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How many people run stable or start frequently?

Stable or not?

  • Yes I put a gas treatment in

    Votes: 446 59.4%
  • No, I use no treatments and start motor several times a summer

    Votes: 199 26.5%
  • No, I use nothing at all and do not start and never had any problems

    Votes: 107 14.2%

  • Total voters
    751
M
Nov 28, 2007
735
526
93
58
or
stabil or not i'd never fire my sled after sitting over the summer without draining and adding fresh fuel, why would you want to chance a rebuild over $20 worth of fuel???
 

liebherrcraneguy

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Sep 7, 2010
86
26
18
Gotta love the e-tec. Just hit the mode and select buttons to the beat of "Funky Town" while flashing high and low beams and honking the horn and doing a heel clicker backflip while playing a banjo. I think I'll also drain the gas out and put fresh stuff in before the first ride.
 
Last edited:

mountainhorse

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Premium Member
Dec 12, 2005
18,606
11,814
113
West Coast
www.laketahoeconcours.com
Witchhunter Performance does a great job and is used the sled stuff.

They also give you a full report on what they were doing and what they are after the clean.

header3.gif


http://www.witchhunter.com/

About $20 each for peace of mind.




Hey, Mountainhorse. Another useful thread, thanks. Where does one send injectors to be cleaned/checked? It's not like "injector cleaning" is in the yellow pages.
 
C

cbc24

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
946
249
43
gp
i just run till my tanks nearly dry and refuel in fall. if excess fuel i add a lil seafoam. Also for precaution i keep my killswitch off and pull it over several times to get some oil in the engine, prime it 3 times and vroom first pull
 

Ford428CJ

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Jan 16, 2009
380
52
28
Klamath Falls, Oregon
I put stabil in and start it up every month in the summer. Then I drain all the gas in the tank and put in fresh gas before the first ride.

Has anyone ever used an ethanol fuel treatment?
$(KGrHqJ,!k4E1FygYcuTBNYqmW2NZg~~0_1.JPG

YES! I have used it with great results.... You can find that startron in Walmart.
 
D
Nov 20, 2005
892
70
28
actually i run seafoam in my tank and i start my motor once a month and let it run for 3 or 4 minutes..
also i store my sled in my shop which is fully insulated.
 

capnkirk

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Dec 26, 2010
233
99
28
Appleton, WI
I use this..
quickshot.jpg


And this..
stabilizer.jpg


Here in SD I think it's nearly impossible to find anything at the pump without some level of Ethanol in it. Could have swore that it's a Federal thing now that all gas at the pumps have at least a small % of Ethanol??

2 years ago I tore apart some carbs that sat from April-June and there was green stuff already growing on the mains. Premium gas every chance I get....
You can still get 91 oct sans Ethanol here in WI. But only at certain gas stations.
I use stabil, then fog and let sit untill fall. Drain off the gas in the fall and fill with fresh gas. I have heard a lot of good things about Startron also!
 

Arcticatdan

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 26, 2007
243
27
28
Newport, WA
I put stabil in and start it up every month in the summer. Then I drain all the gas in the tank and put in fresh gas before the first ride.

Has anyone ever used an ethanol fuel treatment?
$(KGrHqJ,!k4E1FygYcuTBNYqmW2NZg~~0_1.JPG

I use this and use it all winter for any layup even for a week or two.
 

Jeva

Well-known member
Premium Member
Nov 26, 2007
177
76
28
49
Here in SD I think it's nearly impossible to find anything at the pump without some level of Ethanol in it. Could have swore that it's a Federal thing now that all gas at the pumps have at least a small % of Ethanol??

2 years ago I tore apart some carbs that sat from April-June and there was green stuff already growing on the mains. Premium gas every chance I get....

Check out this website to find gas stations that carry non ethanol fuel. They have aN iphone app and a google earth add on for finding non ethanol gas stations.

http://pure-gas.org/

Here is a big thread about fuel and additives at hard core sledders.

http://www.hardcoresledder.com/foru...e-chassis/531672-gasoline-tips-your-rush.html
 
L

LRD

Well-known member
Mar 27, 2002
572
135
43
I put stabil in and start it up every month in the summer. Then I drain all the gas in the tank and put in fresh gas before the first ride.

Has anyone ever used an ethanol fuel treatment?
$(KGrHqJ,!k4E1FygYcuTBNYqmW2NZg~~0_1.JPG

I have been using Startron Enzyme fuel additive that is specifically for fixing the issues associated with ethanol (ethanol sucks up water out of the air or gas station tank and can only hold so much water and then it separates to the bottom of Your Tank).

This week we had some below zero temps, Tuesday night the old E-150 Van would barely start, took a lot of cranking, when it started, would kill for about 3 or 4 times in a row, finally kept it running and got it home. I suspected bad fuel, likely water in the bottom of the tank. Had about 3/8 of a tank of gas in it, added about 6 ounces of Startron and took it out drove it about a 1/2 mile shaking the fuel up good to mix the Startron and then parked it for the night. Came out in the morning cringing over trying to start it because its near 15 below. Cranks slow but still fires right up and runs smooth!

Moral of the story when I suspect bad gas, water etc the first thing I will always use is the Startron not the Sea Foam, not that the Sea Foam isn't awesome for cleaning carbs out etc. And I am going to be religious about adding a couple ounces to every tank of fuel on my sleds, ATV,Dirt Bike, lawn tractor, pressure washer, log splitter, all the chain saws, weed wacker, etc.

http://mystarbrite.com/startron/

Pretty sure Walmart carries it, try the boating supplies area.

Good Luck
 
T
Nov 27, 2007
204
2
18
Michigan
Stale gas is bad for an engine and components, but dry fuel components is far worse than anything. So if you have a fuel pump in your tank, keep your tank completely full over summer so that your pump, wires, and lines don't dry out.

Pumps get tested wet, then dry out at hot temp, then fuel tested again, and so forth. When they come out of dryout, they are at the worst case condition because the gaskets and seals had time to shrink to the smallest size, some smaller than as received. Also, the more fuel you have in a tank the more time it takes for the fuel to go stale. That is why it is important to have a full tank of gas...remember your fuel pump are toward the top of the tank.

Ethanol based fuels do tend to dryout gaskets quicker during dryout and will slighly result in lower modulus. You can add additives to fuel, stabil or seafoam, but ensure that your system can allow for the dryout that stabil can do. It might be better to go with seafoam as it is not as prone to deteriate or act as an alcohol to your gaskets.
 
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Reactions: PaulAnd
R
Nov 9, 2008
359
19
18
SE IDAHO
Usually just add some stabil to whats left in the tank after last ride. Dump oil down the holes and start periodically during the off season. I do have something to say though about fogging oil... specifically kawa-chem which I used one year on my engine. It was the only fogging oil I could find at the time so I went with it. Applied per the instructions on the side of the can and forgot about it till next winter. Went to pull it over on a cold day and motor was locked up. Had the rust set in? Nope...god damn crank case was a block of ice.:mad:
After heating the motor up with a butane torch and removing the drain plugs on the bottom of the case I was finally able to get the motor to free up. The only explanation I can come up with is the fogging oil propellant condensate settled in the case and sat leaving the bottom end submerged. It is beyond me how my bottom end is still holdin' together after 3 years and destroying a mag piston along the way.

Just my experience, call it what you will.:beer;
 
T
Dec 2, 2007
178
8
18
Coeur d' Alene ID
IMO, its not a good procedure to start the engine over the summer. Not for the fact of bad fuel but the fact of condensation from the air entering the engine and becoming trapped. This will cause rust or corrosion. Its better to have a full tank of fuel, Use a stabilizer (its not that expensive), Run the engine til the stabilizer gets through all the lines, Shut the fuel line off if possible, Fog the engine until it shuts off, spray some fogging oil down the spark plug holes and turn it over a few times, let it sit until you are going to ride again, then empty the tank and put fresh fuel in it.

Amen brother !!!!
 
C
Wow! I'm definately in the minority here! I just fill up all the way with NON-Ethanol fuel, (that's all I run in ANY gasonline engine). Although there were two years that I did empty the tanks and run the gas out of the carbs.

I've never had any kind of problem with my machines. I store them inside all year, either in the shop or in the trailer. I didn't ride, nor did we start any of our machines one single time last season, and all six my machines started fine this season. That's just my experience for what it's worth. Hype is hype, but ethanol gas IS bad.

On a side note, I fired up an old Lincoln portable welder yesterday at work that hadn't been started in four years. Had to replace both batteries, but it cranked for about 10 seconds and fired right up and ran fine.
 
B

BackCountryBob

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2001
928
158
43
Arvada, Colorado
Seafoam for me. Test stand run 2-3 times in the summer. Keep in mind that many engines will start OK but can burndown because the MJs became contaiminated with green crap.

BCB
 
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