[M8Chris--off]

Today my dad and I got our first ride on ur m8's and after going on some trails actually pretty slow trying to get a hang of these things the coolant temp light would start flashing and then it would stay on.. THis was on both of ours. Is this something serious that we should pay attention to?? I think it was that we were going to slow.... We got the hang and are going fast now but just out of curiosity. its' heat taped but there is no header wrap on the pipes. we're heading out tomorrow again some advice would be greatly appreciated by then.

 

[boodoo]

Thats a coolant temperature sensor, when it starts flashing its a warning that your coolant is getting hot and telling you to find some snow. When it goes solid that means that the coolant is too hot and the engine should go into limp mode, this doesn't allow the engine over a certain rpm. If it starts flashing at you either find some snow till it goes off or stop and hold some snow on the cooler till it goes off. I would recommend ice scratchers for the M-series if you are doing any hard pack riding. They keep your engine cool and hyfax lubricated.

 

[mcflying]

WOW....if the lite stayed on it was way too hot.

I had the light blink once on my 2005 M7, and immediately found some powder and cooled it down.
I would freak if it was my sled and the lite went solid.

 

[M8Chris--off]

what are ice scratchers?? So once we find some powder the light should go off??

 

[boodoo]

You have to drive in powder as much as you can with these sleds, with such a big lug on them they don't kick up much snow into the tunnel when you are on hard pack. Ice scratchers are metal rods that attach to your skid, you can put them down when on hard pack and they kick up ice and snow into the track. And when you get off the hard pack you latch them in and they are out of the way. They will run you about 50-60 bucks a set and are a must if you are running M-series sled on hard pack. Either that or you will be replacing your hyfax every fall, here is a link. Use the search function on here and snowest, There are some good threads and pictures on how they work and where to mount them.

http://www.icescratchers.com/original.html

Here is another link with pictures

http://www.avid-products.com/catalog/ice_s...ers_3674511.htm

 

[mcflying]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (M8Chris @ Dec 30 2006, 08:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

what are ice scratchers?? So once we find some powder the light should go off??[/b]

Scratchers are long springs you bolt to the rails.
When on hard pack unhook them from the rails ,and they drag along beside you as you ride and throw chunks up into the suspension area creating lube for the sliders, and extra snow for the track to then throw onto the heat exchangers that are inside your tunnel.
As a last resort i have even dragged my boots beside me as i rode to get a little spray happening.

 

[mcflying]

Oh and one more thing.....never back up with scratchers down.... bang your head bang your head bang your head