What's your pre-season maintenance?

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Figgy

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Just what it says...

But let's go beyond cleaning the powervalves and tensioning the track. Or we could say for a start to the list:

1) clean the power-valves
2) tension/adjust the track
3) check skid wheels, hyfax
4) check coolant level, leak
5) chaincase fluid level/leaks
6) check ski carbides

Keep it going boys...does anyone actually pull their chaincase off for inspection? I had one blow up a long time ago, that sucked...and clearly what my hope here is, is to try to avoid any down-time since we have such a short season.

But having three sleds does help!
 
clean clutches
fill oil tank
fill with fresh premium fuel
check / clean / replace spark plugs
check drive belt
lube throttle, brake and oil cables

+ more...
 
Did i hear my name??? LOL!!

Lol @ ryanryan ;)!

Anyway yes lots of good info posted above,add to the list, bearings,,,,either pull off the dust seal and pack em or i use a needle greaser and fill em,jack shaft and axel bearings speedo side once a season!! also boggies yep..
 
For me I also look over the whole sled for parts or anything that I could improve...like this year I replaced a exhaust donut that goes through the belly pan....was pretty melted!!!!!!!!!!! Well I usually do a little total yamahain it too!!! ;)!
 
This plus what was mentioned above
Clean, and replace chain case oil
Grease axle shaft brg, replace if needed
Grease all boggy wheel brgs.
Replace gas with fresh
Repack brgs on trailer,
Replace any bad lights on trailer
 
This year I switched to a synthetic brg grease for the jack shaft and axle brgs. I hope it will last longer. Ironically I had to buy from Bombardier lol Al
 
For me,

- Clean the carbs
- Change the chaincase oil and adjust
- Clean the powervalves and adjust
- Grease all the zerts
- Pass some air in the clutch
- Check wheels and track tension.
 
lol

THING TO DO BEFORE YOUR FIRST RIDE OUT...

Tear Motor Apart...lol to see how she's been doing
Top up with AMSOIL, and Check Coolant and Break fluid
Check for leaks and gauskets
Clean Engine Bay/Polish Clutch Cover & Pipes
Clean outside of sled and polish Hood
Replace Chain Case Oil - Check slack in chain
Inspect for loose Bolts
Grease fittings, Check all wheels/Bearings/Slides/Carbides
Check to see if studs are still sharp or missing, Check track slack
Make sure shafts have no play
Clean PowerValves/Carbs
Set-up your PowerValves
Inspect PowerValves & Cables
Clean & Inspect Clutches/Buttons for wear or cracks
Take off exhaust Inspect Gauskets
Put New Gas and set of new Plugs & make sure u Have spares
Inspect or replace with New Yamaha Belt
Make sure Handwarmers/Thumbwarmers & lights Work
Inspect Breaks and replace pads if low
Get all your paperwork in order Copy of ownership,permit, sticker, plate,
insurance & trailpass packed away in your sled in a sealed waterproof bag... ;-)
Get a friend to do a few trial runs to get your clutching dialed in
and bring your timmers if you have them, nothing worse then getting
out on the lake for the first trip out and someone blows by ya...bahaha
Sled trailer getting lights working check breaks/pack bearings
Get your snowmobile Gear Ready by the door and wait for snow...


This is what I have done so far in the last couple weeks....
Have I missed anything ???.....lol :letitsnow
 
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Nice...I'm really not so hot on the cleaning the carbs every year thing. I see what you all are saying (clogged main jet, or other jet causing a lean condition-then melt down) but I never clean the carb on my KX 250, which thanks to now being an old man, it only gets used a few times a year. And yes, it is a one cylinder, so if it I had a lean running condition it would be immediately evident...I can see where on a triple you could have one cylinder running lean while the others are fine. But really, if she feels carbed right (i.e., no bogging that is cured with the choking it trick...duh that's not fixing it!) why bother? I mean you could slap in fresh plugs on the first day out, run it, then read the plugs and see if you get that lovely golden-brown electrode we're all looking for. I mean true, you could now be at your destination which is many miles from home, tools, warm repair shop and THEN find an issue that would require some fooling around with, which would totally suck!

I had my SRX's motor out last year for an air leak at the case halves, and at the same time looked over the carbs as it has the hard-to-start-from-cold issue...which AFAIC is the nature of the beast and a little starter fluid fixes that. Anyway, I digress, the carbs were perfectly clean. I mean the fuel gets stabilized and yeah the first tank is not so great, but then she runs like a top. I would argue that carb cleaning is over recommending. But I differ to you all, the forum members for your opinions. Plus, it's a PITA to get those dam carbs in-and-out so I really want to be lazy here people!

And now that I think about it...the boat (two stroke again, well the new boat is EFI, but the old boat was carbed) never had any issues after winter or long-term storage so long as the fuel was properly treated. I dunno, just trying to bolster my position here.
 
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Yamaha snowmobile carbs have tiny tiny jet/passage holes,very easily plugged even with treaded fuel,is it worth a burn down or a tear down along side the trail/cabin? not for me when 60 mins of work and you know your good to go.

plus i love wrenching on my babies if i cant ride 'em :mrgreen:
 
Well...I've had no issues thus far. And since the danger zone to me is when running WFO, open trail or lake, at that point the main jet is supplying the fuel, and is also the largest jet in the carb too. But sure, I guess it's possible to say there could be an issue, but if you have a clogged jet passage, I would argue that you would also have some rideability issues as well (or driveability if you prefer). And those would be showing up as an inability to idle, or other issue, when the slow jet or pilot is clogged. I would expect the smaller passages, supplying most of the fuel at idle and off-idle situations to clog first.

No...do you all disagree? I mean I'm no PHD here, but I've done plenty of jetting, and repairs, and diagnosis of running issues and I've also never had a motor melt down from a lean-running condition, and I'd like to keep it that way...keep it coming boys...I almost sold on pulling my carbs for some exploratory surgery this weekend.

That said, when you pull your carbs, what do you look for? Presence of debris? Or do you always pull the jets and soak them no matter what? And seriously, every year you guys do it?
 
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daman said:
plus i love wrenching on my babies if i cant ride 'em :mrgreen:
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Good point...I've been known to pull motors on cars just because it's so much easier to clean the block and do a reseal with the engine out-of-the-chassis and because I had too much time on my hands! But these days time is much more scarce and precious...I am feeling lazy too!
 
Figgy said:
when you pull your carbs, what do you look for? Presence of debris? Or do you always pull the jets and soak them no matter what? And seriously, every year you guys do it?
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We all have our way of doing things what makes the world go around,hehe but anyway it's just something that's "good to do" one just needs to get in the habit of doing,i may get time strapped and do carbs every other year or times i clean carbs twice a season yep, it all come down to what you feel you need to do, pull them out take to the bench pull em down pull jets out soak blow shop air through all jets passages clean float bowl check float height, pilots screws for spec,etc,etc...just spending the time with your sled a beer and your warm shop. lol


its really not that hard to do..
 
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