Carb heaters

[Sinker75]

Does anyone use these?

Is there a chance turning them on may help cool the engine on hard pack, or icy conditions?

Do they actually help anything? I would think it would have to be very, very cold to need to use them, but do they help under normal riding conditions?

Just curious. I've never turned mine on before.

S.

 

[BACK COUNTRY YAMAHA]

Any colder than 0 degrees Celsius, they are suppose to be on , prevents carb icing. Whether it be in powder snow, or just colder than 0 degrees, helps with idle, fuel economy and engine operation! The only time I turn them off is when it's above zero and especially when the sled is being worked hard and it's warm! It's in your owners manual. I find removing the inside cover to the left of the headlight helps get air flow thru the radiator to help keep engine Temps down. I am on my second pro and that's the first thing I do when I get the sled home and I have never seen the temp light come on . Cheers!

 

[maim]

i agree with turning them off around 0 c. my old war would run like crap unless i did that at that temp.

 

[Confused]

I have not had a machine with headed carbs since my old SRX. I always left them on regardless of the temps and no issues. I suppose a minor performance decline at warmer temps but nothing I noticed.

 

[Sinker75]

Any colder than 0 degrees Celsius, they are suppose to be on , prevents carb icing. Whether it be in powder snow, or just colder than 0 degrees, helps with idle, fuel economy and engine operation! The only time I turn them off is when it's above zero and especially when the sled is being worked hard and it's warm! It's in your owners manual. I find removing the inside cover to the left of the headlight helps get air flow thru the radiator to help keep engine Temps down. I am on my second pro and that's the first thing I do when I get the sled home and I have never seen the temp light come on . Cheers!

Thanks,

I do a lot of ice fishing, and I am used to a fan cooled machine. I have lots of years experience with snow machines, and am familiar with most things mechanical. This VK has not impressed me so far. I took the VK out on the lake last week on hard pack snow and figured it would be ok, kept an eye on the track and sliders, and the friggen thing overheated 4 km out. In fact it got so hot the sliders melted to the track, and stuck, then the track ripped the damn thing right off the rail, broke the screw that hold the slider on and everything. I was not impressed at all. I had to take the whole skid out to get the broken screw out of the rail. It was a huge pain in the #*$&@ to be honest.

The carb warmers were off, and I've never turned them on before. I was thinking maybe by re-routing some of that coolant it might help. Who knows.

I've since added scratchers and took it for a run on hard pack and glare ice and they made all the difference.

I have a fan cooled venture 500 that will go anywhere, snow or not, and never ever had a single issue with it. I have scratchers on it, and won't hesitate to run it on glare ice, and have many, many times. Its got over 12,ooo original km on it. Never done a thing to it.

The VK so far has blown up after 4 km. No, thats not a type O, four kilometers. Poof. Hole in the block. Then the slider deal last week. I've put less than 300km on it. I was under the impression t hese machines were strong, and hard working, but apparently the one I have is sensitive to certain conditions. Its cost me a bloody fortune to keep it going. I am considering selling it.

S.

 

[christoph]

Sounds like the complete opposite of my experience with mine. Never had a light come on, no issues with track or sliders. Just pulls like a train. What year and miles/km on your sled?

 

[Sinker75]

Sounds like the complete opposite of my experience with mine. Never had a light come on, no issues with track or sliders. Just pulls like a train. What year and miles/km on your sled?

Its an 07 with 6000km. I replaced the engine with a 2010 with 4000km. No problems in good snow, just hard pack, or on ice with low snow.