.

[ReX]

The river in front of town is at 17 feet above sea level! Although we are 65 miles form the ocean. It's pretty flat out here. As a matter of fact, the Kuskokwim Delta is flatter, lower and has more lakes per square mile than Florida. Yup! Pretty flat!
I agree with you that crap gas is crap for your engine, and that 83 octane gas is crap, especially since it travels on some pretty grungy barges and then gets stored in some old decrepid tanks...so...I need better gas.
Although I have to agree with IRONDOGHALF in that all we have available in the bush is 83, and that is what everyone uses, with no problems...to s degree. Engine life here is compromised by many factors, poor gas, fine silt that behaves like smoke when you tap the ground, extreme cold...etc...

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments!!!
Thanks again and Happy Hollidays!!!

Cristian of the Frozen Tundra.

If everyone has been using the 83 in 2-strokes and they're not melting down I would bet it's not really 83. It's probably something quite a bit better (at least most of the time...).

I don't know any tricks to test the fuel to see what the octane really is. Maybe scour the Internet and see if you can find something.

 

[Topper]

This thread got me wondering so I phoned my fuel dealer and he tells me that regular gas in this area is 87. Our elevation is around a thousand feet or so. The machine seems to run fine on it and I have never seen the knock sensor light so I guess I will keep on using regular. Topper

 

[paulrxwarrior]

How about reading your manual .......it says do not use anything less then 91 octane ....Do you think Yamaha put that in the owners manual just to waste space??? stupid Yamaha engineers, what do they know!!

I am sure some octane boost will compensate quite well.

 

[backcountry]

paulrxwarrior,

It's eazy for you say that when to live less then 5 miles from a Wal-mart or Napa, these guys live 300+ by plane from anything like that and no road to get there. They are limited to there small villages around them and try to stock up on supply once a year!!!
I would like to see you find a gas station in bush Alaska 91 octane!!!

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!

 

[Red2003]

How about keep the AV gas and give 'er a shot of ether on those cold mornings?? BTW, if you're 500 miles from the nearest gas station and civilization, how are you connected to the internet???

 

[Irondoghalf]

Do not under any circumstances use ether (starting fluid) to fire your engine when its cold out. Its an exceptionally dry substance and cleans oil off your cylinder walls quick.

Its commonly used in old diesel farm equipment from eons ago. It works in tired and antiquated fuel injection systems.

It will work on your sled, but realize its new, high tech, under warranty.

Any snowmobile manufacturer wouldn't want this stuff close to their engines.

I've been a diesel/gas mechanic for 30 years. Trust me.

 

[paulrxwarrior]

I think you should try and get in touch with Yamaha and explain the situation. If you are that far from any real civilization, it would be a shame if you damaged the motor and were left stranded in the wilderness.

Is a block heater a way to solve this problem?? A small thermal blanket and wrap it around the hood/cowl after shutting it down for the night??
Another battery on a selector switch?? They have them on boats with duel outboard engines.

 

[powder muncher]

Don't even consider ether, on a high compression engine like this you will have massive pre ignition on start up , the sounds that come out of engines will scare the heck out of you with and it should.
I also second the washing of oil comment , it is about the most effective degrease there is, it is so dry it will clean up fouled plugs and fire the engine I usually take the plugs out and spray them with ether to clean them. In real cold weather where we stay out overnight at cabins I loosen the plugs at night take the spare set inside and put them on the stove in the morning. Get them good and hot ,turn the sled over for a couple turns without plugs than install the hot ones ( use gloves if you can tough them without they are not hot enough) most anything will start that way.

 

[Red2003]

The starting fluids today are made for gas engines too, not just diesels. They have lubrication additives in them to prevent the dry start and don't wash down the cylimnder walls like they used to. They are made to start an engine, that's why they are called STARTING FLUID. The initial shot of ether may well preignite, but running on 83 octane and preigniting ALL THE TIME, is gonna be far worse on the motor.

 

[Irondoghalf]

The starting fluids today are made for gas engines too, not just diesels. They have lubrication additives in them to prevent the dry start and don't wash down the cylimnder walls like they used to. They are made to start an engine, that's why they are called STARTING FLUID. The initial shot of ether may well preignite, but running on 83 octane and preigniting ALL THE TIME, is gonna be far worse on the motor.

In all due respect, kind Sir, I disagree 100%.

I won't even go into how many engine problems I have seen due to use of ether.

 

[Reverse]

Gypsy; Here's a copy of a post that helped me with the same problem. It makes sense and quess what; since I've stuck to 87 octane WINTER GAS never had a problem; huge difference from before; Extra cold here too so I went with beefed battery and synthetic. No problems at -40

RVP=Reid Vapor Pressure

There is different RVP ratings for fuel used in cold temps. Where I work we put cars in cold chambers and anything -20 or below we have to drain the fuel and install fuel with higher RVP ratings to insure the vehicle starts. Usually gas companys change this when colder temps are approaching. It could be the station you get fuel at is still running out their warm weather rated fuel. RVP will effect the gasolines volatility or how quickly a fuel evaporates. Higher the RVP the better for starting in cold weather but too high of in RVP will cause vapor lock regredless of ambient temp.

Just so we all know higher octane fuels high a lower RVP to help prevent vapor lock and preignition.

 

[snowbeast]

We have several of them here and they do have a big problem starting in the cold. They will not start period in anything colder than-30 Celsius.
Our dealer is on it , there are a number of unhappy customers that use them for work. I have to make sure the battery is right up on my girlfriends in the cold , a little throttle seems to help a bit but so far I am not impressed . By the way the old 700 starts up -30 with straight av gas no problem so does the RX turbo.

What model sleds are you running now?
I wonder if there is some EFI setting that can be dialed in to help with the cold temps?!?
If you hear anything, please post it here.
I am not totally sure my problem is gone, because it has not been cold since the last fiasco.
My 500 xc/sp only ran straight avgas, it was a little harder to start in the stupid cold like 40 45 below zero, but man did it run good on it.
The four stroker seemd to run good on it too, just didn't want to start.
I hope they start, I go 200 miles off trail alone for weeks at a time, I hope they start! I will be carrying a generator on extended trips, which is a real big bummer...
Thanks for the post...I am curious to see what comes up here when the hard freezes of jan & feb hit all the Phazers.

Not sure about the new phazer,but on my 06 apex i just adjusted the co settings for idle and low end to plus 10 points and could of richened it up more down there if needed,just went into the DI mode,allen ulmer sent me the info to do this,because i have the air box lid on,and it leans out the low end even worse than it is.

 

[Red2003]

The starting fluids today are made for gas engines too, not just diesels. They have lubrication additives in them to prevent the dry start and don't wash down the cylimnder walls like they used to. They are made to start an engine, that's why they are called STARTING FLUID. The initial shot of ether may well preignite, but running on 83 octane and preigniting ALL THE TIME, is gonna be far worse on the motor.

In all due respect, kind Sir, I disagree 100%.

I won't even go into how many engine problems I have seen due to use of ether.

Well that's fine, but this guy still needs a solution to the 83 octane crap he has no other choice but run.

 

[Topper]

Would adding octane booster help? I wonder how good these additives work and if they are safe to use on the G80 engine?

 

[SharkAttak]

doesn't yamaha make an in-line heater to keep the anti-freeze warm and circulating, would that help?