Engine heat output in the cold weather

[slowdryrider]

My Pioneer 700 -2 sits in the heated shop.I took it out and drove it around for 1 1/2 hrs today on my trails. Came back to the shop and before bringing it in I checked the temp of everything with a handheld digital thermometer.
It was -23 c or -11 f outside and its one of those days were the cold seems to go right through you. here's my findings : no wonder it doesn't warm up to good in the cab when its really cold out , Plus if I was driving on the roads it would even have been colder due to the wind chill. Also today I never heard my Rad cooling fan come on.I do have a piece of cardboard right in front of the rad with a 4" hole in the middle plus a piece of canvas over the front bumper and grill to try and keep the wind from blowing and cooling down the rad just from driving.{warmer days when the fan runs it can still draw air in and around the sides}

Checked the temp of the heat from the defrost vents. 80 F
Hose in to heater 140 F Hose out from heater 60 F
Lower engine block both sides [oil pan] 140 F
Thermostat housing 150 F
Hose leaving the oil cooler 140 F Return hose into block 60 F
Lower rad hose 32 F upper rad hose 90 F
Heater housing 90 F

So if we wonder why were not getting the heat out of the heater that were hoping for this is why.
BTW three days ago it was just below freezing out and the heater would cook us out. I had to adjust the heat control valve so it wasn't cooking us in the cab.
When time allows I'll have to pull the thermostat and check to see if I can find a 195 F one even if I have to modify it to work and fit in the Pioneer I'am going to try to see if I can get more heat out of my Pioneer. We did a 60 mile ride with it on boxing day and we were dressed in full winter gear and by the time we got home we were both starting to get chilled.

 

[Admin]

 

[Hondasxs]

Slow,
That sure sums it up for those up north in cold weather areas.
That's not even getting the water hot enough to open the thermostat. 180 f is required I think.
If that's the case... Then what good would a 195 f do?
Your just running a air cooled motor.

Have you done anything to block the air flow around the motor compartment?

 

[slowdryrider]

You just made me think of something: maybe my thermostat isn't even closing I'd better look at that first.If its not closing then there's noway it's going to heat up to even get to 180 .That could be why its not heating up as good as it should.

 

[Hondasxs]

Ya. Could be...
Tell the wife to clear the stove for some R&D... lol.

 

[Jim Lansing]

Take it back to your honda dealer they have a fix for the heater just had mine done. Should have been a recall but my dealer did not charge me. they change up the hoses to run just off the engine oil i guess it works way better now blowing hot air at an idle.

 

[slowdryrider]

Hey Jim Welcome . Is that your machine with the tracks on in your Avatar. It looks pretty nice. What sort of Fuel mileage do you get with the tracks on.I ran two machines with tracks on one winter. The heat output of the heater was fantastic. Takes lots of power to turn the tracks so the machines run hot and thats why the heat output is so good. A few of us on here [including me] ran our heater hose's from the oil cooler long before Honda started doing the recalls and following the way that we first ran ours. I've checked out my thermostat etc; since I started this post and it works fine.What I did find was that I had to seal up my cab better then what I had sealed it up.Now it keeps the heat in better, so anyone who doesn't get to good heat they'll need to seal up the cold air infiltration.

 

[Jim Lansing]

slowdryrider I'm not sure about fuel mileage with the tracks only have 10 miles on them so far. I did seal up my cab quite a bit and it did help but having the hoses run from the oil cooler is a big bonus. I'm having troubles with my front right track coming off it'sd come off 5 times in the 10 miles I've rode not sure what is going on but I plan on getting it worked out when I get back on shore. Did you ever have any issues when you ran w/ tracks?

 

[slowdryrider]

I never had a track come off the frame. I was running Polaris Prospector tracks on both the Polaris Rangers.Put on about 500 miles and never had a problem.I sold both sets of tracks the following year simply because we weren't allowed to run down the groomed snowmobile trails. {that was why I bought tracks} Of course tracks sure made the gas mileage suffer. There must be something out of alignment on the one that keeps throwing the track. Check for worn idler wheels and brgs. Are these new tracks ??

 

[Jim Lansing]

Brand new TJD X-Gen tracks took it back to Honda (they installed them and sold them to me) they took both front track assemblies off and replaced them w/ 2 new ones and then took it for a ride no problems. I took it out the next day and made it 1.2 miles and had the same track come off. I'm thinking it might be something in my front end not sure yet but looking into it. Pretty discouraging being I paid 5300 for them and went 8 miles with the track coming off 5 times.

 

[bobbyhill]

@Jim Lansing did you find the problem with the tracks?