Poos Problems

thebreeze

Member
Define "better". They run good till the skirt drops. Then the snowmobile gods reward you with free "case porting".
 
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lenny

Guest
until I meet you Paul, I only knew personally of 3 people with the pro rmk with the 800's. Bob, Wayne and Kip, and only one went down. If I include you than I know 4 people personally with a 800 and 2 have gone down, aside from you sled Paul the other 3 are (2) 2012 and Bob's new 2013. I still want one though but gonna wait till the verdict is out but I will say it is concerning.

My personal hand up is that I am older and want a butt kickin chassis and the pro is it. The 800 rips and is a incredible machine. I am willing to work on a sled in order to kick the snot out of it but to what extent. Gotta say I like the M chassis and the motor seems stronger than the poo 800 so do you sacrifice a chassis a tad to gain seat time. Seat time is very important to me and I wanna ride when I can, especially living in the UP. I gotta say I am more inclined to go Cat this time around,, again!
 

thebreeze

Member
IMO the KEY to the 800 pro is warranty. Keep it in a state of "stockishness" so the fixes, and shortblock replacement is free, and it is hands down the best stock sled out there currently. What you don't want to do is port the crank with your cylinder skirt, and have to shell out $4400 for a shortblock.
 

jmvette427

Active member
warranty is great but the season is short enuff ( even including this year ) . it doesnt do you any good when the sled is in the shop for a month at a time during riding season , i know lenny and paul want to ride not visit the dealer
 

byrn71

Member
Here is my two cents on this. I just bought a 2013 pro rmk 800 and the exact same thoughts went through my head. I was and am still concerned with the engine, but the comfort and feel of the chassis is worth the concern imo. I love the older mchassis but after spending a day on the pro its amazing how easy they are to ride and how much less energy and effort you use riding them. Lenny, knowing the riding we do, I would tell you that you would be happier buying a used 11 or 12 pro and dropping in the rktech top end then buying a left over 11m8. Just my thoughts for what its worth.
 

Skylar

Super Moderator
Staff member
I was hesitent on buying my 2012 Pro RMK 800, but, they did not have a 600 Pro in stock, so I went with the 8, and bought the 4 year warranty also. Currently I have 1467 miles on mine, with no issues at all, sled is stock. Now, will it keep going? I dunno for sure, like I said, wish they would have had a 600. My 07 600 had almost 8000 miles on it when I sold it, and I think Winter_Time on here did not do anything to the motor, and he was riding it this winter.

I did turn the oil pump up on mine also, and everytime I could remember, I added some oil to the gas.

I am thinking of putting in RKTEK's drop in pistons for piece of mind this summer, but not real sure yet on that. I like to ride also, so, dependability is important to me.

People have asked me why I bought the 800 Poo, well, because the chassis is bad ***, it really does make an average rider better, just because it is soooo easy to ride, and you can put it where you want, even if you are not sure you should go there. LOL.

MoremilesRay, who lives in Twin Lakes, put 11,000 miles on his 2011 800 Assault before the skirts broke, he did have to replace the injectors at 2000 miles, under warranty, but, sheeeeit, 11,000 miles! It will take me 10 years to put that many on mine, and about that long to pay it off too. LOL.

I am not brand loyal at all, I ride what works for me. I have seat time on John's 2012 ProClimb, and Scottiking's 2013 ProClimb, and those are great sleds also, I would not hesitate to buy one, the 800 cat motor is pretty much bulletproof. My brother has almost 5,000 miles on his 08 800, not even a hiccup.

I had a LITTLE seat time on Doospunks 2013 XM 800, and that, also, was a great chassis, now, I did not ride it where I rode mine, techincal riding, but, it was easy to carve with, and had great power.

So there ya go.

P.S. I like Keweenaw Brewing Company Widowmaker Black Ale.
 
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m8man

Moderator
I was hesitent on buying my 2012 Pro RMK 800, but, they did not have a 600 Pro in stock, so I went with the 8, and bought the 4 year warranty also. Currently I have 1467 miles on mine, with no issues at all, sled is stock. Now, will it keep going? I dunno for sure, like I said, wish they would have had a 600. My 07 600 had almost 8000 miles on it when I sold it, and I think Winter_Time on here did not do anything to the motor, and he was riding it this winter.

I did turn the oil pump up on mine also, and everytime I could remember, I added some oil to the gas.

I am thinking of putting in RKTEK's drop in pistons for piece of mind this summer, but not real sure yet on that. I like to ride also, so, dependability is important to me.

People have asked me why I bought the 800 Poo, well, because the chassis is bad ***, it really does make an average rider better, just because it is soooo easy to ride, and you can put it where you want, even if you are not sure you should go there. LOL.

MoremilesRay, who lives in Twin Lakes, put 11,000 miles on his 2011 800 Assault before the skirts broke, he did have to replace the injectors at 2000 miles, under warranty, but, sheeeeit, 11,000 miles! It will take me 10 years to put that many on mine, and about that long to pay it off too. LOL.

I am not brand loyal at all, I ride what works for me. I have seat time on John's 2012 ProClimb, and Scottiking's 2013 ProClimb, and those are great sleds also, I would not hesitate to buy one, the 800 cat motor is pretty much bulletproof. My brother has almost 5,000 miles on his 08 800, not even a hiccup.

I had a LITTLE seat time on Doospunks 2013 XM 800, and that, also, was a great chassis, now, I did not ride it where I rode mine, techincal riding, but, it was easy to carve with, and had great power.

So there ya go.

P.S. I like Keweenaw Brewing Company Widowmaker Black Ale.

Skylar,

Joe did put a bunch of miles on your old sled. Still ran great. He is chasing around canada and the entire USA working for Bombardier or however you spell it.

later,

m8man
 

snoluver1

Active member
I was hesitent on buying my 2012 Pro RMK 800, but, they did not have a 600 Pro in stock, so I went with the 8, and bought the 4 year warranty also. Currently I have 1467 miles on mine, with no issues at all, sled is stock. Now, will it keep going? I dunno for sure, like I said, wish they would have had a 600. My 07 600 had almost 8000 miles on it when I sold it, and I think Winter_Time on here did not do anything to the motor, and he was riding it this winter.

I did turn the oil pump up on mine also, and everytime I could remember, I added some oil to the gas.

I am thinking of putting in RKTEK's drop in pistons for piece of mind this summer, but not real sure yet on that. I like to ride also, so, dependability is important to me.

People have asked me why I bought the 800 Poo, well, because the chassis is bad ***, it really does make an average rider better, just because it is soooo easy to ride, and you can put it where you want, even if you are not sure you should go there. LOL.

MoremilesRay, who lives in Twin Lakes, put 11,000 miles on his 2011 800 Assault before the skirts broke, he did have to replace the injectors at 2000 miles, under warranty, but, sheeeeit, 11,000 miles! It will take me 10 years to put that many on mine, and about that long to pay it off too. LOL.

I am not brand loyal at all, I ride what works for me. I have seat time on John's 2012 ProClimb, and Scottiking's 2013 ProClimb, and those are great sleds also, I would not hesitate to buy one, the 800 cat motor is pretty much bulletproof. My brother has almost 5,000 miles on his 08 800, not even a hiccup.

I had a LITTLE seat time on Doospunks 2013 XM 800, and that, also, was a great chassis, now, I did not ride it where I rode mine, techincal riding, but, it was easy to carve with, and had great power.

So there ya go.

P.S. I like Keweenaw Brewing Company Widowmaker Black Ale.



I agree 100% !!!!!! That black ale is some good chit!:D





.... oh yeah, I agree with all that other stuff too. Run what you brung, fix it when it's broke. One thing I know for a fact........ they ALL break!
 

oldguy

Member
I have a 2012 800 Switch with 2800 miles. So far the only issues was a hesitation at around 1000 miles. Put on a new fuel filter and it fixed the problem. It also destroyed a belt at 2500 miles. Just did a compression check after my finial ride last Sunday and it was the same as it was when it had 500 miles on it. I talked to an engineer at Polaris and he said if I start having issues with stalling when putting it in reverse, that could be the beginning signs of an issue.

My wife’s 2012 600 Adventure 4500 miles not 1 issue so far.
 

ezra

Well-known member
If I owned one I know I would be pulling my jugs every fall for a peek as part of my fall maintenance. and knowing my OCD I would prob pull them before any trip over 15hr in the truck just for piece of mind.
but I will only be worrying about exploding diamond drives for the next yr or so.BTW I always Carry a spare
 

srt20

Active member
Save the $$$ for the warranty. Spend $400 for RKT replacement pistons, or spend $800 for the drop in kit. One has more hp than stock, and the other has even more power. And they are way more reliable than stock. And you don't have to screw around with spending extra cash for warranty that gets denied. No more worries about breaking down, but if you did get bad gas, or no oil, these pistons are not on back order like poo slop junk pistons.

Now you have the best mtn chassis with a very strong reliable engine.
 
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lenny

Guest
Save the $$$ for the warranty. Spend $400 for RKT replacement pistons, or spend $800 for the drop in kit. One has more hp than stock, and the other has even more power. And they are way more reliable than stock. And you don't have to screw around with spending extra cash for warranty that gets denied. No more worries about breaking down, but if you did get bad gas, or no oil, these pistons are not on back order like poo slop junk pistons.

Now you have the best mtn chassis with a very strong reliable engine.

It just sucks that this is an issue to begin with. Boondocker82 swears the problem is junk Poo pistons as well and now we need to replace them? I guess if that's the way it is we cannot change it.

Skylar, I know you rode the HCR somewhat but can you tell me some more at how it handled compared to the pro. I ride a beast now with the old Mtn Max and get around fairly well so I don't need the best. Is the M close or is there a night and day difference?
 

ezra

Well-known member
dont do the HCR get the M the HCR is going to handle just like the 12s with the wide arms.
u cant compare a pro rmk to a HCR u have to compare a pro assault to the HCR.and I can tell u the assault carves like crap as dose the HCR.
 

polarisrider1

New member
SNOWEST

SnoWest Snowmobile Forum > Performance & Modifcations > Polaris > Polaris: Pro-Ride
New poll for 2011 and 12 pro motor issues..

Polaris: Pro-Ride 2010 and up, all models in the Pro-Ride chassis

View Poll Results: How Reliable is your 2011-12 Pro RMK?
Engine Failure: piston(rings/skirt) 39 4.83%
Engine Failure: cylinder(port/skirt) 42 5.20%
Engine Failure: crank (bearing/pin/throw) 40 4.95%
No Major Failure 0 to 1000miles 371 45.92%
No Major Failure 1000 to 2500 miles 243 30.07%
no Major Failure 2500+ miles 73 9.03%
Voters: 808. You may not vote on this poll


nice to be in the 85% group. I was told that there is a 10% plus room for error since since Poo envy guys go to the extent of voting against Poo and saying they actually have one. By my math about 5% may have major motor issues. I called my dealer (largest volume sled sales in the state for years). The service dept. said, no unusual amount of Poo 800's coming in, not any more than any other brand. They also said, "You think Polaris would give you a 4 year Polaris Star warranty if they had doubts?"

Now, I do follow the break in proceedures to the letter with my new sleds, I don't tweak anything. The Engineers have way more knowledge then I on how to set these motors up. Premium gas and premium oil only in my sleds. Run scratchers down if temp goes over 135 and clutch to stay under 8000 rpm. I also run with the ethanol plug in, since I do not believe what it says on the pump. Not sure what the other guys do with their sleds but never a melt down on any sled I have owned other than my wife's 1999 488 fanner had a carb ice up at 8 below zero on the Magpie and took out a piston, honed the cylinder, new piston and rings and put another 8000 miles on it before selling it.

In doing my math, I figure I have logged between 80,000 to 100,000 miles of all varieties of riding and Poo never made me walk. Ran out of gas a few times but never an engine problem on any 600,700,755 or 800 Polaris engines. Note: I did not buy a 06-10 800 or 900 motor so I may have skirted those years.
 

ezra

Well-known member
SNOWEST

SnoWest Snowmobile Forum > Performance & Modifcations > Polaris > Polaris: Pro-Ride
New poll for 2011 and 12 pro motor issues..

Polaris: Pro-Ride 2010 and up, all models in the Pro-Ride chassis

View Poll Results: How Reliable is your 2011-12 Pro RMK?
Engine Failure: piston(rings/skirt) 39 4.83%
Engine Failure: cylinder(port/skirt) 42 5.20%
Engine Failure: crank (bearing/pin/throw) 40 4.95%
No Major Failure 0 to 1000miles 371 45.92%
No Major Failure 1000 to 2500 miles 243 30.07%
no Major Failure 2500+ miles 73 9.03%
Voters: 808. You may not vote on this poll

"You think Polaris would give you a 4 year Polaris Star warranty if they had doubts?"


121 bad
687 good
373 of those are under 1000mi
user/voter names are posted and if a stooge was in there the pom pom wavers would surely
call him out.
and where in that poll is there anything on the 10% factor?
they are making a solid chasi no question about that.but they can do way way better than they are with the 800 not just the junk pistons slapping the week skirts but the HP levels below 8yr old 700s.
if there were no probs there would not be 3 reputable aftermarkets making fix it kits.
not every one will have issues for sure but if the consumer is not on broadcast when they do happen nothing will change.
yes I do think Polaris would give u a 4 yr extended power train warranty they purchased from a outside vendor why not even with a 30% fail rate and what they pay the shop and there cost for parts they are money ahead
 
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lenny

Guest
there is no doubt a problem exists. Riding style is a factor for sure IMO. Often the older we get the more we look out for our machine but certain styles of riding you have no choice but to WOT to avoid stucks. I'm not talking long pulls because the UP has much less of that and for that fact alone the 800's may do better up here. Out west the extremely aggressive riders are probably the ones loosing the motors. Aggressive riding means heat and heat is the enemy of all things. Heat, sloppy pistons tolerances week skirts ='s failure. A guy who is conscious of these to some extent will probably extend the life of his motor. There is also the consistency factor in production. Keep in mind that aggressive trail riding produces heat and maybe for longer periods of time compared to UP backwoods boondocking. If you think riding style is not that big of factor come ride with Bob, Nick and i and you'll see exactly what i am referring to, me less than those to nuts but still it's hard on a machine. I have see Bob's 800 cat motor pinned and pinned and I was just waiting for it to cut out and time after time it didn't. I really do not believe the Poo motors will sustain that sort of abuse time after time. Hardcore and snowest has numerous articles with this very problem examined, it does exist and many are concerned.

Even with all this said I am dead serious when I say I am considering buying one.

The big question for me is how much better is a poo chassis over a new M and do I need the best? Will it be worth the risk, keep in mind I do not buy lottery tickets!,,,lol
 

srt20

Active member
Not that I care what others buy, but my reason of thinking is this;

I wish to buy a polaris RMK 800 because,
IMO it is the best mtn chassis on the market.
It is less expensive than any of the other brands.
The pistons, IMO, are complete garbage BUT, can easily and cheaply, be corrected to give comparable reliability and performance than the other brands 800. Coupled along with the efficient chassis of the RMK, it should have more track hp than the other brands. Of course, this is just my opinion.
I will not buy any extra warranty because IMO, most dealers I have dealt with are either overbooked and understaffed and parts aren't available, or the dealer techs don't know what they are doing anyway. Not to mention if it broke the first time, why the heck do I want the dealer to "fix" it the way it was. Seems like it will break again and it's just chasing your tail while banging your head against the wall.

So with all that $$$$ I saved by getting the less expensive sled, and skipping warranty, I can, with help of the aftermarket, make the sled better than stock and just as, if not more capable engine wish, than the other brands, yet not cost anymore than they are priced.

This is just my opinion. I know this reasoning will not work for the masses and that's fine with me. I have to do what's best for me. I have good seat time on the pro RMK and it would take one heck of a sled to want me to buy something else.
 

srt20

Active member
Btw, I believe the 13 800 engine is somewhat better and stronger than the previous years, but I still am taking mine apart this summer even though it is under the 1 year stock warranty.
 
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