O2 sensor/ summer storage

[REDLINE 1]

Anybody pulling their O2 sensor out for summer storage? These things seem kinda touchy so just wondering if there’s anything I should be doing for storage?

 

[KnappAttack]

No reason to take it out.

 

[Turboflash]

From talking to Bosch, for those of us who use LSU4.9 (17025), what I can tell you is that guys who want to run their sled once a month (some do it every 2-3 weeks), that will shorten life of sensor. Same as starting sled, unloading it from trailer, and then shutting it off without letting exhaust get up to temp. Short cycling O2 sensors is hard on them.
If sled is gonna sit all summer, you're good.

 

[REDLINE 1]

Thanks guys. I always let it fully warm up when I start it even when loading / unloading or firing up on the stand

 

[Hammer70]

No don’t see any advantage to that.

Thanks guys. I always let it fully warm up when I start it even when loading / unloading or firing up on the stand

good practice I do the exact same.

 

[earthling]

From talking to Bosch, for those of us who use LSU4.9 (17025), what I can tell you is that guys who want to run their sled once a month (some do it every 2-3 weeks), that will shorten life of sensor. Same as starting sled, unloading it from trailer, and then shutting it off without letting exhaust get up to temp. Short cycling O2 sensors is hard on them.
If sled is gonna sit all summer, you're good.

Running them once a month won't hurt anything as long as you run it up to temperature.

 

[KnappAttack]

Running them once a month won't hurt anything as long as you run it up to temperature.

I disagree. Running them every month in the summer is very hard on them, even if they come up to temp.

Just getting them to temp is not enough to cook the water out of the oil, or blow out the condensation from even the pipe.

If I run for a short time, I always run it on the stand with quite a few full throttle blasts on the stand too, but even this is hard on the engine as the oil doest get up to proper temp either.

If you took one of these engines apart after its sat for just a couple weeks in the summer, you'd swear it would never run again withe the rust on the valves, the corrosion on the piston tops etc. The internal corrosion in the chambers can get really crazy. When Jeff Simons took apart Wheelock's RX'1 old open mod 1000 we ran on the dirt, he thought we sunk it under water the first summer with it, and I'm not kidding, he seriously thought we damaged it somehow with the corrosion, till he took apart his own race engine in his asphalt race sled and found the same thing.

When I park them for the summer, they don't get run again till the next winter when they are ready to be rode. Short starts are hard on an engine period. Not to mention all the wear occurs on startup, so the less you do it the better it is.

 

[74Nitro]

I disagree. Running them every month in the summer is very hard on them, even if they come up to temp.

Just getting them to temp is not enough to cook the water out of the oil, or blow out the condensation from even the pipe.

If I run for a short time, I always run it on the stand with quite a few full throttle blasts on the stand too, but even this is hard on the engine as the oil doest get up to proper temp either.

If you took one of these engines apart after its sat for just a couple weeks in the summer, you'd swear it would never run again withe the rust on the valves, the corrosion on the piston tops etc. The internal corrosion in the chambers can get really crazy. When Jeff Simons took apart Wheelock's RX'1 old open mod 1000 we ran on the dirt, he thought we sunk it under water the first summer with it, and I'm not kidding, he seriously thought we damaged it somehow with the corrosion, till he took apart his own race engine in his asphalt race sled and found the same thing.

When I park them for the summer, they don't get run again till the next winter when they are ready to be rode. Short starts are hard on an engine period. Not to mention all the wear occurs on startup, so the less you do it the better it is.

100% agree.
I also find that the type of environment the machines are stored in to be very important.

 

[earthling]

I disagree. Running them every month in the summer is very hard on them, even if they come up to temp.

Just getting them to temp is not enough to cook the water out of the oil, or blow out the condensation from even the pipe.

If I run for a short time, I always run it on the stand with quite a few full throttle blasts on the stand too, but even this is hard on the engine as the oil doest get up to proper temp either.

If you took one of these engines apart after its sat for just a couple weeks in the summer, you'd swear it would never run again withe the rust on the valves, the corrosion on the piston tops etc. The internal corrosion in the chambers can get really crazy. When Jeff Simons took apart Wheelock's RX'1 old open mod 1000 we ran on the dirt, he thought we sunk it under water the first summer with it, and I'm not kidding, he seriously thought we damaged it somehow with the corrosion, till he took apart his own race engine in his asphalt race sled and found the same thing.

When I park them for the summer, they don't get run again till the next winter when they are ready to be rode. Short starts are hard on an engine period. Not to mention all the wear occurs on startup, so the less you do it the better it is.

This conversation circles around every year. I keep coming back to where I started which was as part of a team working in the worst of conditions (powerboat racing both fresh and salt water), it was common practice to A. Run the engines between events, B. completely drain fuel after sitting for awhile. Those engines were pristine inside. Running the engine is the best way to handle storage.. Why? Specifically because of the example you bring up. If you saw rust on the valves after a couple of weeks of sitting that means that the valves (and everything else) completely dried out. Whereas, running it during those couple of weeks would have both boiled off any moisture present as well as re-wetted the internals with fresh oil and doing that would not have allowed the rust to build up to begin with.

The big concern everyone talks about when this subject comes up is condensation/humidity. Condensation is unlikely unless you chill the block but humidity is a real problem and just having the internals exposed through air exchange allows moisture to accumulate. Bringing it back up to full temperature burns it back off and circulates fresh oil again.

What is bad, is running the motor occasionally without bringing it up to temperature. To be clear there are a number of riding buddies who I advise to not start their engines during the summer because they will not run them up to temp (too lazy or braap braap shut off).

 

[acpantera]

Hot day, in the pool with beers on ice. Get out of the pool, walk over to the trailer, open the door, inhale the smell of gas, oil, plastics and rubber. Turn the key on, see the dash light up, hear the fuel pump whirl, hit the button and the engine fires...ah...the smell...ah...the sound. Give the throttle a few blips, hear the engine rev and feel the track spin, watch the speedo, watch the tach, watch the temp and let it idle for a few moment before...hit the kill switch...silence....the odor of exhaust. Give a look around for fluids and/or evidence of rodents, close the trailer up, walk over to the pool, open a cold beer and get in the pool. You have to run your sled in the summer a few times just for your soul. No measurable harm done to anyone or anything.