2006 RMK 900 Short Block Advice

[98sumitt]

Hi everyone,
I am currently in the process of installing a rebuilt shortblock for a friend of mine and most of my experience has been with one of the other major brands so I thought I would post a few questions to all you experienced Polaris people out there.

1.- When removing the head bolts off the old block, there seemed to be lots of white residue on the bolts and threads, which smelt like some sort of sealer or lock-tight. The service manual says nothing about putting anything on the bolts upon assembly, so do I go by the book and leave them bare or is there something that should be put on them? I have notice a few clues that the old engine had been apart before but who knows if that person knew what they were doing???


2.- Is there a way to check the oil pump and output without a bunch of special tools from Polaris? Obviously, the air will have to be bled out of the lines and pump but would like to make sure its working properly.

3.- When disassembling the exhaust slide valves, there was a lot of black oil under the diaphrams. Is this normal or does it indicate some kind of problem? The diaphrams looked to be in good shape.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can give me.

 

[moto5151]

i just finished installing a new shortblock in my 900 as well. if you ordered the complete eng the head should already be on it. the white residue is not locktite, its an antiseize compound. the oil under the diaphrams is normal. be carefull not to tear the rubbers with the allen key. bleed the oil pump with the screw on top of the pump assembly. mix oil in the first tank, and keep an eye on the oil level in the oil tank. if its goingdown then its good to go. make sure you bring the eng to temp before releasing it back to whoever owns it. air can be hard to bleed from thecoolant system. you will have to install the stator as well. throw out the metal plate back there,as it always comes loose and it will cut wires on the stator. make sure your flywheel is timed right, and locktite theretaining bolts. they are known to get loosewhen hot, and the flywheel will spin causing it to come out of time. trust me on this one. be carefull when installing the oil pump cable asit hasthe small metal tube that is really delicate. if you need a service manual for this machine let me know,i can email it to you. good luck.

 

[gus]

Make sure to check ur oil cable and the rest of ur cables before u put engine in . That's one of the problems with the 900

 

[fnDan]

Hi everyone,
I am currently in the process of installing a rebuilt shortblock for a friend of mine and most of my experience has been with one of the other major brands so I thought I would post a few questions to all you experienced Polaris people out there.

1.- When removing the head bolts off the old block, there seemed to be lots of white residue on the bolts and threads, which smelt like some sort of sealer or lock-tight. The service manual says nothing about putting anything on the bolts upon assembly, so do I go by the book and leave them bare or is there something that should be put on them? I have notice a few clues that the old engine had been apart before but who knows if that person knew what they were doing???


2.- Is there a way to check the oil pump and output without a bunch of special tools from Polaris? Obviously, the air will have to be bled out of the lines and pump but would like to make sure its working properly.

3.- When disassembling the exhaust slide valves, there was a lot of black oil under the diaphrams. Is this normal or does it indicate some kind of problem? The diaphrams looked to be in good shape.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can give me.

I just replaced my pistons and rings this weekend. We found blue sealant on the head bolts when we took it apart. I used Permatex High Performance sealant on the underside of the bolt heads and loctite 242 (blue) on the bottom threads.
I did some research and did find a posting by a reputable member on Snowest (Mountainhorse) providing instructions to apply a sealant 360 degrees under the head of the bolt. We assumed that this is because some bolts have coolant circulating through the holes. There is also a bulletin to add 10mm washers to the cylinder bolts. Apparently, holes in the cases were not tapped deep enough or there may be residual material inside and there could be problems with getting these bolts to torque properly.

My exhaust bellows (diaphrams) had a lot of oil under them as well. I'll definitely be cleaning them more often. Make sure your diaphrams are orange and not black.

One thing I wish I would have checked when I had everything apart was the coolant bleed screw. I put everything back together and went to bleed the coolant but my bleed screw is seized and ready to be stripped. I'll have to pull the thermostat cover off and do what I can to get the screw out. I'd like to replace it with something better. Maybe with a hex head or something.

 

[98sumitt]

I just replaced my pistons and rings this weekend. We found blue sealant on the head bolts when we took it apart. I used Permatex High Performance sealant on the underside of the bolt heads and loctite 242 (blue) on the bottom threads.
I did some research and did find a posting by a reputable member on Snowest (Mountainhorse) providing instructions to apply a sealant 360 degrees under the head of the bolt. We assumed that this is because some bolts have coolant circulating through the holes. There is also a bulletin to add 10mm washers to the cylinder bolts. Apparently, holes in the cases were not tapped deep enough or there may be residual material inside and there could be problems with getting these bolts to torque properly.

My exhaust bellows (diaphrams) had a lot of oil under them as well. I'll definitely be cleaning them more often. Make sure your diaphrams are orange and not black.

One thing I wish I would have checked when I had everything apart was the coolant bleed screw. I put everything back together and went to bleed the coolant but my bleed screw is seized and ready to be stripped. I'll have to pull the thermostat cover off and do what I can to get the screw out. I'd like to replace it with something better. Maybe with a hex head or something.

Thanks for the reply. Will check into the washer/sealant thing on Snowest. That sucks about you bleed screw. Its such a lovely place to get at. Good luck

 

[98sumitt]

i just finished installing a new shortblock in my 900 as well. if you ordered the complete eng the head should already be on it. the white residue is not locktite, its an antiseize compound. the oil under the diaphrams is normal. be carefull not to tear the rubbers with the allen key. bleed the oil pump with the screw on top of the pump assembly. mix oil in the first tank, and keep an eye on the oil level in the oil tank. if its goingdown then its good to go. make sure you bring the eng to temp before releasing it back to whoever owns it. air can be hard to bleed from thecoolant system. you will have to install the stator as well. throw out the metal plate back there,as it always comes loose and it will cut wires on the stator. make sure your flywheel is timed right, and locktite theretaining bolts. they are known to get loosewhen hot, and the flywheel will spin causing it to come out of time. trust me on this one. be carefull when installing the oil pump cable asit hasthe small metal tube that is really delicate. if you need a service manual for this machine let me know,i can email it to you. good luck.

Thanks for the reply. There was no plate behind the stator on this one so someone probably already threw it in the bush. We have zero snow here now so it will be hard to test drive very much so I will not be able to run it enough to notice the oil level and whether or not it drops. Guess I will just bleed it and premix the first tank of fuel. What do you suggest for premix ratio? 40-50:1 ??

 

[moto5151]

40:1 is good. A trip to the mountains might be in order.