106 replies to this topic

[Frostbit]

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not exhaust gas temperature gages would help monitor for a lean condition on these 550 engines in the 2010 Tundras?

Frostbit, I would sure like to hear any input you would have on this idea.

An EGT on any 2-stroke motor is a great idea. Once one finds the max temp you do not want to see or exceed, its a simple means to program the EGT to alarm you when it gets there.

If one had the $$ and understanding of what its there for, be a great addition to a 550 fanner...not just Doo's, but Polaris' as well.

[tincan]

Just thought I would wade in on the subject.... After reading about the burndown issues with 550F and experencing a fellow dootalker having his 550F blow a cylinder due to the jetting issue, I took mine up to the dealer and they put in a size 40 pilot jet from the factory 35. Took it out on the weekend and really didn't see to much performance difference BUT it starts better in the cold and doesn't take as much time to warm up. I have 750km on the sled right now and do all sorts of riding from mt powder to icefishing with the kids. My buddies sled is still in the shop, ( week 2) and from what I heard from him is that BRP will pay for the parts and he pays for the labor. I think that he was one month over the year warrenty.

[jdl5ak]

I bought my 2010 550 tundra sport new oct 2010. Rode it easy during the break in period. Everything was working great. Even at the colder temps we get here in Fairbanks AK(-20 to -40)it worked great. At the 500 mile mark today the engine went "edited for inappropriate term" up. Will take it in tomorrow to see what the dealer has to say.

[Naknekpete]

Anybody know what they did different? The older 550F's seem to run forever.

[jssbastiat]

Well, my machine should be ready this saturday...I'm P_SSED off....the dealer did a good job, gotta restate that...BUT, now, at 900 miles, i got a freaking REBUILT motor...i should have refused and just asked to trade the machine back in....gonna look at arctic cat now, the natives in my village were really hyped on my machine, but, two of them went down in teh same week...sooo, not one skidoo has been bought, but i've seen several polaris and arctic cats now....

So, to take out my anger, i went to the ski doo website and sent an email to the section for suggestions...here is the link..

http://en-ca.ski-doo...kidoo-idea.aspx

I suggested that they look over this discussion and told them the good things of my last exp. sport...why change stuff?????

Please go to this site and send them this link and tell them your problems......You know, those engineers at skidoo probably have PHD's running out their bottom sides, but, they just can't keep a good thing....they shold come spend a winter with me on trail in teh bush and see what we have to go through to keep a machine running....yeah right....

Go to the site now!!!! Send ski doo a message....

[VintageElanGuy]

My 2010 550F seized today while out riding on the trail.
-2 C today, good snow conditions, 55 to 60 kph, sled has 660 KM on it. Have put on a hundred or so since it was in for it's 10 hour check. Put on 60 k earlier this week with colder temps and no issue.
Today, it just slowed down and siezed. Let it sit for a minute and startred right back up and was fine. Got back to the nearest cross road and trailered from there to the dealer.
It sounded and acted exactly the same as my 87 Tundra did when the oil line came off the oil pump so I am thinking it is an oil issue and not jetting with mine. Cooling fan was working fine as well.
If it was jetting, it would have acted up when it was colder.
Anyway, got a 7 km ride in today when I was hoping for 70. Will wait to see what they find.

[jssbastiat]

Ok, just put 100 miles on my skidoo exp. sport 550 fan after burning up the motor at 900 miles...Compeaus in Fairbanks did the rebuild and it sounds great! One thing I saw with my old motor, on cold mornings, it was like the clutch was sticking and the rig did not watn to take off....yes, i let it warm up, broke the tracks loose, etc, but it still did nto want to rev up well until like really warmed up...now, no problem...

the dealer said that ski doo did not put heavy bearing grease on teh crank when built....I noticed alot of heat coming up the seat when I was up near 50 mph and with a load on the tabbagon, way more heat than my old ski doo exp. sport gave off.....Any one else notice alot of heat coming up from the seat when you got a load on?

but, trapping season is almost over now...this year sucked ski doo!!!! missed half my trapping season....

For the record, I sent this link to ski doo, hopefully they will read it...I'll still buy a ski doo, but, not going to have it shipped out to the bush blind...I'll spend a few hundred miles on it in town and if it is not sounding 100% on, it's going back....

[VintageElanGuy]

So it was the PTO side the seized apparently and will be getting a new piston. The said the cylinder was fine.
I asked them what they thought happened and they said a cold seize. I asked them to explain their terminology and he said because it wasn't warmed up enough before you started.
I called BS on it and asked them to try again. I always warm up my sled before I move it, always have, always will. I drove 7 km before it abruptly seized. The max speed I was at while driving was around 60 kph so was not pshing it in any way shape or form at all. No snow dust to get sucked in to make steam in the cylinder either.
They are putting it through as warranty anyway and going back to check things further.
The sled has used around 7L of oil in 660 km and around 165L of fuel so if you do the math, it is getting plenty of oil through the oil pump by history.
My concern is there was a blockage of some sort in the oil line to that cylinder and thus the sudden onset. The sled was not acting hot in any other way leading up to the seize and the ambient temp was around -2C so it should not have been running hot at all.
I will see better when I go to pick it up when it is done and look at the piston myself. sent them a complete timeline of events, including a picture I took before heading out with a time stamp and a call time to them on my cell phone when it happened. A 20 minute time difference from the picture being taken to the seize up. Also sent historical background data on oil consumption etc along with helmet cam footage from a couple of days before under similar conditions where it was running just fine.
In God we trust, all others bring facts and data..an old saying from my auto industry days.

[arcticmanmike]

So it was the PTO side the seized apparently and will be getting a new piston. The said the cylinder was fine.
I asked them what they thought happened and they said a cold seize. I asked them to explain their terminology and he said because it wasn't warmed up enough before you started.
I called BS on it and asked them to try again. I always warm up my sled before I move it, always have, always will. I drove 7 km before it abruptly seized. The max speed I was at while driving was around 60 kph so was not pshing it in any way shape or form at all. No snow dust to get sucked in to make steam in the cylinder either.
They are putting it through as warranty anyway and going back to check things further.
The sled has used around 7L of oil in 660 km and around 165L of fuel so if you do the math, it is getting plenty of oil through the oil pump by history.
My concern is there was a blockage of some sort in the oil line to that cylinder and thus the sudden onset. The sled was not acting hot in any other way leading up to the seize and the ambient temp was around -2C so it should not have been running hot at all.
I will see better when I go to pick it up when it is done and look at the piston myself. sent them a complete timeline of events, including a picture I took before heading out with a time stamp and a call time to them on my cell phone when it happened. A 20 minute time difference from the picture being taken to the seize up. Also sent historical background data on oil consumption etc along with helmet cam footage from a couple of days before under similar conditions where it was running just fine.
In God we trust, all others bring facts and data..an old saying from my auto industry days.

I glad they are moving forward with your sled,It will be interesting to see the piston??? they sure have alot excuses to this issue. I have just put over 100 miles on my 2011 tundra sport 550f,it is using oil from the bottle,however I think I will continue to add a splash of oil at gas fill up..I have done that for years in the old sled,and perhaps its just habbit or paranoia from reading the issues with the 550s on here..I will post some pics of my ride..graet weather and lots of snow..and a whole bunch of ptarmigins..yummy

[VintageElanGuy]

Well, my sled is ready to pick up.
They went back and investigated further on my request and with data and info I have sent them.
Near as they can determine, the feel the clearance between the original piston and cylinder was a bit tight. They have hone the cylinder to increase the clearance to where it should be with a straight hone so hopefully that will resolve a repeat if that was the problem.
The piston seized all the way around and they said that usually is what happens if the clearance is too tight.
Time will tell. It is being put through as warranty in any case as it should be.
New piston and rings on the PTO side. They said the clearance on the mag side was fine.
Most of the mileage I have put on has been at low speed. This was at trails peed around 55 to 60 KPH. I asked him if he thought the air flow could be an issue with intake air for the cooling fan as the intake is on the side. He wasn't able to say.
It is entirely possible in my mind that there may be a speed where the airflow along the side of the sled may impact the air flow into the cooling fan as the intake is not huge but is right on the side. Will investigate myself to see if that can be improved any.
In the mean time, back to oil in the gas tank for the 1st couple of tanks. Probably next winter now before I will get many miles on it though.
He also told me there was a revision sent through on air screw setting as well but I didn't ask if it was richer or leaner. I suspect richer as they would not likely change to a leaner setting.
At the speed I was running, the sir screw should not have much effect but who know for sure.

[bradleyb]

Picked up my 2010 Tundra last week. Turns out that the mag side piston and cylinder heavily scoured. Apparently, the clearance was too tight. I was told there is a certain range of serial numbers where the clearances are not right on the mag side. Work was covered under warranty. Took it for a ride and seems to run fine. I got them to put 40 pilot jets in as well.

[bradleyb]

I can't believe it. My 550 is down once again. I just got it back from the shop with a new magneto side piston and cylinder. Now it looks like the PTO side is hooped. Plug is very white. Engine actually seized for a while. Had to tow it home. Never did sound right after it was fixed the first time. I don't know what to say. Very, very dissapointing. I may have to reconsider my loyalty to this brand.

[tincan]

My two cents.....the 550 has been in production for years and for the most part without a problem....I think this a bad bunch of engines, what's the serial numbers on the engines that the guys that had problems with. Production problems with a quick fix? Did those engines get fitted with a part that were not the best quality and compermised the engine head to keep the production line running?

Sounds fishy to me.

Bradleyb if you don't get warrenty I would get the tools and fix it yourself. What the hell. I'm sure there is a hellva alot of knowledge in this forum that could help you with anything that you need.

While your fixing that 550 put a spring order on the extreme.......

[bradleyb]

My 550 is down for the third time now. Thought it was the clutch making noise. Still makes the noise with clutch off. Very, very disappointing again.

[Carolla]

My 550 is down for the third time now. Thought it was the clutch making noise. Still makes the noise with clutch off. Very, very disappointing again.

Sucks to be you ! Have they just been rebuilding it without changing jetting or anything ? These Tundra 550's are too lean due to EPA and IMO won't stay together reliably without at a miniumum, raising the needles one position. Great motor but if they get too lean they seize like any 2 stroke.