We were in montana 2 weeks ago and rented. We had Arctic cat HCR and Skidoo mountain sleds. We all requested cats but the renter ran out and some got the summits. Anyhow we blew a belt on a 2011 etek 800 and the next day the motor blew... Called the rentee and brought out another sled. He said out of the ten 800 eteks he bought to rent 8 of them so far blew the engine with in 25 miles after blowing a belt. He is 8 for ten on engine rebuilds, these are 2011 skidoo summit 154 800 eteks, thatS CRAZY. Anyone else have this problem???
No bashing just a question
- Thread starter bart
- Start date
Nope. I can tell you that Eteks are probably not good for rental fleets. They have a very specific oil requirement that from I hear is the major engine related problem. They have a very specific warm up mode. They have a specific break in. How many renters, for that matter rental shops, are going to remember these points? None. I have 800 miles on a 2011 800 154. Broke it in properly. Run full syn DOO oil. Have the original belt on. No problems. I am 265# and ride hard enough to break things and the sled has worked flawlessly.
harvest1121
Well-known member
The 2012's are suppose to have a new lower bearing but its been a problem for 4 years on the XP style. I had a 2008 I cannot say anything bad about but it made my decision to buy a 4 stroke next. I would of rode it all next season but there was not way I was riding without a warranty. Its all over DooTalk they they are having etec go down. But that is like any website it all spreads like wildfire.
don't know any thing about skidoos but is it possible when the belt breaks the RPMS are spiking (for a short period of time) and creating a internal problem?
So my question is since they are rental sleds does the manufacture warranty cover this? You mentioned he is rebuilding them.
anonomoose
New member
So belts don't break on trails?
Sorry, but it should not really matter on how you break a sled in, or how you use it so long as you don't run it out of oil and use good gas, the motor should NOT be exploding.
Otherwise they should be putting on the sled, "not for use out west or in powder over 2 feet, or with belts that might break."
Doo Dr....I would consider dumping or getting an extended warranty. No joke
ridindirty800
Active member
Like someone else sled I really wouldn't care what a rental company said when buying a sled ( my opinion) when I was at tog mtn lodge we rented poos and we blew 2 belts in 3 days. The guys in our group who had cats 2 of the days we had to tow one back with a broken diamond drive. Reality is they all have issues but its seems out west they are magnified. I mean I beat the s*** out out of my rental wfo all the time and if it blew it blew. Now I don't ride my personal sled that hard and I am not going up hills in 4' of powder back home either. I don't think 80 percent of 800 e-tecs are burning down like at that rental place.
Dump it, Really????
We have 06' through 11' summits with all engine sizes (600 carb'ed - 800 Etek-1000RT)in our group. From 200-3800miles on the sleds and we haven't had one engine failure. For that matter, no problems other than a low battery on a SDI. We take care and maintain or sleds. Then we ride them hard and have fun. At one point our group had 7 of 10 800R Ptek motors. You know, the one's that all had bad cranks!!!!! We still have an XRS Hill Climb that runs like a top. I think I'll keep the sled. FYI, our group recently added a 300+HP 1200 4 stroke Summit to the flock. Should we sell that because it's too heavy???
We have 06' through 11' summits with all engine sizes (600 carb'ed - 800 Etek-1000RT)in our group. From 200-3800miles on the sleds and we haven't had one engine failure. For that matter, no problems other than a low battery on a SDI. We take care and maintain or sleds. Then we ride them hard and have fun. At one point our group had 7 of 10 800R Ptek motors. You know, the one's that all had bad cranks!!!!! We still have an XRS Hill Climb that runs like a top. I think I'll keep the sled. FYI, our group recently added a 300+HP 1200 4 stroke Summit to the flock. Should we sell that because it's too heavy???
wisyooper1
Member
But they are rentals after all....
I don't know about the rest of you, but I wouldn't ever buy a "fleet" or rental vehicle - I "work" any rental vehicle as hard as I can!
Previous posters are correct - who lets a rental sled warm up? Jump on and put 'er go'in! I rode with a bunch that rented sleds up da Keweenaw way a few years back. One guy got a kick out of holding the brake while revving the engine until the belt started to smoke! Do you really want to compare the reliability of that sled with that owned by private party?
I don't know about the rest of you, but I wouldn't ever buy a "fleet" or rental vehicle - I "work" any rental vehicle as hard as I can!
Previous posters are correct - who lets a rental sled warm up? Jump on and put 'er go'in! I rode with a bunch that rented sleds up da Keweenaw way a few years back. One guy got a kick out of holding the brake while revving the engine until the belt started to smoke! Do you really want to compare the reliability of that sled with that owned by private party?
If I was a Doo Engineer I would take a hard look at what this dealer is doing with those 800eteks. I sold some industrial equipment that kept going out of alignment but only this 1 customer had the problem. The equipment was indeed out of alignment every time our service tech corrected the problem. Asked service person to spend a week with the customer & just watch. A few days passed & a stockman pushed the equipment to a get a bunch of boxes off a shelf jumped up & down a few times & which threw the equipment out of alignment. Service tech asked "how often do you do that"? stockman said "a few times a week". Problem solved a YAG Laser is not a $150K ladder. LOL Something odd going on 8 out of 10 rental burndowns but only here? Yeah something stinks from my experience just not the norm.
I will definitely disagree with your opinion on "break a sled in". Maybe that is why I don't have problems.
A side note to the engine problems. There is a dealer that has 80% of a specific size/model sled that they have had bad motors (problems in as few as 200 miles). The replacement motors that have been sent have also had the same % of failure. The dealer is very competent so it's not like they don't know what they are doing. BTW, the 80% not from a 4 sled group. The manufacture doesn't have answers for them right now so all they can do is swap motors as needed. How would you like to be in that position???
Many industrial & medical laser applications engraving,welding ,eye surgery for YAG lasers. CO2s also used for surgery just depends on what you need to do?
mezz
Well-known member
If any sled is pushing that many R's, it's pushing the limits. Should be around 8,000 to 8,200 Max. Over-Rev's will kill any motor quick. Any sled will last in the deep pow riding conditions, it's a matter of how they are ridden & how they are maintained. For anyone to run a retal sled WFO all the time & to do things to it that they would not do on their own is just plain disrespectful. Riding through the real deep is a friggin blast! Can't get enough of it & it doesn't last long enough!-Mezz
mezz
Well-known member
If any sled is pushing that many R's, it's pushing the limits. Should be around 8,000 to 8,200 Max. Over-Rev's will kill any motor quick. Any sled will last in the deep pow riding conditions, it's a matter of how they are ridden & how they are maintained. IMO, for anyone to run a rental sled WFO all the time & to do things to it that they would not do on their own is just plain disrespectful. On a lighter note, riding through the real deep is a friggin blast! Can't ever get enough of it & it doesn't ever last long enough!-Mezz
anonomoose
New member
I didn't mean that breaking a sled in like the book says isn't a good idea, and I do it....but I have read others on several other sites that say "drive it like you stole it" during break in and they swear it works out better.
My point is that 8 out of 10 sleds this guy has in his fleet should not have the motors go in that short of time. Not sure why he would lie about that, but hey...people do....but if I owned that sled motor and year, I would be checking it out all over the place and extending the warranty at the least.
This isn't about bashing sleds....this is about common sense. If there is a problem, then those who own this sled motor might be living a charmed life until it goes. Fore warned... is knowledge that needs to be taken note of.
Oh, and I agree ....if you beat the snot out of a rental sled, then not only do you improve your odds of having half a day ruined, but it definitely is disrespectful. Drive it hard...but flogging will likely leave you way out yonder with someone else's day ruined too...pulling you back again.
I don't think I'm leading a charmed life. Quite the opposite. I live by Murphy's Law. Point being, without using the internet law of absolute truth, a person can prove that all of the brands have problems. A person can also prove that such problems are customer related or brand related. I remember Arctic Cats burning to the sno line(I know we have alot of boaters) in the late 90's/early 2000 at Togwotee. It was because of the Fed's. Mufflers were so restrictive that they got too hot and melted plastic and started sleds on fire. Government Noise regulations!! Cut and gut the muffler and they ran great. It only took Togwotee 10 sleds to figure it out (10% of the fleet). I like all of the brands and think they all do a very good job delivering product to market. As for all of the "Talk", take it with a grain of salt. If they really knew all of the problems ,and all of the cures, they wouldn't be giving that information away for free!!!