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Because of winter driving I decided to change the oil in my 2004 Ranger Tm at 135 hours, even though it had been changed by the dealer when I bought it last November at 98 hours.
Draining the oil wasn't easy because the Robin/Subaru 653 twin they mounted in the TM's doesn't fit too well. I put one of my wife's stainless steel saucepans underneath to check the quality of the 0W40 synthetic Polaris requires for the engine. While I didn't find any metal filings, I was astounded at the accumulation of grit in the oil.
While the manual and the service manual for the TM call for 100 hour oil change intervals, the box in which the oil change kit came calls for 50 hours, as did the guy at the service desk of the Polaris dealer. Mind you, he also sold me the wrong filter for it, and couldn't get the right one within a reasonable interval. I tried the local Yamaha dealer for a substitute and two guys jumped on me and said, "You can't substitute filters. They may have the wrong flow rate!"
My question is, is this B.S., a marketting ploy, or is there some reason why a filter which will fit the space won't do the job? The Yamaha guy ordered me the "correct" Polaris filter. It took an extra week to come in and he ended up charging me $24.00 CDN for it. In the meantime I had installed a $5.00 filter the local UAP cross-referenced for me. It normally goes on a Briggs and Stratton industrial engine. Seems to work fine, but I'd like to know more about the filters.
Today at the Tractor Supply Company I remembered that their UTVs use this same Subaru/Robin engine, so I asked what oil and filter they use. The guy at the counter answered, "Any 10W30 oil," and handed me the filter catalog. I tracked down the Robin part number: RBIN 261-6590 and the Fram filter number PH 4967 which they had in stock for $5.00. I examined the filter. It looked the same as the cheapie I bought last week at UAP.
With the accumulated grit in the oil, most likely from carbon because of low-speed operation in the cold, I think this machine is a candidate for frequent oil changes with non-premium oil and filters, rather than long-life, high performance oil. The thing only produces 18 hp, fergoodnessakes.
I'm quite prepared to listen to opinion on this topic. For example I use Shell Rotella 15W40 for my antique tractors now, both the gas and the diesel. It works great, winter and summer. What if I dumped it into the TM, as well?
Thanks,
Rod
I have written a series of reviews of the TM's adventures in a cold climate at
http://rodcroskery.wordpress.com
Hi. This is just a brief introduction, but while I'm at it I'll ask for some advice:
I bought a never-registered 2004 Ranger TM this fall to replace a series of golf carts on my property. It has worked great up until today, when the shift cable seems to be frozen solid. Mind you, it's frosty out, but I had hoped I had left problems like that behind when I sold my golf cart. The Subaru 653 cc engine wasn't all that happy about starting, either. It has 128 hours on it.
Rod in Forfar.
For more details see the reviews on
Morning.
This fall I replaced my golf cart with a 2004 Ranger TM, a demonstrator at the local dealer's. All has gone well until this morning, a crisp Ontario winter day, and the Ranger won't shift. The cable's frozen solid. I've had this happen on golf carts, but sorta figured that Rangers would be engineered for cold weather.
Any suggestions?
I've put a series of reviews of the beast and the building of a trailer for it on my website at
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