MY guess would be that their was air in the cooling system when you filled it up again. If you don't get all the air out when filling up the radiator it will overheat even before the fan can get a chance to come on. If you take off the center engine cover their is a coolant bleed screw just on top of the water neck. Loosen that screw(bolt) and then fill up the radiator.

 

if there is no coolant the thermo switch does not read right. my rhino came with resivore hose loose. on my old raptor the fan was on a fuseable link in the harness.

 

Just to be sure the radiator fan itself isn't faulty, on the passenger side of the radiator, just above the coolant hose going into the radiator, there is a plug with two wires attached. Unplug the plug and take a piece of wire and connect the two terminal ends together.
This should cycle your fan on, if not your fan may be bad.

 

Yep... This is good advice.

Once you know the fan is working then bleed the coolant system as mentioned above. If the fan is not working take it to the dealer.

 

I had the same problem right after I installed an aftermarket temp guage and had to cut the hose for the adapter. Once I refilled the radiator, it would go seriously hot, no fan, but hot light would come on. I opened the radiator cap and left it off with the engine running for about fifteen minutes and watched as bubbles of air came to the surface. After that, no problems and it stays within good range, fan comes on around 180.:33:

 

Use a volt meter to find out why your fan is not coming on...

There is a fusable link (terminology may be wrong) located inside the battery box...

Also check all the fuses...

Disconnect the plug to the thermoswitch...

Turn on the ign switch...measure the two leads going to the thermoswitch...

One of the 2 leads is the ign/on +Vbattery to the fan...

If there is no +V on either lead...you most likely have a blown fuse and/or link...

If the +V is on one of the leads...short the leads together as someone already said...

If the fan does not run...the prblm is between the thermo-switch and fan ground...

Could be the fan motor itself...or the electical connections going to and from it...including the ground path...

In any event...the way to find the problem is with a voltmeter...

If +V is present at the motor itself...and the motor is well grounded...and the motor doesn't run...you need a new fan motor...

This is exacly why I chose to install a Fan BY-pass switch with a fan on/off indicator light to let me see the duty-cycle of the fan...and also to make sure I know the fan is coming on when it should...it also gives me the ability to override the thermo-switch in the event I want a head start on the cooling and/or in the event the thermoswitch happens to stick open...

Without a coolant temp gauge one doesn't know if the fan should be on or not...

The indicator light doesn't mean the fan is running...but it does mean the fuse and link are not blown...

Also, I firmly believe the oem sendor location is the single best location for a temp gauge sendor...

The reason is that an inline sendor will not heat up if there is no coolant...the sendor will indicate the temp of the housing it is in however...so if the coolant is gone...and the motor is extremely hot...a quality gauge with the sendor in that location will show it...

Installing a fan (actually a thermo-switch) by-pass switch with and indicator light is a very easy and good thing to do imo...

The specs on the thermo-switch are on at 167F and off at 154F....

I have a second guage inline at the output of the radiator and it reads 170 on and 160 off....of course...the coolant inside the radiator is going to be cooler or hotter than at the gauge in the hose...so those numbers are pretty consistent...

Typically I see a 5-15* temp drop across the radiator...depending on the cycle and if fan is on/off...

So on average, my guage on the input line reads 180F when the fan comes on as Phil says...I would expect that to be normal for everyone with a properly working stock system with 50/50 coolant...

 

There is a fusable link (terminology may be wrong) located inside the battery box...

..

It is a circuit breaker instead of a fusible link, and they are somewhat known for going bad.

I unplugged mine and replaced it with a fuse block. It cost less than $2 and is way more reliable. I have an indicator light on the dash to tell me if the fuse burns out, and I keep 2 extra fuses taped to the top of the glove box.

Note: If you unplug the thermoswitch on the radiator and connect the prongs in the plug with a wire, (like someone suggested), the fan STILL will not run if this circuit breaker is bad.

-Bear

 

Custom Creations sells a fan shroud. Powder coaded in any color you want. Runs 10-15% cooler and is way more easy on the wallet compared to buying a new radiator

 

Chris, got a link to this company???:drive:

 

Chris, cost?? Ty, let me know what you find out.:Eyecrazy:

 

they are 50 bucks

 

Warrior, take the top off the battery box, and look on the driver side. There is a mass of wiring stuffed down beside the battery. The circuit breaker will be a small, clear plastic pouch with some foil-looking stuff inside and 2 wires sticking out. It will be taped to another group of wires and may be covered in tape where you will have to dig to get to it. I had to remove the battery to get to it.

I am at work right now, but if I get a chance tomorrow, I will post some pictures of the breaker, its location, and the fuse block I replaced it with.

-Bear

 

This same thing happened to me this past weekend at the dunes. I have the Alba radiator and a water temp gauge but Im still waiting on a sender. It seemed to me I had some sort of blockage in the line but who knows. I had water pump and head gasket theories around my camp. I wired up the fan to come on with the ignition sat. morning, that bought me about 5 extra minutes on a ride before I had to stop for a beer. whatever, my Rhino will never last one dune trip with no problems. :aargh4:

 

This is the circuit breaker:

This is where its located:

This is the fuse block that I bought at Radio Shack to wire in (with the bullet connectors already attached):

This is the fuse block installed. It is curled around the inside front of the battery box.

Like I said, the circuit breaker was taped to one of the wire bundles down beside the battery and I had to remove the battery and dig around some to find it. I used some bullet connectors that I cut off an old Ford turn signal switch, but it would be easier to just cut the two wires off the circuit breaker (since you are replacing it anyway) and splice them on to the fuse block.

Hope this helps...

-Bear

 

Thanks Bear, This helps alot I thought circuit breaker would be a bit more visable (why I was lost) .I'll pull it apart & check it out. Thanks again Warrior

 

Ive had a new theory come up, what are thoughts on the cause of overheating being due to running my paddles so low? I was running them at 3.5 lbs on the rears and they were roosting nicely. I still havent investigated anything, Im actually sick of working on my Rhino right now but Ill get to it this week. I just thought I would see if I would get any responses from my previous post and this one.

 

Bear, I found circuit breaker ,but how can I tell if it"s no good? It looks in good condition .I checked connection looks ok.Started it up fan still never came on.Well today as I'm loading on trailer to take to dealer fan came on .Running time was about the same as previous times when it got real hot.I'm still gonna take it in (has warranty), but would like your opinion.

 

If your fan is coming on normally, then shutting off quickly before having time to cool the radiator, it is the circuit breaker. Mine would only run 15-30 seconds before the fan would shut off.

PM sent.

-Bear

 

Thanks for the info on bleeding the cooling system. It sure worked for me on a new rhino that the fluid had leaked out of. It was a stick that had punched a hole in a hose!!!!!