Cold weather starting??

[800dragon_rmk]

-40 celcius up here in northen British columbia right now. Just curious to what kind of temperatures are safe to start our sleds in? i need to move mine and its in a buddys shop that has no heat. will this do any damage to my sled if i let it warm up to operating temps? thanks

 

[sno_mo_racer]

-40 celcius up here in northen British columbia right now. Just curious to what kind of temperatures are safe to start our sleds in? i need to move mine and its in a buddys shop that has no heat. will this do any damage to my sled if i let it warm up to operating temps? thanks

See those temps a lot up here in northern Canada. I usually steal the wife's hair dryer and put on for 10-15 minutes or a heater that is slower for about 1/2 hour that should loosen up the oil to flow good and free up the pistons. If no heater then pull starter rope slowly a few times to free up the pistons before you go to try pull start it. Oil should flow good once under hood temps warm up then good to go. Once started then your cfi should adjust to the temps.

 

[550iq]

Always know when its polar: wind chill issues at walking speed. Anyways, when shutting down the sleds knowing the following night and day will be polar, we will spend due time "warming" the system down to eliminate all undue moisture in the engine bay and throttle blocks (sometimes idling with a cover over the sled). We will also take the drive belt off the sled and take it into the warm with us for the evening (a night and day difference with a warm belt vs. a super cold belt). The next day we will turn the engines over by hand using the clutch until all loosens up. Sometimes we will start the engine with the belt off (idle rpm only). Once the engine is ready the belt goes back on and we worry about turning the track over...

It is common for Iron Dog racers to have to cold start race sleds at -50f and take off racing, it can be done.

 

[Hrt Offroad]

Found it nearly impossible to even slowly pull the motor over using the pull chord at -35c. Thought I as gonna snap the rope I had to drag it into the garage to warm it up in order to pull start it!!!

 

[Trenchmaster]

On the super cold days we used to pull the plugs and dribble a bit of gas down the hole. Then pull it over without the plugs to break it free, it's the cold oil that locks the engine up, much better than breaking the rope!!