Summer storage.......... gas

[fourbarrel]

I'll preface this thread by saying yes I have the owners and service manuals and know what the recommended method of summer storage is as far as gas goes. What I'd like to know is has anyone drained their tank and run the sled dry for long term storage? I've always had great luck doing this with my 2 stroke SRXs snd have never had any buildup in the carbs or tank. Even with stabilizer I just don't have a lot of faith in the gas these days and figured draining the system would be better. I did use stabilizer last spring and then drained as much gas out in the fall as I could before filling with fresh supreme but I am just curious if anyone has drained their sled and how it worked.

 

[earthling]

I'll preface this thread by saying yes I have the owners and service manuals and know what the recommended method of summer storage is as far as gas goes. What I'd like to know is has anyone drained their tank and run the sled dry for long term storage? I've always had great luck doing this with my 2 stroke SRXs snd have never had any buildup in the carbs or tank. Even with stabilizer I just don't have a lot of faith in the gas these days and figured draining the system would be better. I did use stabilizer last spring and then drained as much gas out in the fall as I could before filling with fresh supreme but I am just curious if anyone has drained their sled and how it worked.

Draining it completely exposes everything to oxygen, oxygen is a corrosive. You can't get all the gas out of the system without disconnecting hoses, blowing out injectors, etc so what you are doing is potentially exposing what gas remains to oxygen which turns it into varnish. Whereas leaving treated gas in the tank will act as a buffer for heat cycles, limit condensation build up, and keep all the components wet.

 

[stgdz]

I have typically leave a full tank in my sleds with k100mg.


I was told that keeping the pickup tube in the air(sidewinder doesn't have this) would end up hardening it.

 

[Carbide]

Full tank of non oxy with Seafoam hasn't failed me over 5 decades of storing dozens of different seasonal toys.

 

[WinderFab]

Last 2 off seasons I’ve been taking my tank off my 20 for service/inspection/cleaning and emptying the fuel out and will be doing it again in next couple weeks but I’ve never ran the sled till it ran out of fuel. So far I’ve hadn’t had an issue.

IMO tank should be removed early on these sleds, rivets under header, tunnel and exhaust inspection are good things to look over before the start of the next season.

 

[maim]

store all my sleds full of supreme with seafoam. no issues yet. also doubles as an emergency gas stash for summer power outages.

 

[fourbarrel]

Last 2 off seasons I’ve been taking my tank off my 20 for service/inspection/cleaning and emptying the fuel out and will be doing it again in next couple weeks but I’ve never ran the sled till it ran out of fuel. So far I’ve hadn’t had an issue.

IMO tank should be removed early on these sleds, rivets under header, tunnel and exhaust inspection are good things to look over before the start of the next season.

I have read that about the rivets in the tunnel under the tank and I plan to strip mine off this summer or fall to check them.

 

[WinderFab]

I have read that about the rivets in the tunnel under the tank and I plan to strip mine off this summer or fall to check them.

Yes they need to be checked, we all know the rivets are very low quality, issue is they start to vibrate and wear into the aluminum. All 4 of mine were loose and the 2 outside one’s being the worst, just replace with higher quality rivets or SS bolts and locking nuts.

 

[fourbarrel]

I have read that about the rivets in the tunnel under the tank and I plan to strip mine off this summer or fall to check them.

I bought a box of Staves multi grip rivets a few years ago to do the chassis on my '98 SRX so I have plenty of them left,as long as the ones in the Winder are 3/16" ?

 

[WinderFab]

I bought a box of Staves multi grip rivets a few years ago to do the chassis on my '98 SRX so I have plenty of them left,as long as the ones in the Winder are 3/16" ?

Yes 3/16” will work

 

[fourbarrel]

Perfect.

 

[Hammer70]

Fill all my toys with high test for storage never had an issue.

 

[twyztid]

I just leave whatever was in them at the end of the season until the beginning of the next. Then, I siphon it all out and put fresh in before firing them up for the first time at the beginning of the season.

 

[earthling]

I just leave whatever was in them at the end of the season until the beginning of the next. Then, I siphon it all out and put fresh in before firing them up for the first time at the beginning of the season.

Yep, whatever comes out goes in the lawnmower or something else I care less about.

 

[WindTime]

sea foam works is amazing for storage where regular stabilizer can gel in the tank if left long enough and not properly mixed before storage. I always use seafoam and start once a month during storage never had an issue.