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Keeping the Banshee cool


WantABanshee

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I'm running the following mods to try to keep my Banshee cool and I still have problems from time to time. I know its getting hot because I can feel the heat coming off the motor, and if I am shooting up 90º hills it will spit a little coolant out the overflow tube. XC racing is hell on a quad, if your going to run and be competitive you better have a good set up that reliable, comfortable, and damn near bullet proof. I have sunk a ton of money into my Banshee to be competitive. If any of you guys know of anything else I can add that would help my set up run cooler please let me know. It's to bad no one has come out with a kit that has a upgraded high out put stator, a custom Radiator Cover, aluminum spacer brackets, and a electric fan and fan housing that pulls air through the radiator and keeps the engine cooler. I think a set up like that would greatly improve reliability, over hauls, and performance. My cooling mods are listed bellow:

 

  • Trinity's Stage IV Cool Head with 20cc Domes
  • PWR 30% bigger Oversize Aluminum Radiator
  • Billet 3" Ribbed Inline Coolers
  • Mod Quad Billet Water Pump Impeller
  • 1/2 gallon Red-Line ATV Super Coolant
  • 12 ounces of Red-Line Water Wetter
  • 16 Ounces of AMS Dominator Coolant Boost

Keep in mind this Red-Line Super ATV Coolant is supposed to cool better and have double the wetting ability of water and cool better than ATV Blue Engine Ice. But make sure you read the back of the jug. It has no Glycol or any other antifreezing agents in it. The Freezing point is 32ºF or 0ºC. The same as water. So when cooler weather comes into play again this fall I will have to drain 30% of it out and add a long life Automotive Antifreeze. 30% Extended Life Antifreeze with GM Dex-Cool. The Dex-Cool Should protect from freezing at tempters as low as -10ºF which is pretty safe for Kentucky, and I feel like the lubricants that the Dex-Cool has in it will aid my water Pump impeller, hoses, and other rubber components. A 20% mix will be okay as long as you don't go into the negative digits.

 

I will probably go with a antifreeze that has GM Dex-Cool because it has a lubricant that would probably benefit my water pump and rubber components, and you can get it in Red or Orange so my coolant wont look like puke when I mix the antifreeze with it. When it comes the time to change my Coolant I think I will go with the ATV Blue Engine Ice and Royal Purple's "Purple Ice" because it has Glycol in it already and it protects from freezing down to -26ºF.

 

 

Edited by Thack82
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  • 1 month later...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, isn't that Dex-Cool shit that's in GM vehicles eat up gaskets? I've never seen so many blown head gaskets and cooling problems with any other manufacturer as I've seen with GM vehicles that use Dex-Cool. In fact, alot of people do a flush and replace that shit with the regular green stuff... I'd never think of putting Dex-Cool in my Shee..

 

I just did a coolant flush yesterday and used 50/50 Prestone with Red-Line Water Wetter. I'm hoping the Water Wetter will do the trick. Still gotta get a billet impeller.

 

Anyone have pics or writeups on installing a small fan infront of the radiator? It's something that I'd consider doing forsure, just for added peace of mind.

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use all the stock parts.

 

screw the black paint. ( or not it dosent matter)

 

keep moving ( it has no fan)

 

jet it RIGHT

 

keep it CLEAN

 

put it on alky ( best thing i have found)

 

oh and did i say KEEP IT CLEAN

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  • 1 month later...

after jetting it made a huge difference

engine ice probably dropped another 10 deg or so

 

I agree keep the rad clean.

 

I haven't over heated since, even creeping through the slow stuff. Mind you I do ride in Canada...

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  • 2 months later...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, isn't that Dex-Cool shit that's in GM vehicles eat up gaskets? I've never seen so many blown head gaskets and cooling problems with any other manufacturer as I've seen with GM vehicles that use Dex-Cool. In fact, alot of people do a flush and replace that shit with the regular green stuff... I'd never think of putting Dex-Cool in my Shee..

 

I just did a coolant flush yesterday and used 50/50 Prestone with Red-Line Water Wetter. I'm hoping the Water Wetter will do the trick. Still gotta get a billet impeller.

 

Anyone have pics or writeups on installing a small fan infront of the radiator? It's something that I'd consider doing forsure, just for added peace of mind.

 

I don't know that may be true. I have a Z06 Corvette and a Z28 Camaro, and back a few years ago I flushed the Radiator on the Camaro and replaced it with Long Life Green Antifreeze and after about 300 miles the water pump went out. When I took it to the shop to have it replaced the mechanic told me that the water pump bearings went out because I didn't run a antifreeze with DEX-COOL. DEX-COOL has a lubricant in it that lubricates the water pump bearings. So I thought I'd add DEX-COOL to my mix to give it a antifreeze agent for winter riding.

 

If everything goes together right I think I've found a 12V Electric Radiator Fan that will work on the Banshee with the Over Sized Aluminum Radiator and Stock Stator. I have spent hours up on hours searching the internet for a 12V Radiator Fan that will fit behind a Over-Sized Radiator and in front of the steering stem that does not require you to modify the frame or plastic or run the Maier Custom Plastic. If everything goes as planned I'll post pictures and other information.

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  • 10 months later...

i ride on the trails and some times pretty slow, stock radiator, and a hi flow chariot billet impellar an inline gauge and one of those stupid little inline coolers, and a prodesign cool head and i never ever break 155 degrees

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just redid my cooling system about a month ago.

larger aluminum radiator - herr jugs racing

billet water pump - pro design

ez-drain coolant cover - pro design (doesnt help in cooling but is a must for future coolant drains)

engine ice coolant

 

tell you what mine runs soo much cooler its great! even while riding in the high 80 degree day i could set my bare fingers in the cylinder head for about 4 seconds before i had to pull them off. try that without the cooling mods!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

lmao im a mechanic by trade and heres the thing with dexcool .....it softens plastics and rubber components like orings and plastic intake gaskets which btw is a stupid design anyway second the waterpump bearings on cars are sealed and do not have water on them unless a seal has failed anyway at which point pump failure is coming soon. now im new to banshees so not sure what kind of damage it might do but from a mechanical point i think the stock impeller is at risk as for coolhead orings .....gasket failure on a car usually occurs after 70k miles so thats thousands of hrs runtime and usualy 5 of more years .....so after that said i switched to dexcool on my shee when i put my chariot head on because on cars anyway the operating temps are lower with the dexcool by usually 20 degrees or so and also the dexcool protects aluminum better so for me anyway the benefits are well worth it .sorry for the long rambling post lol

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I recently took off my overflow bottle, was told its unnecessary, is that true?  I also just installed a ASI rad and will be using engine ice coolant.  im also running a chariot billet impeller.  I dont have a temp gauge, but found a laser temp gauge that measures temp very accurately.  where is the best spot to measure the temp?  coming out of the rad hose, or the Head?  whats the max temp i should be running?

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  • 1 year later...

Engine Ice is terrible. It didn't work for me.

 

Than you don't know what your doing. My bike makes 100+ HP and ice keeps it cool just fine. You need to go with some better jetting because a mostly stock system can keep a high HP banshee cool. You must be lean and not know it. Being lean on the pilot can get you HOT even when you're not hard on the throttle.

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