Viper forced me to buy a new attack

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rhoag

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Joined
May 21, 2003
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Location
Appleton Wi
Well I went to the Munising area to ride this weekend and my viper kept over heating. The trails had a good base but, were wet (about 36 degrees) so there was little to no snow dust. I would make it 10 -15 miles and then would have to shut it down to cool. Both running boards were hot. I removed the termostat to try and increase flow and bled the cooling system. Still over heating. The sled doesn't have a rear heat exchanger. When I pulled the plug to bleed it not much antifreeze came out (little spurts). Has anyone ever had the water pump go bad or do you think a rear heat exchanger will be enough?
So when I was calling around looking for a dealer to install a heat exchanger. Watsons in Curtis says "trader in i'll give you a great deal on a left over sled". I really like my Viper so I wouldn't trade it in but, I was thinking about getting an Attack for the wife. So I drove to Curtis and bought an Attack for the wife for christmas. $8200.00 for a new 07 Attack I thought was a great deal. So I put 222 miles on the attack. The attack is an awesome sled but, I still love the flat corning of my Viper!!!
 

Were you riding in low snow and hard packed trails? Were you traveling at slow speed? How many miles on your coolant? If you search this forum section you will find a few posts on various Viper water pump or cooling issues.
G.B.
 
MY Viper forced me to buy an Attack!! :horsehock What ever! We really feel sorry for you! LOL Just Kidding, dial the suspension in and enjoy.
 
ive run into that problem a few times in warmer weather with no snow dust.....its because they dont have rear heat exchanger......sucks that they didnt put one on the vipers....i usually pile a bunch of snow on the running boards as a quick temporary fix.

mother nature could help with a little less rain and a little powder snow!!! :letitsnow
 
This weather really blows, and is definately the reason for your overheating issues. Put in a rear heat exchanger and your problems will be solved, and its definately not hard to do. As for the Attak, I love mine and am glad I got it. But I do miss my SRX and am looking at picking up another one.
 
yup your problem definitely was no powder and no rear cooler,if you had both there would not have been a problem.

do make sure you don't have a WP issue, are you getting good flow/circulation?

find a SRX/viper mountain,venom cooler and put on.
 
now I've seen the 4 strokes have problems. I've been riding two times with a buddy that has a '06 nytro and he has overheated both times. Hard packed trails with no snow dust. My wiper and the 3 doo's in our group ran fine. So far I'm not sold on the 4 stroke but I LOVE MY VIPER.
 
Viper

My Viper never had overheating problems but my riding partner has problems every trip. We both installed the rear cooler and he still has problems. With fresh powder on the trails he still overheats. Sucks to see us 4 - 6 Yamaha's stopped along the trail and have the hood open on the Viper . Does give the Cat,Poo,Doo riders something to laugh at. Read the 4 stroke forums about the problems you WILL have with the Attak. Good luck.
 
wow can't under staind why he would have a over heat with a rearr cooler
and powder, makes me think coolant flow issue??
 
daman said:
wow can't under staind why he would have a over heat with a rearr cooler
and powder, makes me think coolant flow issue??
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking...or maybe air in the system? Are all exchangers getting hot?
 
I had an 05 RX1 and an 06 Apex GT and went back to the Viper. The Attack is more for my wife. I like to ride aggresive and the flat corning of the Viper suits me better than the inside ski lift of the 4 strokes. Don't get me wrong I love the acceleration and power of the Attack and it rides great, but the Viper with the M-10 doesn't ride to bad either. It will be a tough choose when the wife doesn't go..should I take the Viper or the Attack. It will probably depend on where I plan to ride...wide UP trails or twisty tight northern Wisconsin trails.
I will throw a rear heat exchanger on and bleed the system and hope it's cured. The flow looked good to me. When I remove the resevior cap and rev it up the level would drop and you could see flow.
 
rhoag said:
I will throw a rear heat exchanger on and bleed the system and hope it's cured. The flow looked good to me. When I remove the resevior cap and rev it up the level would drop and you could see flow.
Click to expand...
Ok,anyway the cooler should help, is your coolant 60/40?, try a new rad
cap also..
 
rhoag said:
I had an 05 RX1 and an 06 Apex GT and went back to the Viper. The Attack is more for my wife. I like to ride aggresive and the flat corning of the Viper suits me better than the inside ski lift of the 4 strokes. Don't get me wrong I love the acceleration and power of the Attack and it rides great, but the Viper with the M-10 doesn't ride to bad either. It will be a tough choose when the wife doesn't go..should I take the Viper or the Attack. It will probably depend on where I plan to ride...wide UP trails or twisty tight northern Wisconsin trails.
I will throw a rear heat exchanger on and bleed the system and hope it's cured. The flow looked good to me. When I remove the resevior cap and rev it up the level would drop and you could see flow.
Click to expand...
+1 I went back to the Viper after an 06 Apex gt,I hated the Apex in the tight twistys,and on the moguls it beat the hell out of me. I prefer my Viper with the Expert x,Excell seat riser,3.5 Rox pivot riser and I am soooo glad I got what I wanted out of the Apex when I sold it.
 
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Gee I wonder if yamaha will read this post? Two guys that went back to an 02 from 06?? I think Yami builds sleds with room for improvement. No one would buy a new one if it wasn't better than what they have. Carbs to FI, standard position to rider forward etc etc... Next they will put a larger sway bar on and find other ways to improve handling. Maybe better ski's some year.
 
rhoag, you could of gotten a better deal at port yamaha. I believe they are selling them for $7400 bucks. a buddy just bought a 07 apex er from them for $7400. good deal.
 
mopar1rules said:
rhoag, you could of gotten a better deal at port yamaha. I believe they are selling them for $7400 bucks. a buddy just bought a 07 apex er from them for $7400. good deal.
Click to expand...
Dealers here are selling brand new 07 Attak's for $7,800 otd.
 
Wow 7,800 for an attack.... I just saw a used one sell for 8400 with 300 miles on it here. Thanks, for making me feel like Shitte!!! LOL MSRP was 10,499 new last year so I don't feel to bad. I would of had to waste the whole weekend of riding if I would have waited or drove to lower Michigan. The dealer in Curtis showed me how much he had into the sled and it was 9600.00, I think yami is giving 1,100 incentive? The apex er was 10,199.00 msrp so 7400 is a great deal!
The year has started out with good snow and it seems sleds still are not selling.
 
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with gas prices so high, and many of our trucks only getting mpg in the teens, even driving a ways to get a good deal will waste some $$.

Luckily for me, Port yamaha is only 10 miles or so away. Too bad for me I am not in the market.
 
Ya I know we rode 222 miles on great trails and only saw I think 12 sleds all day. Regular gas in Seney was 2.14 Gal. I spent close to 160 bucks in gas for a 2 day ride.
 
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scary, huh?

and that sled has to get pretty decent mpg too.

makes me wonder if any of my 9 mpg arctic cat riding friends will even get out much with prices over 3 dollars a gallon.

My xc600sp gets 14mpg easy, the Venture hopefully gets around that as well.
Did you mean 2.14 a gallon? that is a steal if you did.
 
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