Air Intake Sealing

Jorgy · Oct 31, 2020

Bought a newish 18 this summer and found that the air intake on the hood needs attention on these sleds cause the fit and finish is not great. Mine had a finger width of room for snow and moisture to get into the air box. You’ll see this in the pictures below. I read a couple threads on kits you can buy to install before the throttle bodies but they were too expensive. I used materials I had in the shop including 3M Marine Silicone and 3/16 pop rivets. Filled the gap with silicone and then clamped it together. Installed 3 pop rivets in each side, then filled all the gaps with silicone and left it for 12 hours to set. Though I would share this idea and see what others are doing to fix this issue

skegpro · Oct 31, 2020

Jorgy said:
Bought a newish 18 this summer and found that the air intake on the hood needs attention on these sleds cause the fit and finish is not great. Mine had a finger width of room for snow and moisture to get into the air box. You’ll see this in the pictures below. I read a couple threads on kits you can buy to install before the throttle bodies but they were too expensive. I used materials I had in the shop including 3M Marine Silicone and 3/16 pop rivets. Filled the gap with silicone and then clamped it together. Installed 3 pop rivets in each side, then filled all the gaps with silicone and left it for 12 hours to set. Though I would share this idea and see what others are doing to fix this issue//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201031/9c068c0daee5823d0e73aa8f016626f4.jpg
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201031/3ab5e250594d21823a767fdc415ef263.jpg
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201031/2a07e5de97345928cf7987d8d0a68e68.jpg
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201031/dab652fec364baf77eb50af5f70d50e6.jpg

I had a big thread going on fixes for this. Basically did the same as you but I used two part expoxy.

Jorgy · Oct 31, 2020

Yes i read your thread a while back, seems everyone did something a little different. Mine was so out of shape I needed something mechanical to hold it together.

skegpro said:
I had a big thread going on fixes for this. Basically did the same as you but I used two part expoxy.

skegpro · Nov 1, 2020

Jorgy said:
Yes i read your thread a while back, seems everyone did something a little different. Mine was so out of shape I needed something mechanical to hold it together.

Yeah some can be pretty bad, how are your clutches looking?

tex78 · Nov 1, 2020

I'm going to take mine back off and check that spot now too

Local dealer said to check it there the other day I was in there

T-top · Nov 1, 2020

Cat sells an update kit for 18’s to upgrade to the improved design on 19’s. Most have other gaps further down in the intake shine a bright light in there to see where you can see light. My 18 grenaded with less than 400 KM due to snow ingestion. There’s got to be some damage on your engine if it’s been ridden in pow

0neoldfart · Nov 1, 2020

T-top said:
Cat sells an update kit for 18’s to upgrade to the improved design on 19’s. Most have other gaps further down in the intake shine a bright light in there to see where you can see light. My 18 grenaded with less than 400 KM due to snow ingestion. There’s got to be some damage on your engine if it’s been ridden in pow

I’m a Cat guy, but as far as I’m concerned Cat shouldn’t be selling a kit. For what they charge for sleds these days it should be offered at no charge to the consumer as an update IMHO, and if said sled goes down due to snow ingestion without physical damage apparent to the intake, that top end should be on the manufacturer. Mountain sleds are DESIGNED to be operated in deep snow.

Jorgy · Nov 1, 2020

T-top said:
Cat sells an update kit for 18’s to upgrade to the improved design on 19’s. Most have other gaps further down in the intake shine a bright light in there to see where you can see light. My 18 grenaded with less than 400 KM due to snow ingestion. There’s got to be some damage on your engine if it’s been ridden in pow

I will do that today and see if there are any other areas that need to be addressed. I have warranty on this sled till December 2021 so if I have an issue hopefully it’s this year! I had a look at the pistons while I had everything apart and they look clean with no scoring, but a quick visual doesn’t always tell the story from the exhaust side.

Jorgy · Nov 1, 2020

tex78 said:
I'm going to take mine back off and check that spot now too

Local dealer said to check it there the other day I was in there

What year is yours?

Jorgy · Nov 1, 2020

skegpro said:
Yeah some can be pretty bad, how are your clutches looking?

Clutches look good, sled only has 300 miles. I’ll be watching them every trip though. My 16 the spider cracked at 1200 miles, no warning signs

tex78 · Nov 1, 2020

Jorgy said:
What year is yours?

20 hard core

Jorgy · Nov 1, 2020

tex78 said:
20 hard core

I think as some mentioned about 19’s and 20’s were refined a bit, but I would have a look. Don’t need to take the hood off, just remove the google warmer and look/feel around

mountianguy · Nov 6, 2020

If you had the light off the hood when you reassemble be sure to remove the three screws on each side holding the filter on. I have seen guys just muscle the intake back in and that is when the outer filters pull apart. The gaps can be bugger to see even with the goggle bag out. Use a good flash light and take your time.

Jjanke · Nov 22, 2020

skegpro said:
I had a big thread going on fixes for this. Basically did the same as you but I used two part expoxy.

What two part epoxy did you use for sealing the gaps on the air box Skegpro? I’ve got a white milky puddle in my nose cone after my first two rides on my 19 mountain cat. Need to put this issue away before it turns into an engine issue...

skegpro · Nov 22, 2020

Jjanke said:
What two part epoxy did you use for sealing the gaps on the air box Skegpro? I’ve got a white milky puddle in my nose cone after my first two rides on my 19 mountain cat. Need to put this issue away before it turns into an engine issue...

https://www.nortonabrasives.com/en-...peedgrip-impact-toughened-structural-adhesive

Got it from napa.

kylekk · Nov 27, 2020

in the past ive just used black RTV on sealing gaps like that. The black RTV from Permatex is tough as hell and holds up against gas/oil/solvents

Jorgy · Nov 27, 2020

This is what I used this week to finish sealing. Works well.

kylekk said:
in the past ive just used black RTV on sealing gaps like that. The black RTV from Permatex is tough as hell and holds up against gas/oil/solvents

Jorgy · Nov 30, 2020

For anyone who may come upon this thread later, I added the 4 frog skins holes (2 per side) by the front nose and sealed around the intake vents and almost everywhere I could with RTV sealant, 2 days of blower pow in Mcbride this weekend, not a single bog. Very minor amount of moisture when I pulled the hood after the first day. Not surprised some gets through on days like that. When my dash was piled with snow the bottom vents kicked in and it ran great. Would highly recommend adding the vents for those deep days.

Shitfly · Nov 30, 2020

Great to hear this worked well, was thinking about this exact option using the 2" SLP pop in screens, same idea as the frogskins. Maybe the frogskins are better?, bit more durable?

Jorgy said:
For anyone who may come upon this thread later, I added the 4 frog skins holes (2 per side) by the front nose and sealed around the intake vents and almost everywhere I could with RTV sealant, 2 days of blower pow in Mcbride this weekend, not a single bog. Very minor amount of moisture when I pulled the hood after the first day. Not surprised some gets through on days like that. When my dash was piled with snow the bottom vents kicked in and it ran great. Would highly recommend adding the vents for those deep days.

Jorgy · Nov 30, 2020

****fly said:
Great to hear this worked well, was thinking about this exact option using the 2" SLP pop in screens, same idea as the frogskins. Maybe the frogskins are better?, bit more durable?

I’m sure the SLP would be just as good. Frog skinz seen to be quite durable

Air Intake Sealing

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