Overheater
New member
So we've had a 2012 RTV 1100 for a few years now and it's worked great. Very first thing we did was put the swag turbo kit on it and haven't had any issues from it or the RTV itself until this summer. While driving recently, unbeknownst to the driver at the time it was overheating and the head cracked and warped. So we replaced the head with the latest part number, verified the fan and water pump were working, also made sure the radiator wasn't dirty, and got it running again. Same problem, engine temp runs for the red.
Currently have two theories as to what's causing it. First is a stuck thermostat. Not stuck completely closed or open but perhaps halfway. After running the RTV for a very brief period of time the radiator hose starts heating up. Well before when I would expect the thermostat to be open. Has anyone had this happen?
The second thought is turbo related. The turbo kit has been great but the one thing I didn't like since the beginning is it doesn't have an intercooler. So we have a water-to-air kit on order to install. I've read mixed things as to how much this impacts engine temperature. But dropping the IAT's by 90-100 degrees seems like it would have an impact on temperature to me. At the same time it seems odd that it's never given us an issue and suddenly this year it does.
Oh and the last thing. It has been running 70/30 antifreeze mix. Going to drain that out and replace it with 50/50 to see if that helps too.
Any thoughts or experiences on these overheating would be greatly appreciated. There's been several helpful threads on here in years past.
Thank you,
Rich
Currently have two theories as to what's causing it. First is a stuck thermostat. Not stuck completely closed or open but perhaps halfway. After running the RTV for a very brief period of time the radiator hose starts heating up. Well before when I would expect the thermostat to be open. Has anyone had this happen?
The second thought is turbo related. The turbo kit has been great but the one thing I didn't like since the beginning is it doesn't have an intercooler. So we have a water-to-air kit on order to install. I've read mixed things as to how much this impacts engine temperature. But dropping the IAT's by 90-100 degrees seems like it would have an impact on temperature to me. At the same time it seems odd that it's never given us an issue and suddenly this year it does.
Oh and the last thing. It has been running 70/30 antifreeze mix. Going to drain that out and replace it with 50/50 to see if that helps too.
Any thoughts or experiences on these overheating would be greatly appreciated. There's been several helpful threads on here in years past.
Thank you,
Rich