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Bought a heater from Moto A this week. Im trying to decide if I feel ambitious enough to do the install this weekend. Its cold in that garage! I may need to stock up on beer and load up some good tunes for this one.
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Anyone else do one yet?
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Got the Firestorm heater all hooked up from Motoalliance this weekend. So far not very happy with it. After going through the instructions over and over im almost wondering if they have ever put one on a Viking. Seems like im the first one that is doing it. Instructions weren't very good. The heat that mine puts out is less than impressive. Barely warm. when driving and cold at idle. Ill have to get a hold of them and try to troubleshoot this thing. In the instructions they talk about the upper radiator hose and the lower radiator hose. On the Viking both hoses are right in the middle of the tanks of the radiator so really there is no upper or lower. Grrrrrrr!!!!!
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Contact Forum member South Dakota. He has one and experienced a few issues at first...but I believe he's got it all figured out now.
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Thanks for the tip. I will try to contact him. I searched all over for threads or posts about putting heaters in these things and came up empty handed.
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Yeah when searching around about these I saw quite a few people on Polaris forums that were having problems with them. The trouble I go through to keep the wife warm and happy...............
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At least you did your research, best to do that than to find out you got a lemon
So what the alternative option now?
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I'm looking at one of these as well...very curious as to what Moto A says. They have a pretty good reputation when it comes to customer service. The video they show on the site sure makes it look like it works well.
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Well I was able to get some air out of the system by continuing to divert the flow of coolant from the engine only through the heater core instead of the radiator by pinching off the radiator hoses. Under cruising speed I was able to get the vent temps up to 135-140 degrees. The motoalliance video shows duct output temps of over 180 degrees.
One thing that Im not sure of and am waiting to hear from motoalliance about it which hose on the Viking is the radiator inlet and which is the radiator outlet. They are both very similar in temp. One would think the radiator inlet should be considerably warmer than the outlet. Does anyone know which is which? The instructions say to run heater core inlet hose to the upper radiator hose. Viking radiator hoses are both mounted to the middle of each radiator tank. Motoalliance states that if you cross the hoses it could reduce your heater output by up to 25 percent.
One thing that Im not sure of and am waiting to hear from motoalliance about it which hose on the Viking is the radiator inlet and which is the radiator outlet. They are both very similar in temp. One would think the radiator inlet should be considerably warmer than the outlet. Does anyone know which is which? The instructions say to run heater core inlet hose to the upper radiator hose. Viking radiator hoses are both mounted to the middle of each radiator tank. Motoalliance states that if you cross the hoses it could reduce your heater output by up to 25 percent.
I agree with everything you say. The design lacks enough coolant flow to heat.
Keep us updated on their response to the issues.
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So what I'm hearing is that you don't interrupt the flow to the radiator, which would divert the water through the heater core...then to the radiator? What you seem to be saying is that you tap into the water line and then some of the water flows into the heater core, while some still flows into the radiator? I did read somewhere that getting all of the air out of the system was critical. I saw that some Folks were jacking the front of the machine way up and then cracking the radiator cap. That way all of the air bubbles went to the highest point.
I'm pretty sure these have a thermostat, so you should be able to tell which line is which by starting the engine and then feeling both water lines. One should get noticeably hot before the other.
I'm pretty sure these have a thermostat, so you should be able to tell which line is which by starting the engine and then feeling both water lines. One should get noticeably hot before the other.
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Yes, the kit comes with two Y fittings that you have to cut both radiator hoses and put the Y inline. Then on the remaining nipple of the fitting is where you put the heater hose that goes to the heater core.
And yes Ive had the front of this thing jacked up the entire time. I put a call into my dealer to figure out which hose is the inlet to the radiator. They weren't 100 percent sure but they thought it was probably the drivers side hose.
Ive got an enclosure coming next week sometime so we'll see how it does when the heat is not escaping.
Motoalliance video shows 180 degree duct temp on a 20 degree day. Yesterday I was getting 135 degrees on a 55 degree day. I called yesterday and some lady took down my info. No call back yet as of today. Everytime I read other forums that talk about problems with these the number one Moto A response is, "that's weird, we've sold millions of those without any problems". Telling me your sales numbers does me no good to help fix my problem.
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Nytroboy I have the Viking service manual at home. This evening I will confirm which hose is the inlet and which is the outlet. The engine also has bleed screws to let air out of the system. I will get back to you with both.
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That would be great! Thank you.
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2nd picture. Sure wish Tapatalk was working
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