Polaris ranger - major problem

[gerard]

We have a 2004 6 wheel ranger w/ power dump. Wife uses it every day to dump manure, run hay out to horses and run down to pond to let ducks out of pen. Last winter she's on her way back and engine seizes up. Take it in to dealer and he says there's water in the oil, engines trashed and we need new engine. Says we must have gone through deep water. Winter time - no deep water around and we didn't go through anything anyway. Polaris rep is useless and we wind up getting new engine to the tune of $3500. I finally figured out what I THINK happened and am sharing for any other poor souls out there that could get in the same boat.

Wife used to do a lot of short trips in winter with cold starts. I think condensation built up in oil reservoir, didn't evaporate out and settled to the bottom. Cold night and water froze, sealing off the hose that takes the oil to the engine. Engine runs for awhile without oil (nice synthetic oil) but eventually engine blows up.

Lesson - poor design on oil reservoir. I now make sure the engine is run long enough to warm up totally and check once in a while for water in the bottom but I was not happy with polaris's response. I won't buy another one - it's basically a snowmobile engine wrapped inside a frame. Next one will either be the kubota rtv or a japanese mini truck.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I am sorry to hear of your problem. Did the Polaris tech give you any other thoughts on what caused the problem? I would think normal oil changes would have shown if there was any amount of water building up. Did you notice much water when you changed the oil over the years?

 

[gerard]

I never noticed water when changing the oil but I wasn't looking for it either. The design of the oil reservoir is such that it narrows at the bottom where the hose fitting comes in to then pipe the oil to the engine. (Doesn't use an oil sump like a regular engine). This means it wouldn't take a whole lot of water to cause a blockage and it's the only way I can figure water got in. She did drive it through some pretty heavy snow drifts but they tell me it's designed for that. Thing is even now it's not real easy to check if waters collecting. Guess I have to get some of that paste they use to test for water in gas tanks. Right now we just don't use it as much in the winter.

 

[john_bud]

There was a thread on should you run start equipment in the winter (just to excersise it) or leave it until spring.

My 'opinion' is that it should not be run. But, if you do run it - operate it for 45-60 min after it reaches normal temperatures.

Reasoning is based on less severe outcomes! But, water and fuel do build up in the oil - normally just rusts stuff up. Sorry that you have been the one to teach the rest of us this important lesson! Have you and your wife changed riding habits to run it longer and harder? Sad to say, it's very possible that this would happen no matter who made the equipment. Only way to avoid it is hard operation to heat it or much more frequent oil changes when warm.

I think you should still hammer the dealer / polaris for at least 1/2 of the engine cost.

jb

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

i don't know i would feel kinda funny about going into a dealer after 4 years and asking them to help pay for a engine???if it was a newer model yes but 4 years old it has to be out of warranty right? like was posted in a earlier post it could have happened to any model or brand utv so it wasn't polaris's fault and it wasn't ya'll fault it was just something that happens . but a 4 year old utv engine to me is way to old to be asking the dealer to pay for it unless like i said you have a extended warranty.

 

[gerard]

Moot point because polaris was unresponsive but I bought it new in 2004 and it blew up in 2006, less than 2 years and with 130 hours on it but still out of warranty. I still think it's a poor design. In a regular oil pan set up water would settle and stay on the bottom and not affect lubrication. (I guess that assumes that ICE will still be denser than motor oil and hence also stay on the bottom?? Not actually sure about that. A real simple solution would have been to put a drain valve at the lowest point of the oil reservoir. Open it and any collected water can be easily drained, if a little oil comes out, no problem, you know all's good, if nothing comes out you know you have a problem and don't start the engine. Guess this was too much to ask an actual engineer to figure out cause it might add $5 to the cost of the $10,000 machine! I doubt I'm the ONLY one this has happened to but in answer to a previous post - yes we still use it in the winter but let it run until done and put away so as to not let water build up. (Don't you just hate spending $3500 just to get what you already had??)

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

i figured being you just posted this that it just happened you should have told us that it blew with just 130 hours after just 2 years of use . it's ,08 now . this happened in ,06.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I agree, what happend to cause you to post about this problem just now if it happened in 2006? Did it act up again?

 

[john_bud]

gerard,

Water will settle to the bottom of the oil pan and freeze as you know. The engineers normally put the oil pick up at the low point in the pan so that it always has oil, even during acceleration, deceleration and cornering. My guess is that you had a LOT of water in the oil.

Just running at idle won't (I repeat WON'T) drive out the water. In fact, it will add more. You have to really run the machine hard for 30-60 min after it gets up to temp to drive out the water / fuel from the oil. You don't have to do it every time you start (it's best that way though), once a week for a full 60 min of hard continuous operation will keep it dry. Is there any chance that rain water got in to the pan or even pressure washer water?

jb

 

[ddivinia]

We have a 2004 6 wheel ranger w/ power dump. Wife uses it every day to dump manure, run hay out to horses and run down to pond to let ducks out of pen. Last winter she's on her way back and engine seizes up. Take it in to dealer and he says there's water in the oil, engines trashed and we need new engine. Says we must have gone through deep water. Winter time - no deep water around and we didn't go through anything anyway. Polaris rep is useless and we wind up getting new engine to the tune of $3500. I finally figured out what I THINK happened and am sharing for any other poor souls out there that could get in the same boat.

Wife used to do a lot of short trips in winter with cold starts. I think condensation built up in oil reservoir, didn't evaporate out and settled to the bottom. Cold night and water froze, sealing off the hose that takes the oil to the engine. Engine runs for awhile without oil (nice synthetic oil) but eventually engine blows up.

Lesson - poor design on oil reservoir. I now make sure the engine is run long enough to warm up totally and check once in a while for water in the bottom but I was not happy with polaris's response. I won't buy another one - it's basically a snowmobile engine wrapped inside a frame. Next one will either be the kubota rtv or a japanese mini truck.

It sounds like you got screwed in my book.

I wish John Deere would make a Gator with more seating. The service at these motorcycle joints that handle the Polaris stuff sucks. All of them want list and then they have no service to back it up.

I might have to wait for the economy to get worse so the price of Ranger Crews will be discounted.

$3500 for a new engine sure doesn't sounds like a bargain.

Also, all the people saying it needs to run fro 30-60 mins - hard to say what is long enough. My Gator can run for a long time and still be cold.

D.