Rhino Overheating advice needed....

I've put approx 1000 miles on my Rhino in the last 16 months and experienced the first overheating in Evarts late last year. Cleaned radiator and have ridden it several times with no issue until 2 weekends ago. Going slow in a large group (avoiding creeks) and the radiator filled with mud and it overheated again. I have since cleaned the radiator throughly and ordered a temp gauge.

My water temp gauge wil be here Monday. I plan on removing the radiator and cleaning it good again before installing the TCP shroud and gauge. I need to also check over everything else since I have been overheating when traveling slow.

Anyone have any suggestions of items to check?
--Waterpump makes a small gurgle in radiator when running so I guess it's OK.
-- The fan I'm not sure works correct. Last weekend I pulled a swisher 60" field mower behind the Rhino and the overheat light came on after approx 1 hr at 4 mph in 93F temps. The radiator was very clean. I stopped to let it cool and fan continued to run with light on. When I recranked the Rhino the light stayed on but fan stopped running. Is that normal? Where's the relay some mention that controls the fan?

Any other items I should check/replace? I don't mind replacing a few good parts I just hate to have that temp light come on and it ruin a good ride....

if it drained the overflow tank u will need to bleed the system
alot of people think they have the rad clean when they dont.the only way to forsure clean it is to use the radiator washer that has been posted before or take it out and clean it.

i would suggest making u a rad washer and the shroud and u will be fine.and bleed your system

me ,haystack and flytrap were putting our thinking caps on the other day.this contraption works very well.no more trying to get it clean.it will be clean of all mud when u use one off these!!!!!!!!!!!!

just slide it in between the radiator and the oil cooler.i pressed mine in a vise alittle to make it a little narrower.u can bend it a little too to get it past the frame if u mind walking around to the other side!!!!

I play in more mud and water then I should. The only way I have sucessfully gotten the rad clean was to remove it. Taking the hood and oil cooler off does a pretty good job with a good hose. Use lower pressure. a pressure washer can bend over the fins and give you a bigger problem. easy way to check for a plugged rad to feel the air coming from the rad. fan. If is is hot, the rad. is ok. if it is cool compared to heat of the rad. hoses. You have a plugged Rad. I would bet money with you the fins are clogged with dried mud. I have thought out a way to mount the rad. horizonal under the hood and up top in an extended roll cage. I really like that idea. surprized I have not seen anyone do it yet. You get it full of mud up there, You have much worse problems then a clogged rad... lol

i have seen the rads mounted flat under the hood.they say iit helps alot.myself i would never like all off that hot water near me.above or behind.my luck i would get burned.lol

I measured everything out and it would fit fine under the hood horizonally. move the battery to under the drivers seat. move the airbox to the right side with a short snorkel. put some type of air intake on in the hood and you would have a pretty darn good mud machine. Last 4th of July i was at the mud bog event in Texarkana Texas and I spent more time up at the wash rack then i did riding. with that hot radiator and muddy water, it a mix for overheating just waiting to happen.

I want to move my radiadtor up under my hood on. Put a hood scoop on it and it should be good to go.

this is the solve all for your over heating problem. I know several people who have done it and they all have never overheated since. Taks a 4" pvc pipe and cut a hole in your front floor and a hole in the plastic leading to the engine area. Put the holes at the bottom and opaint the pvc black and you can mount a cup holder or another accesory if you choose too. the extra air flow helps tremendously. My old rhino was an 07 and it overheated all the time. I was changing mine at the time I sold it. Like I said I know 3 people that have done it and none have overheated since. I promise if you paint the pipe black that no one will know it is even there.mm

Do you have any pictures of this?

yes please pictures

i wouldnt do that for nothing.each to there own though.'

a shroud,keep the radiator clean and make sure theres no air in the system and there is no over heating problems. :D

RedNeckRhino wrote:

i wouldnt do that for nothing.each to there own though.'

a shroud,keep the radiator clean and make sure theres no air in the system and there is no over heating problems. :D

2 Years and 1700 miles and I never had overheating problems even without the shroud.

do u have a gauge?what does your temp normally run?mine runs 180 ish all the time.a real hot day,it might get near 200 up the asfault at WR

most overheating issues i ve seen is that people think there rad is clean but its not.

Fan on at 180, off at 170. usually runs between 160 and 180 depending on outside temp. Hottest I ever saw it was 200 and that was WOT up a long hill for about 3 miles in 90 degree temps.

FYI I overheated for the first time this past weekend after riding through some mud, getting lost, and running the highway (WOT) back to the trucks for several miles. After reading all the info about cleaning the radiator, I went home and demolished one of my sprinklers and robbed the sprinkler bar. I then beat it with a hammer to flatten and hooked it to a water hose. To test the effectiveness of a water hose alone, I cleaned the radiator until I thought it was clean and the water appeared clear. I then used my new radiator cleaning bar and I had dirty water rinsing from the radiator for about 15 minutes.

civilgee wrote:

FYI I overheated for the first time this past weekend after riding through some mud, getting lost, and running the highway (WOT) back to the trucks for several miles. After reading all the info about cleaning the radiator, I went home and demolished one of my sprinklers and robbed the sprinkler bar. I then beat it with a hammer to flatten and hooked it to a water hose. To test the effectiveness of a water hose alone, I cleaned the radiator until I thought it was clean and the water appeared clear. I then used my new radiator cleaning bar and I had dirty water rinsing from the radiator for about 15 minutes.

yep .................. people think they have them clean but never do

Yep, it takes extra effort to get in there with the garden hose and get it thouroughly clean.

wvyankee2 wrote:

Yep, it takes extra effort to get in there with the garden hose and get it thouroughly clean.

yea like removing the rad

OK -- I got to test the Rhino some this weekend. After removing and cleaning the radiator, installing a TCP shroud, installing the UTV concepts gauges, and refilling/bleeding the radiator.

Rhino just sitting will cut fan on around 180F on the gauge and off around 170F. Does this pretty consistent with no load.

Rhino driving around slow (with 4 riders) on 90F day will slowly heat up to 205F to 210F on the gauge after several hours. Fan is not continously running during this time. Fan comes on and off at different points. I am guessing that the guage reads higher since it reads from under the driver seat right after the hot coolant leaves the engine. My guess was that the coolant cools enough in the radiator that the radiator temp sensor is not cutting the fan on.

Anyway -- I did not overhat or have any issues. I would rather see the temp stay at 180F but guess that ain't gonna happen. I might wire up a flip switch so I can make the fan run continously if desired.

Also for what it's worth I can tell when the fan is running pretty easy -- I can feel the heat coming out behind the seats...

Edit: -- I installed a fan switch. Works great. Pulled a swisher mower and it runs at 170F in 90F+ temps. Nice...