Why Piston Failure??

[dragon1]

09 800 Dragon w/Boondocker PG intercooled turbo. Sled only has 1000 total miles, 500 miles w/engine update and turbo. Sled ran great last season with zero probs other then having to "backflash" to the 09 map at start of season. Ran straight 91 with ethanol wires plugged in and Boondockers recommended fuel settings. Pumps didn't have any 10% ethanol stickers, so I assumed fuel was still nonethanol. First ride this year made it about 5 miles from truck before piston failure. Fuel was 10% ethanol blend and wires were still plugged in. Sled was running normal until it shut down with no warning or anything. I started back up and it seemed to be ok, made it about another minute before it shut down again and became rather apparent that somthing cratered. Did I screw up by not unplugging my ethanol wires or what? The other piston looked just about perfect so I am a little confused. Thanks in advance.

 

[sled_guy]

I assume that is the exhaust side that is eaten off?

Lean, don't know what else to say, lean. Lean either eats the exhaust side off or drills a hole through the center.

sled_guy

 

[dragon1]

Yes it was on the exhaust side. I mainly don't understand why the other piston and plug looked perfect. Didn't appear as if it was running lean.

 

[95RXL]

Maybe you had a leaking base gasket or crank seal or throttle body boot.
Could have just been a fuel issue too if you can't find anything wrong. Assume all fuel has at least 10% ethanol unless it specifically says otherwise on the pump.

 

[Holomis International]

Was it PTO or MAG side, do you have EGT gauges?


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[dragon1]

PTO side. I have EGT gauges. Temps were running about the same and not any hotter then normal when I was looking.

 

[slash]

DID YOU CLEAN YOUR INJECTORS ?? WITH ALL THE ETH IN THE FUEL, EVAPORATION OF THE FUEL CAN PLUG AN INJECTOR ,AS ALL THE WHITE SHI* LEFT BEHIND IS GOING TO BE PUSHED INTO YOUR INJECTORS MOST ALWAYS THE FARTHEST FROM THE INLET..

 

[dragon1]

I did not clean injectors. I drained tank and added STA-BIL ethanol treatment before running.

 

[theshadowrider]

When is the last time you changed your fuel filter? I have read numerous people that have burned down and engine because of a plugged fuel filter. Ethanol fuel plugs them fast. Here is mine with only a year and 500 miles. Maybe take off your filter and see if you can blow through it. Also like others have stated check your throttle body boots for cracks.

 

[dragon1]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Filter was just changed a couple days ago as part of the top end rebuild. *od dam ethanol bull*hit government subsidized.................

 

[theshadowrider]

So what is you thinking of the cause?

 

[dragon1]

I don't know what to think for sure, but I am leaning towards a partially plugged injector caused by ethanol buildup crap. I did not treat fuel before storage like I have the last couple years. All I can do is see what she will do this weekend carefully monitoring everything. Any suggestions for fuel injector cleaner? I would have hoped the STA-BIL would have taken care of it, but I guess not.

 

[ridgeclimber]

Cause of piston failure

I am pretty sure the wires should be plugged together for premium fuel only. If the wires are unplugged for ethanol fuel it enrichens it for that fuel. So if you are running ethanol fuel with the wires plugged in that is your cause of the lean condition. I would recommend, do not run ethanol fuel period. Only use premium fuel. Do not run the sled on the old fuel even with stabilizer in it. Suck out all the old fuel and fill it with premium only. As well change you fuel filter every season. I have an 08 800 dragon with the BD PG turbo kit with the mini cooler. My wires have been plugged in from day one. I just added a switch to connect to the wires. I haven't tried it yet but my thinking is it will richen it up for low elevation when I open the switch. I will double check my manual about the wires. Good luck.

 

[dragon1]

Unfortunately we don't have the option of buying nonethanol fuel where I live. The manual definately says to have wires unplugged for ethanol blend gas so it might have been running a little lean. It still doesn't make sense to me that the other side looked perfect. Before the sled was ever ran, the old gas was sucked out and new fuel added with STA-BIL ethanol fuel treatment. We were hoping this would take care of any potential "ethanol related problems" including cleaning injectors. For second ride of season I will definately have wires unplugged and will start using Torco Accelerator.

 

[flying frenchman]

That my friend look like detonation. Maybe bad fuel. I had one look like that a few years ago . Top of piston lets go then ring screws everything, thats the lines on the top of piston. Probably screw cylinder good too. Dealer told me bad fuel so now I try running fresh fuel or mixed with race fuel just to be on safe side.

 

[slash]

find someone with a ASNU injector cleaner there for automotive use but Ive cleand all typs with this machine..

 

[modrmk]

Where do you find and what is a ASNU cleaner?

 

[F1]

http://www.witchhunter.com/witchhunterequip1.php4

Copyed from above link.
"ASNU Fuel Injector Flow Testing and Cleaning Machines
The ASNU is pretty much the standard for injector servicing. It can test and flow up to eight injectors at once for accurate comparisons. We've made quite a few improvements to it, (see below). Other improvements not shown are: an internal pulsation damper, re-plumbed for higher flow, and improved drive electronics."


There have been several forum members that have used these guys and have recomended them.

Casey

 

[Holomis International]

PTO side. I have EGT gauges. Temps were running about the same and not any hotter then normal when I was looking.

Did you ever check your TB boots to see if there was a leak. I believe it is a fuel delivery issue, whether it's plugged injectors or not I don't know. We had a really odd situation. Our TB boots were torn, the PTO side was only slightly torn and the MAG side had a huge blowout. What it did was cause the PTO side cylinder not to run. What was happening was the MAG side was getting a bunch of air in through the boot blowout and then sucking all the fuel at the same time, starving the PTO side, making it look like it was a PTO side problem, when in reality it was really the MAG side issue.

Also if you can at the end of the season run AV gas on your last ride and then store your machine with it. You will have the cleanest injectors around and also your gas will be just pull and go for the next season.

Thanks

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