WHY so many Yamaha Motors blowing up lately ???

All I can say for oil use is just over 1/2quart used for 7 us gallons of gas. If my math is right when in canada I usually(at home) average 50:1 for oil.

All that aside as I was riding ..... back to the truck on the back of maim's sled(after Cory's broken driveshaft) I got to thinking. And here are my thoughts on why so many might be blowing up.

the crappy weather the last few years. Ie. you store your sled properly for the summer because of all the moisture in the air. In the winter less moisture and with good snow we ride them all the time, so no moisture build up. The weather was crudy the last couple years sooo, you ride as early as you can(trails are groomed) then you park it rains for the next 3 days(means you should probably go summerize your sled due to the extra moisture that is now in the air) Due to the rain mudding up the trails you wait for snow, 3 weeks pass you get snow so you go for a ride. What about all that moisture that was in the air/sled sitting there for the last 3 weeks what did it do to your bearings??They didn't have their usual summer damp weather protection. Now do this for the number of kinda crudy winters that we have had..... and.......... :o|

ps. it was like 20 miles(probably more) of thinking and mental bad language
 
hotshot..white don't sound to healthy.Don't do any WOT runs that way.Switch to mid grade or premium and check that your oil adjustment is on parr or better(richer).Then if nothing changes,might be safe to up jetting 1 size to play it safe or else>>> THE BOOM FACTOR CREEPS IN !!!!
 
more moisture..more rust.

kirkswim..you may be right.There is something different in the air now.If it is causing our sleds to explode,imagine what it is doing to us human beings....
 
My 02 srx took exactly 2 quarts during a 410 mile ride this weekend. This seems very low to me but its the stock setting and have been setup this way now for 6K miles. My bud's 09 800xp took 5 quarts during the same span,

Mark
 
otis700 said:
My 02 srx took exactly 2 quarts during a 410 mile ride this weekend. This seems very low to me but its the stock setting and have been setup this way now for 6K miles. My bud's 09 800xp took 5 quarts during the same span,

Mark
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how much fuel did you burn in that 410?
 
ouch... reading this doesnt give ya the warmest feelin about sleds!!

mine blew n its been just maintained when i bought it... less than 4 months ago... n been drivin it lots minus the crap weather days... everything is stock minus can as far as i know.. (havent personally tooken it apart since i bring it in for maintnance for now until i learn how to myself) i bought the sled with 10,000km's on it and its currently right on the dot 11,012..... alot of driving for that thing in the 4month span that ive had it.. counting the few weeks of bad weather n another few weeks waiting for pv parts...

how often do you guys change the rings on the pistons? i dout u guys go until she pops... when u guys say 6000miles or what not with no dmg.. u still talking about the same old rings u bought it with...???

im curious... does any one add a cap of oil into their tank as well for the hell of it? ive heard a few ppl do that... id dout it would do anything but just curious...
 
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i agree on the fuel quality thing too. the octane we get now a days isn't as good as it should be. combine that w/some dirtier carbs (due to crap shelf life fuel) and you get BOOM. a few years ago, you could go like 4 yrs w/o carb cleanings. now, it needs to be done every year, as it gets real filmy inside the jets passages. i think another thing that comes into play, is it seems to me, that some people are getting lazier on their sled maintenance. for example, lets take a 2000 srx. the owner probably says, well, it ran good when i put it away, so no need to take it apart and its getting to be 9-10 yrs old already, and i don't know how to clean the carbs, so i'll be darned if i pay the local dealer $75/hr for a carb cleaning, on a 9-10 yr old sled. you would have a $150+ bill at the dealer. that's another thing that i think is happening. people who can't do their own sled maintenance, don't want to pay anyone to do it, cause they can't afford it. what do you guys think?
 
i do agree with u on that one mopar.. and thats their own fault for being cheap or lazy gotta pay to have fun or learn to do it yourself if money is an issue you think you would be motivated to learn as much as possible n be able to do as much work yourslef as possible... 150$ to get it done properly or pay the full price when u get a nice bog till it stalls in the middle of the trail and get set back a alot more than 150$... but for the people who do go to the mechs or do their own work.. are still getting burnt

something simple you can learn to do yourself can turn into something very complicated just got to take the time and learn

thats what im trying to do as much as i can... take in all the advice i can take and learn from my mistakes..
 
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yeah, i work w/some of the tightest individuals and if their sleds ran fine when stored in spring, they expect them to work just fine come the next winter. then when they have problems or break down (dirty carbs or complete meltdowns), then they come crying to me asking what happened and why. its just amazing that they never listen to me. then, when i tell them what to do, or they see me cleaning my carbs at work, they say, "why are you always working on it? just ride the darn thing". well buddy, what i'm doing is called maintenace and this is why my stuffs always works and not melt down like yours. geeeesh.
 
Yea.. but some times.. the worst of luck happens n no matter what u do.. something always pops up...

I have the worst luck with my toys... buy used or brand new.. well maintained or not.. seem to always have engine probs... even when people say they are reliable n have no problems... problems seem to find their way to me...

says alot to me when i bring in my bike to a mech cause the bike wont start.. tears the engine down n says well... ur rings are glued to ur piston... did u spill anythin in ur gas tank? ive never seen this b4... seased rings for no apparent reason.. 2nd time around i still need to figure out what cause it but i could just imagine... then i got the sled n so far i havent been able to get er running 100% hopefully after the rebuild ill get to feel what the srx 700 is all about
 
Ride.Race.Live said:
Yea.. but some times.. the worst of luck happens n no matter what u do.. something always pops up...

I have the worst luck with my toys... buy used or brand new.. well maintained or not.. seem to always have engine probs... even when people say they are reliable n have no problems... problems seem to find their way to me...

says alot to me when i bring in my bike to a mech cause the bike wont start.. tears the engine down n says well... ur rings are glued to ur piston... did u spill anythin in ur gas tank? ive never seen this b4... seased rings for no apparent reason.. 2nd time around i still need to figure out what cause it but i could just imagine... then i got the sled n so far i havent been able to get er running 100% hopefully after the rebuild ill get to feel what the srx 700 is all about
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Your due for a top-end rebuild (Quote"11,012kms"). This motor did you well.Unfortunately what usually happens is the piston ring lock pin gives up causing the ring to turn.This will cause major damage when the ring end reaches the exhaust port. Besides... a fresh rebuild will put a tiger back into a tired engine. :2strokes:
 
yea.. i knew it was getting time for the sled to get some new pistons n rings.. and it was runing pretty lean from what im reading.. even though plugs where still a darkish black brown...

what about the bottom end ?? should i look into rebuildin it too with that many clicks on it??? I am planning on rebuilding the whole engine into new but if its really not required would save me a few pennies, i dont want to take any short cuts though gota do what ya gota do... and i also want to replace some of the old parts on the carbs such as the slides n stuff.. and at the same time mayb get my wirring rerouted aand all fixed up.

SRXMANDAN... where u from exacly in canda on??? and if there is major work to be done on it..where do you bring it in for maitnance??
 
we just had a bulletin on our fuel, the 10% blend required by law in maine. if it sits a week or so it will separate from the rest of the fuel and cause a hot condition when it is burned and will cause engine failure. the state warden service is having sled burn up quite often running high test. they are blaming it on the blend of fuel. and are instructing all sledders to add stabil to your fuel not for just storage but to stop the fuel from separating. i'm going to call my friend tonight who works on some of the wardens sleds and see what his take on it is. yesterday there was a video of it o none of our local tv stations wlbz bangor if any one is interested. anyone have any thought on this matter.


blue
 
Hey blue leme know whats what with that!!... cause if the fuel stabelizer is going to help im going to spread the word around here for my friends n parents
 
Fresh fuel

The old Tillson and Walbro diaphram carbs did not hold much fuel like a modern carb with float bowls, but I think generally, fuel quality isn't what is used to be. Any alcohol in the fuel will act like a sponge and suck the moisture out of the air and into your tank.

It has been my experience that there is nothing that will treat last year's fuel to keep the light ends from evaporating unless the tank is completely sealed.

The drained fuel from my sled ends up in the lawn tractor in the Spring. Low compression B&S 12 h.p. that'll run on just about anything. Or put it in your car.

Don't know of any sealed fuel tanks on snowmobiles (they're all vented). When air temperature changes, your fuel tank "breathes". It will draw in air when the fuel temp. is warmer than ambient and expel vapor when the fuel temp. is cooler than ambient. I'm sure we've all seen a sealed plastic tank grow in the summer and shrink in winter.

Run current season fuel and lessen the chance. Then if it still blows up, you have only yourself to blame.
 
got some info, called my buddy and called my dealer. my buddy fixes all the inland fisheries and wildlife sleds in the area and none of them have blown up. my dealer has seen some of these but not many and says it's from adding additional drygas not from the ethanol separating. they did say that the ethanol does separate and did recommend using a e-10 rated stabilizel not just anf off the shelf stabilizer. the ones that have had problems were reparable for not much coin. they didn't totally grenade. they said yamaha is selling a product for this.
 
I picked up a bottle of stabil marine from woodys in topsham for 11.00 bucks and from what the napa in yamouth was saying they couldnt keep the stuff in stock due to all the sleds in the area going down to bad gas. Yarmouth groomer sled blown up. 6 or mor e sled currently at the local small engine repair shop. The gentleman I was talking to at napa is an older gentleman that has worked there for a very long time and Ive always trusted his word and he told me this new ethonol craze is a serious matter. It seems the government is almost forcing us into less palluting more earth friendly vehicles. They say this problem wont effect 4 strokes. What do you guys think?
 
the two sleds moosehead motor sports knew of had additional dry gas added to the sled is 10 percent alchol not enough, do not add more alcohol to the fuel there is already enough in there. by the way those two were cheap fixxes not complete burndowns.
 
The big thing is the age! My srx was 9 years old (2000) and was bone stock. But over time things wear.. for a 9 year old sled, if you dont keep things up to tip top shape, you cant expect much more then a blow up.

But like hte way i look at it, why replace a cylindor for that kind of money, and do pistons and rings and shit if that is going to cost more then the sled is worth
 
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