FYI on Rad delete - trail riders

Stanleyd · Dec 26, 2010

I recently removed the radiator in my Fusion.. and bled the system properly. I ride 100% trails. Before my rad delete the sled would run at a temp of 125-130. Now it shoots up to 160 within 510 minutes on the trail and then I shut it down. I know I can install scratchers to offset the rad delete to help cooling..

I am now reinstalling the rad.

IN MY OPINION.. if you ride mostly trails do not remove your radiator.

This site has helped me greatly with improving my sled over stock... and I really appreciate all the help. I just want to let trail riders know this info.

mountainhorse · Dec 26, 2010

I'm sincerely interested in exactly how you plumbed your cooling system when you deleted the radiator?

94fordguy · Dec 26, 2010

If your not riding off-trail a lot, it is a good idea to leave it on for riding the groomed trails..... The reason many of us out here take them out is because they are often blocked when the snow is deep (covers the belly pan) and then acts to heat the motor rather than to cool it... To work effectively they need un-obstructed air flow and a somewhat high-speed to force the air through them like the radiator in your car.

In either event, it is a good idea to eliminate the 'dead-loop' that is plumbed in from the factory (idiotic design) so that there is only one path - a complete loop - through the entire cooling system.

mikemedic3 · Dec 27, 2010

That was gonna be my question, I ride all trail at low elev. and was just thinking it would be better to leave rad. and change piping to make one long loop, figure this would give best cooling on the trail. Have been looking for write ups on how guy's have done this.
By the way live in rhode Island just got foot of snow and sled is in NH. getting worked on.:mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

Stanleyd · Dec 27, 2010

Dead loop was removed, tee connection removed and coupling added in place (as per your diagram). Bottle plugged.

If I drag my feet to kick up snow on the rear cooler this helps. I know scratchers would fix the problem but I do not want to rely on them...

Just my 2 cents.

900Spartan · Dec 27, 2010

Errr

DAMN IT!!! I was just about to pull this thing this week. I guess I will look at pulling the dead loop only...

Iron Horse, SW, ZW, 94 Guy.. if the sled is vented all over the place will this make a difference???

If you place "Better Boards" will this increase cooling with trail riding. If I want to ride the trails for a day, I don't want to worry about the sled constantly over heating if I slow down in the turns or get caught on pavement:face-icon-small-ton (I need mountains.)

POLZIN · Dec 27, 2010

Has Anyone replumbed the front coolers to make them more effective ? I never even saw my stock cooler so I dont really know much about it except that it was a "dead loop" and didnt circulate very well . correct?

mountainhorse · Dec 27, 2010

I've seen it run in series with the rear coolers instead of parallel... It improved the consitency of the temps with the Rad in.

Stanley... thank you for posting this up for our Short Track Brothers!!

polarispunk09 · Dec 27, 2010

I ride mostly groomed trails in wisconsin and from the beginning i did not want to remove the rad just because i wanted as much cooling power as possible.. i did however reroute everything so it is one large loop or in series and i never have to worry about my temps..

danduvall · Dec 27, 2010

So inorder to make a complete loop and incorporate the front rad. I assume I would have to replace the original T fitting with say.. 2 90*s. Run coolant out of thermostat, into front rad,out of front rad,and back into the hose that runs to the right side running board cooler??? And still leave the line plugged off on the coolant resevoir? Btw I deleted my front rad and temps fluctuate to much for me, just a trail rider!

94fordguy · Dec 27, 2010

danduvall said:
So inorder to make a complete loop and incorporate the front rad. I assume I would have to replace the original T fitting with say.. 2 90*s. Run coolant out of thermostat, into front rad,out of front rad,and back into the hose that runs to the right side running board cooler??? And still leave the line plugged off on the coolant resevoir? Btw I deleted my front rad and temps fluctuate to much for me, just a trail rider!

Correct. You want to route it from the thermostat, to the radiator, then remove the T-Fitting and use a standard 90* elbow to attach to the line running to the PTO side rail. The upper hose coming out of the coolant bottle can be capped at the bottle. Use a 3/4" brass pipe plug and a standard screw-style hose clamp... This will plug your line and prevent leaks.

atcfan · Dec 28, 2010

i mostly trail ride and left the rad in. all i did was delete the tee fitting and reroute the hoses so it is a series instead of parallel and now my temps stay right around 120

danduvall · Dec 29, 2010

Where the heck are you guys find 3/4" brass barbed hose fittings? Like 90*s and such? I've been everywhere! Best I can do is sched80 pvc

Z-Man · Dec 29, 2010

danduvall said:
Where the heck are you guys find 3/4" brass barbed hose fittings? Like 90*s and such? I've been everywhere! Best I can do is sched80 pvc

Pretty sure ACE Hardware has them and Napa too.

mcmarkrazz · Dec 29, 2010

atcfan said:
i mostly trail ride and left the rad in. all i did was delete the tee fitting and reroute the hoses so it is a series instead of parallel and now my temps stay right around 120

someone have a diagram of what they have done so we can do it right the first time

danduvall · Dec 29, 2010

Z-Man said:
Pretty sure ACE Hardware has them and Napa too.

been to both! no luck! grainger, homedepot, lowes, sears, oilfield supply store, you name it !

rmk2112 · Dec 30, 2010

danduvall said:
Where the heck are you guys find 3/4" brass barbed hose fittings? Like 90*s and such? I've been everywhere! Best I can do is sched80 pvc

Sch 80 PVC will work fine, I've had one in mine for over a year with no issues at all. Sch 80 can handle the water temps.

Stanleyd · Jan 11, 2011

Just an update on my original post for all the trail riders..

I got lazy and just bought Scratchers from SLP instead of reinstalling my rad due to high temps without the rad.

The scratchers worked amazing. Easy install as well. Temps were around 150 so I dropped the Scratchers down and temps almost instantly dropped to 125. I rode the rest of the day with only one Scratcher down which was sufficient.

Any trail riders who want to delete the rad - My opinion is that Scratchers are 100% required. I also bought the idler wheel adapter from SLP to keep the front idler wheel/scratcher together.

Newfy · Jan 11, 2011

Thats funny, I have the rad removed from mine and I have never had any issues. I run mostly trail, sea-lvl to 2000ft. As long as the trail is not hard packed my temps are great 70-80. I do have scratchers but only use them the snow is packed. With them down on hard pack temps they are again 70-80.
I swear by these things, Ill never own a machine with out them.

jsledder · Jan 11, 2011

I had to run 20-30 miles of trails last time out, family ride, and I looked down once to see the temp up close to 170, immediately ducked off the trail and got in some snow but that didn't help, stopped and was going to feel the cooler and found the whole underside of the tunnel was one giant block of ice. Had to be at least 40lbs caked under there, chipped as much away as I could with my shovel and that helped but by the time we got back to the cabin it was back to a block of ice again and the next morning was a biotch trying to get all that off.

That was with scratchers down, prior to putting them down it was getting warm also, maybe 1 would be better??

FYI on Rad delete - trail riders

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