Off-season storage - Battery removal necessary??

iasledder said:
You're nowhere close to being fully warmed up. Do as you wish it's your motor.
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I would disagree I have opened the hood while doing this myself and trust me the engine is hot. This is all I have done and will continue to do so. I dont how you can say you are no where near being warm enough because it does get hot and I would say meeting the normal operating temps no problem.
 
I think all this might depend on the sled. In the case of the Attak say,the engine may get hot but the heat may not penetrate into other areas of the sled to help to burn off condensation. The mufflers for one. And with out the engine having a load on it what will it do for carbon build up? And the fuel injection. How does running it in short bursts without any heat getting to it do? Running cool all the time? Not only getting the cylinder walls and head up to temp may be the answer. The whole area around the engine doesnt' have a chance to heat up.,ie. starter,etc.

I know with trucks I've had with duels,headers,etc. the pipes take quite a while to dry out.. The engine makes lot's of condensation in them and they need to real hot to dry out. Short trips is a no no for mufflers. I use to go through mufflers and tail pipes all the time.. as I never got them hot enough just going on short runs.


I've always been one to start it up once in a while but might be fogging them in the near future myself.
 
I never mess with the batterys. I'll check them out at pre-season check up and that's it. I have always fogged my sleds, as with my 4 strokes. That's me though. I also make sure everything is greased, as you would before any trip, loosen the track, suspend the rear. If your storing your sled outside, I would put some WD-40 on the skid and other parts like bolts so they won't rust and check them now and then throughout the summer. Nothing worse than a rusty suspension. Also, I run rags into the exhaust. Even though they are covered, bugs, mice, etc. can still get into your tail pipes. Trust me. Hope this helps....

-1CS
 
The Owners Manual specifically states NOT to periodically start the engine during storage periods. Read the storage section.

It also says to fog the engine.

On the abttery removal, I pull mine out at the Oil and Filter change, then enlist some help to pull it on the trailer . . . its not that bad. I can trickle charge the battery over the summer in the basement.
 
Each to his own but I think that is a lot of wasted time and effort. You would think the way I do it I should not have a battery and burning oil. Well no I still have the same batteries from new and neither the 04 or the 05 burn any oil. I may grease the bearings on the 04 this spring just not sure yet. If I do that will be the first time they are done in 4000 miles. Greased the skid and changed the sliders and cut out the track windows not going to clip.
 
Batteries lose 2.5% of thier capacity per month when they sit without charge on them. It's a property of their chemistry called self -discharge. (sorry - EE)

I you let it sit too long it will lose some capacity, but as you can see, you can also not worry about it, and it will last 4-7 years when you run it seasonally unless REALLY abused..

But battery capacity is rated at 25C/77F, so you have to be careful about where you store your battery when charging. Too hot of a temperature where you are charging a battery is THE WORST. This is what causes the water to evaporate. The best thing for your battery, if you want to charge it, is to bring it to a WELL VENTILATED place slightly cooler than 77F/25C and put it on a charger and leave it on, or plug it in every other weekend.

Do not charge a battery inside your house or in an enclosed area , when on charge they constantly vent hydrogen - use the garage or shed.
 
Anyone know where to purchase a tender or the Optimate III? upon reading these posts I believe that I'm going to pull the battery out and keep it on my workbench and charge it during the summer. I don't want the temptation of being able to start the machine just to hear it!! Can you leave almost a full tank of gas in the tank if you put in Seafoam? Doug
 
Blue i got mine from my snap-on dealer it was $30.00 for the good 1 u can get them at sears,cap,napa etc if u need 1 let me know i am on John-fitch hwy so close to u if u want to pick 1 up. Dave
 
I don't want this to sound like an extremely dumb question, but what do you do to "fog" an engine. I have heard different ways to do it, from running to not running, adding things to the fuel and running, pullling the plugs and adding a small ammount of ATF, to name a few...
I have seen the stuff that you would hold the throttle wide open (engine off) and spray into the engine, but unless you crank it over I ould think it woldn't reach everywhere, but I haven't heard of guys touching the key after spraying.
I haven't been able to find anything products around here for fogging an engine.
 
studdog said:
Lots of knowledgable people recommend running your engine monthly in off season. Need to warm it up to operating temp and run track. IMO this is better overall than fogging. Don't understand how you can get condensation if fully warmed up?
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;)! Same here.
 
Blue Oval said:
Anyone know where to purchase a tender or the Optimate III? upon reading these posts I believe that I'm going to pull the battery out and keep it on my workbench and charge it during the summer. I don't want the temptation of being able to start the machine just to hear it!! Can you leave almost a full tank of gas in the tank if you put in Seafoam? Doug
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Like I said earlier a tender does not desulphate the battery and that kills batterys. Buy an Optimate III or the Battery Minder they will do everything the tender does but also will desulphate the battery if it needs it. Google either one of them there are dozens of places to buy them in the USA.
 
The problem with getting the correct charge to a battery for optimum life is that the charging voltage is temperature dependent. This is the problem with chargers like the Optimate3. If the battery is at 25C/77F then the Optimate charging scheme works great.

Like I said, you can worry about this or not and get 4-5 years out of it, as a battery the way we use them will be fine, as long as it is not allowed to discharge too far - no more than 25% of the 77F/25C rating and as long as it doesn't get too hot or too cold.
 
DaveyBoy said:
Blue i got mine from my snap-on dealer it was $30.00 for the good 1 u can get them at sears,cap,napa etc if u need 1 let me know i am on John-fitch hwy so close to u if u want to pick 1 up. Dave
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Hey a man from the BURG!!! Thanks for the response, I got a quote from Keene motorsports for $39. You said you deal with Snap-On? Could I purchase it from you? Shoot me a PM and I'll bring some $ down to you. Thanks Doug
 
When I prep my sled engine for the summer, I do the following in this order:

-stabilize the fuel
-remove airbox to gain access to the throttle bodies
-start the engine and spray sea foam into all the intakes until the engine dies
-remove spark plugs
-spary sea foam into the plug holes
-turn primary to locate the pistons in a different position
-repeat sea foam into plug holes
-remove battery
-change oil and filter
-replace airbox


There are several more steps in setting up for summer to include suspension, clutches, etc., but this is just for the engine.

Jon
 
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