a stunning 56 grams of total mass instead of the (stock) 72 grams that Yamaha uses, but with an aggressive profile that compensates for the lighter mass. This will give you faster acceleration and back shifting, and surprisingly maintain the desired shift RPM. Contact Thunder Products (320-597-2700) www.thunderproducts.com and they can send you a set of weights dialed in for your weight and particular sled.

Dear Ralph:
I have an ’02 ZR 600 Cross Country EFI that isn’t running very well. I was told by a buddy to check the LED on the side of the ECU to determine the error code. It flashes six times, but I don’t know what this means. Is there any way you can help me out with this? Thanks a lot!
Chuck Weet

Yes, Arctic Cat throttle-body EFI systems on their two-strokes are equipped with a self-diagnostic function that displays a number of LED flashes that give the technician and sled tuner an indication of what kind of problem is being detected. Each particular code sequence means something different. (Newer models display a similar numeric code on the LCD gauge, using a combination of digits to indicate the error condition.)
You state you witnessed six flashes. This information is vital to diagnose the condition that the ECU is detecting. This indicates a problem with the servo motor or its wiring. It is likely the servo motor is not indexing properly at start up, and could be a matter of the cables falling off, not being adjusted properly, an actual problem with the servo motor itself, or most likely a problem with the wiring. A specific problem we’re aware of is with the connection between the servo motor and the engine wiring harness where the black wire with red stripe works its way out of the wiring harness on the engine side, which causes this code to be displayed.
Arctic Cat documentation for your specific model will provide you with a list of all the codes and what they mean, but in this case it wasn’t in the book for your sled, we had hand-written notes as the APV system was new at that time. Traditionally, a single flash indicates a problem with the TPS, two flashes is the water temp sensor, three flashes is the air temp sensor, four flashes is the barometric pressure sensor, and five flashes is an injector problem. Six flashes is the APV servo motor.

Dear Ralph:
We have a couple of the new 2007 Polaris IQ 600 CFIs and we are very concerned with the oil consumption. More accurately, the lack of. We’ve been seeing only about one ounce of oil being used per gallon, and this seems to be silly lean. So much so, we’ve been mixing some oil with the gas to make sure we’re not going to stick anything. Doesn’t this kind of ratio seem to be out of line? That’s like 128:1 for a ratio…..
Dave Peterson

We’ve also seen very little oil consumption from the new 600 CFI sleds. This is very similar to the Rotax 600 SDI, where the oil consumption first appears to be so minimal that you have a hard time believing it is right. I agree, it takes some getting used to. From what we’ve been told, the new 600 CFI engines do use far less oil, but I agree that 128:1 seems to be insane. For comparison, our 600 SDI engines typically use less than one-half of the oil of the 800 PowerTEK engines, so the Polaris numbers aren’t really that different.