I have had this happen a couple of times with my 850 touring with less than 300km and I am also trying to narrow it down.

I too wonder if it was actually hot as stopping and throwing the gear shifter into N or P shut the temp light off.

My fan also will not continue to run with the key on but engine not running (my '09 800 would continue).

Shutting the key off and restarting immediately cleared mine which I also found strange if the engine was actually too hot.

Now the one day it happened I can understand it if it was for real because we were on sloppy trails all day and then some fast roads on way home. But with all the water that day I still thought it might be electrical because my eps light came on a couple of times.

This past weekend it happened after going through a couple of medium deep mudholes and rescuing a couple of smaller bikes. The light came on about 20 minutes later on tight slow trail. I checked the rad and the bottom 3rd had a little mud but the top 2 3rds were as clean as new. The following day I was rack deep several times and extremely muddy from pushing and winching out my buddies and had no lights come on or heat issues of any kind...In fact at times it was steaming off the moisture as they should.

Besides the folks in this forum I will certainly be giving to my dealer a couple of times while under warranty with my inquiries. I am also considering a coolant additive like purple ice or water wetter.

 

I was looking in the sportsman XP section and overheating fortunately does not seem to be too common. One post for a 2011 sounded similar to yours. It ended up being an issue where the fan would some on but was running slowly. They replaced the fan circuit breaker since they noticed pushing on it made the fan rotate faster.

http://www.polarisatvforums.com/forums/polaris-xp/33261-2011-sportsman-850-xp-overheating.html

I know when the fan comes on mine you know it. Very loud and moving a ton of air. I dont play much in the mud but it was getting pretty hot bogging down in the sand but did fine. Key off when fan running due to it being hot then back on again fan will not run for a while.

Hope dealer can help, that is always a mixed bag.

 

I know you said your overflow bottle had coolant in it but you never mentioned if you checked if the rad had any coolant in it?

 

engine Ice my dads 850 had lots of over heating problems, mine did not, mibe always has ran engine ice séance day 1

 

Be sure to examine your radiator fins CLOSELY! I had the same issue and was stumped because at a glance the radiator didn't seem clogged. Upon closer inspection the fins on one side had sand built up from riding though a few creeks here and there and the occasional small mud hole. I don't have silverbacks or outlaws and no kind of lift so I don't hit holes that you could sink in so don't assume I've sunk it a time or two. But over time a little bit of sand and dirt will accumulate over time and is very hard to wash out. I've found it best to pull the front clip and run a high volume of low pressure water (garden hose with spray nozzle) and not to use a pressure washer as it will bend the fins of the radiator, further reducing airflow across it. You may not have the same situation but its worth the few extra minutes it takes to pull the front clip and inspect it for any build up than to run a pressure washer wand it there and think its doing the job. Just my .02¢

 

Mine never overheated during my last ride but it definately ran hotter the more mud that built up in the cooling fins. We used a small sump pump and hose at the rivers and would wash out the radiator and mud just poured out of the fins. We would also carefully pressure wash the radiator after each days ride at the car wash and never had an issue. My friend with a Brute Force had just replaced his radiator with an aftermarket one that is a monster but still had cooling issues but still hadn't came up with a good guarding system for the radiator so we just had to clean his radiator more often. If you are riding mud it's just part of the game to keep those damn fins clean. However, I believe you have a mechanical or electrical issue to deal with as mine would run hotter but never overheated and we rode some serious mud.

 

Make sure there is no air in the system. Purge system of all air and see where that takes you

 

Good tips from everyone...much appreciated.

A couple of questions?...when purging your system to get rid of air what would be the best way to go about that to be sure you don't unintentionally create an airlock?

And, I was looking for clips or something up front to gain better access to the rad or remove the screen and didn't notice anything obvious...are you guys removing the fan/shroud or the screen in front?

Thanks

 

This is what i would do..
take rad cap off and start machine..
let run and slowly add coolant, letting air bubbles work themselves out the top of rad.

give it a little bit of gas here and there. When coolant is at very top and rising from the qaud being warm replace cap.

fill overflow to MIN line.

let qaud run at operating temp. shut down let cool

open rad cap and add if needed in both rad and res.
This might have to be done a few times

 

What I mean by the front clip is the front plastic that houses your headlights. There are a few bolts holding it on and a few push locks by the fenders and you have to disconnect your headlights and it comes right off. It gives you the best access to the front of your radiator and better visibility of the fins that may be packed with dirt, sand, mud, etc. As far as the pressure washer goes I have bent some of the fins on mine from pressure washing and that is why I recommend against using them. Best of luck to you and I hope you pinpoint your issue soon.

 

To make sure there is no air bubbles in the system, remove radiator cap, start machine, let idle till fan comes on, re-fill .

 

had the same problem, dealer remplaced the fan relay or something like that, and now it works well, never overheat in any conditions

the fan was turning, but not fast enough

 

Thanks...that was mentionef before and after going through all of the other suggestions over the weekend I am thinking that it is the fan speed. My coolant was good with no airlocks and i could see through every part of my rad.

But I noticed that when the fan came on to cycle I could barely hear it or tell it came on with bike just idling. With my old 800 touring you would swear a jet fired up when the cooling system cycled.

This issue goes on the list for warranty at the dealer

Thanks for all help.

 

What about a faulty thermostat? Idk.. on a better note.. iI'm thoroughly impressed with the way mine stays cool I was riding in 95+ degree weather in Alabama this past weekend running balls out hitting huge mud holes even with my radiator caked in mud no problems... i actually thought I had a problem I had so much mud on the damn thing it stuck to the fan causing it to become uunbalanced sounded terrible anyways hope you get it sorted out

 

After several trips to the dealer it appears that it was a sticky thermostat on mine. 50 miles of hard riding last night and no temp light or limp mode. Fan seemed to be running just as it should.

 

When i first took mine out for the first time ride, i had the oil/engine light come on and it went into that " LAG MODE" mind you this was in the middle of december in Wisconsin..So dragged it up from the field i was in... brought it up to the house and it was running fine until you give it gas...Took it in and found out it was a T MAPPING SENOR.. from which my understanding is it tells the fan to kick in and it wasnt.

 

My 2013 Sportsman 850 was overheating after about 30 minutes of continuous riding. When first starting out, the fan would run every few minutes. After about 30 minutes, the temp light would flash, the machine would go in to "limp mode", and the fan would try to spin, but never fully kick on. If you watched the coolant overflow, it would fill up as coolant bubbled over from the radiator.

I talked about this with the tech at my dealer and he said that he got 3 other similar calls on 850s. There is a circuit breaker in a wiring harness that heats up over time and this prevents the fan from running. Apparently it gets hot to the touch. He mentioned that the breaker is 20A, but it's suppose to be 10A. He replaced mine and I rode for about 2 hours on Saturday with no issues at all.

Unfortunately, he couldn't show me where the breaker was and I didn't get a print out of the part number replaced and what it was replaced with.

 

that breaker si on top of the battery taped on the wiring harness, little metal box, alot of heat get there from the rad and the fan...

now I keep a jumper wire I made just in case...

 

Thats it. Its a little gold colored metal square. Its a thermo cut off switch. Once damaged, it can not be repaired. Its $8 at the dealer. Apparently is not a heat issue, its a current issue. Its not allowing a sufficient current to pass through to the cooling fan.

Also, it has to be installed correctly. There is a battery side and an accessory side to the "switch".

The dealer just put one in the mail to me today. My fan was trying to turn on, but never moved more than a few rpm, stop, restart etc. Apparently, this is a common problem.

I'll post the p/n & pic when it arrives.

 

my 850xp just overheated this past sat, it wuz also 88-90* outside and riding a sand track...about an hour after i started the bike went in2 limp and red overheat lite went on...pulled by some shade, turned bike off and waited lil bit 2 cool down...after that didnt seem 2 have a prob...call the dealer...tech said the 850 engines do get hot and like 2 be run at higher speeds...im gonna try add some coolant additive and see if that works, if not then ill try and get the fan relay replaced under warranty !!!

 

i wanna see if they will replace mine under warranty...they have alot of probs wit this part...???

 

they remplaced mine... as well as a long list of others parts... I have really no problem with the warranty and service

 

Went for a long ride yesterday and no issues with overheating. Spent about 4 or 5 hours out on the trails in 90+ degree heat. Seems like the replacement cut off switch did the trick. Couldn't go more than an hour before it was replaced.

 

same here, its been quite some rides that I have no trouble with my scrambler

 

thats a shame because i have no problem with over heating im down here in mississippi and i went for a ride yesterday when it was 95+ i was in low the entire time going through thick sloppy mud reving the piss out of it

 

Funny you should mention overheating. NOT funny. My 2011 850 XP touring just started overheating while out on the trail on a dry river bed, no hills. I had to stop and checked all I could out in the desert with temperatures in the 108° F and no wind. Fan would turn on but after it cooled some then it would run for a while and turn off and would not keep my 850 cool. I got it home and checked the fan out by hooking it direct to the battery and it ran strong with no problem. Have not gotten to the temperature sensor but will have to locate it and do some testing. Also I must make sure there is no air in the rad system. I think I will install wiring to hook the fan up direct after I get this thing figured out with a switch of course just in case this would happen again. It is a long trip back to the loading area riding and stopping to cool the machine.

 

Was it the thermistor that went bad because my dealer says that is what's wrong with mine. Note I only have 5 hours on mine and I am not happy about it.

 

I am not happy with the Polaris dealers here in the Valley so I will look into it and figure this thing out. When I get to the bottom of my problem/s I will post on this forum. Keep in mind not all overheating issues will have the same fix.

http://born to be mild

 

This is getting to be a heated discussion. I have not dug into my machine to find the problem but I have been reading your replies with interest. But would a stuck thermostat cause the fan to quit working?

:angryfireuring a 1956 speech for his campaign of de-Stalinization, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was asked by an unseen audience member why, as an advisor to the dictator, he had never stopped Stalin from committing his atrocities. Khrushchev immediately lashed out, “Who said that?” The room grew quiet. Khrushchev repeated his query to more silence, waited a beat, and then said, “Well, now you understand why.”

 

I have to admit that I wonder the same thing and was skeptical as I left the dealership. I don't know much about the cooling systems on these bikes. All I know is that the mechanic said the thermostat was "sticky", and that it wouldn't open and close gradually and then just suddenly "pop". I am not sure if there is some kind of sensor or control for the fan that would get replaced with this part as I did not get the old parts because it was a warranty job. I assume they have to keep them to send to Polaris if they want to get paid.

The bike did work great last night on a ride that would have seen me stopped by this issue several times. Time will tell if this is the actual cure. Perhaps a combination of everything that was done since they had already replaced a fan relay and thermo switch of some kind down on the engine?