Bought an ’05 Sportsman 800EFI for a song because previous owner wasn’t very handy and couldn’t afford to have some needed work done. Full fluids change, brake bleed, new front wheel bearings, new style flex exhaust, exhaust wrap, heat shielding, new plugs and she’s been running like the beast it is until recent heat wave.
I knew these models suffered from some heat issues and have experienced it running hot, especially climbing steep hills in mid 90’s we’re seeing now. Nothing dangerous but definitely hotter than I want. I installed a new tstat and thermistor after testing existing ones and not happy with results, added quadovator tstat housing and temp gauge along with fan override switch, which both helped piece of mind and cooling….but want even more cooling for better longevity and one last step before I replace fuel pump to help with "hot gas tank fuel pump failure" syndrome I’ve had two times.
After doing rad flush and refill with water and water wetter, I was cleaning the radiator and realized the ecu is placed in what I consider the worst possible place…right in front of radiator blocking air flow. My thought is to fab a couple of aluminum brackets to rotate the ecu up and out of the way of the rad. Then cut the fake grill off the plastic trim piece and fab up some metal mesh on it to get better airflow in from the top (currently only the lower section has mesh). To anyone who has done this or has opinions on any issues this may cause I’d appreciate your input. Also, do I need to maintain ground for proper function?
Thanks for your help,
JCIII
