Got asked to take a look at a 2014 Can Am Commander 1000 for an overheating issue. Owner says he's been having issues for awhile. Had another guy put a new electric fan on it and its still overheating.
I take it for a test drive. 1 mile on asphalt and temp gauge is pegged and machine is telling me its overheating.
Looking at it in the garage and I see, it low on coolant. As in, the overflow tank is empty. Can't see it in the radiator. Not sure how far down it is.
Took out the seat, and center console. I see coolant on top of both cylinders. Its leaking a tiny bit from each coolant outlet on top of the cylinders. They are plastic with a metal bleeder screw. Both leaking from the bleeder screw. Tried to tighten them but I can tell they are stripped out.
Bought some aftermarket coolant outlets from Quad Logic. They came with a new bleeder screw and crush washer for the screw. They did not come with a new gasket.
Bought a new OEM thermostat. Did it really need one? I'm not sure, I didn't bother to test it. Its not a cheap part but not terribly expensive either. These commanders are a pain to bleed all the air out of the cooling system, I only wanted to do it once.
Remove the plastic screen from the firewall so I can access the thermostat. Cut all the old hose clamps off (OEM Crimps) Replace the T-stat. Install new hose clamps. Install new coolant outlets on top of both cylinders.
Now its time to bleed the system. I have a "NO SPILL FUNNEL" Remove the radiator cap and attach this in its place. Fill the funnel up about half way and let it sit for awhile with the bleed screws open. Once I see fluid out the bleeders, I close them. Squeeze the hoses a bit and watch the air bubble come up into the funnel. Once the system is full, I drive it to a hill in the yard and put 1 car ramp in the middle of the hill. I drive up the car ramp with the left/drivers side tire. This puts the radiator cap up nice and high. Let the engine run for as long as it takes to get the air out. I keep the full at least 1/3 full. I rev the engine to 4K rpm. I jump out and squeeze the upper rad hose, the lower rad hose, and both lines to the cab heater (aftermaket) I keep doing this till I no longer see air. I also crack the bleed screws loose on top of the heads during this time. The fan cycled on and off multiple times. It took approximately 45 minutes till no more bubbles were coming up into the funnel.
Remove the no spill funnel and top off the recovery tank with the coolant trapped in the funnel. Took it for test run up the road and hit a little trail. Outside air temp was 92F and 90% + humidity. Machine never came close to overheating on the ride.