My viper just blew up. Not a good day :(

stingray719 said:
Every failure I have found with a description goes the same as mine, ran slow for at least 5 minutesthen the throttle pinned. DAMN POOR design Yamaha!

Oh, and I guarantee I have built more yamaha engines over the years than you have rode bluemonster. Motorcycle snowmobile and even jet ski engine. I have 7 Yamaha motorcycles ranging from a 1969 DT1 to a Virago.

03viperguy, some people have never lost a Viper engine cause they dont ride that way. I NEVER had a peoblem till I got my Apex and gave it to the girlfriend....cause I never ran it slow for any time. Local yamaha dealer here told me of a sled rental agency that lost TWENTY engines in a week back when they had them so it DOES happen. (mine has factory rear heat exchanger)

Lastly, go to Ebay and search for Viper heads and see them all dinged on one cyilinder.

One more though. Yamaha once built a bad SRX engine I think it was 1981. They recalled EVERY ONE of them. So they have a history of customer service so that is why I am so pissed about this horrible design being sent out without even a recall.
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............it was 1982, the SRX500 which was the forerunner to the VMAX 540. The problem was the clutch was out of balance and it would take the cranks out. In 1983 when the Vmax came out they used a Comet 102C. The SRX 500 is a very rare sled but a few do exist.
 

In regards to overheating. I have a rear exchanger on mine. When I bought it new I remember alot of owners complaining of overheat issues. Some of them were false claims because owners mistakenly saw the low fuel light. LOL!! But some did. Mine nor my fathers had this issue. But I had planned on piping the sled in the future and Yamaha had offered a rear exchanger put in for $50. I took the opportunity with my dealer and had one put on for that price. But neither of our two Vipers has ever had an issue . The one thing that I don't like about the rear exchanger is snow and ice hang up on it alot when I ride in northern Wisconsin or the UP of Michigan where they get alot of lake effect sugar snow. As for summer storage.... we keep both machines in a climate controlled shop and we start them every month until the sled fully warms up. We also use Schaeffer's Neutra fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel from turning to varnish. This method of starting the sleds every month for 40 years has proven to work for over 40 sleds in our family. No reason to change something that works..........
 
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journeyman said:
snip - As for summer storage.... we keep both machines in a climate controlled shop and we start them every month until the sled fully warms up. We also use Schaeffer's Nutra fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel from turning to varnish. This method of starting the sleds every month for 40 years has proven to work for over 40 sleds in our family. No reason to change something that works..........
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My '01 owner's guide says to either store with stabilizer or drain for summer storage. But the owner's guide also included a seperate suppliment that recommended against storing fuel and recommended to only drain.

It also reiterated the dangers of starting once a month and recommended fogging.

IMO - with proper warm up during monthly running over the summer, the risk of engine damage is reduced but that was before E based fuels.

Aside from the issues of seperation and changes in octane with stored fuel, does ethanol change the lubricity of the fuel/oil charge or more correctly the oil's ability to protect against corosion?

I'm not arguing with the 40 years of success, just questioning whether ethanol fuels is a game changer.

It most certainly is when it comes to changes in octane after lengthy storage.
 
snomofo said:
My '01 owner's guide says to either store with stabilizer or drain for summer storage. But the owner's guide also included a seperate suppliment that recommended against storing fuel and recommended to only drain.

It also reiterated the dangers of starting once a month and recommended fogging.

IMO - with proper warm up during monthly running over the summer, the risk of engine damage is reduced but that was before E based fuels.

Aside from the issues of seperation and changes in octane with stored fuel, does ethanol change the lubricity of the fuel/oil charge or more correctly the oil's ability to protect against corosion?

I'm not arguing with the 40 years of success, just questioning whether ethanol fuels is a game changer.

It most certainly is when it comes to changes in octane after lengthy storage.
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That's why we use the Schaeffer's Neutra. It keeps the fuel fresh way longer than anything I have tried. It works so well I have been thinking of becoming a distributor. The hardest part is finding a dealer. You will not see the stuff in any big box store. That way they keep their sellers margins up. I already have everyone at my work using it and they all swear by the stuff for small engines. If you have a carb that's partially gummed up on an engine and it runs like crud, you mix the Neutra heavier than normal, run the motor until it gets into the carb/s.......wait a day or two and it dissolves the crud. The stuff is amazing. We have not had to clean the carbs since the first year we have owned our Vipers in my family. I took them apart last year just for the heck an they were spotless. I thought I was having carb issues and my reed petals were shot. Maybe the stuff is hard on reeds though.........but I had over 7000 miles on the sled when they went. Our other Viper has 3400 miles and everything is great with that machine.

http://www.schaefferoil.com/neutra_plus.html
 
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journeyman said:
That's why we use the Schaeffer's Neutra. It keeps the fuel fresh way longer than anything I have tried. It works so well I have been thinking of becoming a distributor. The hardest part is finding a dealer. You will not see the stuff in any big box store. That way they keep their sellers margins up. I already have everyone at my work using it and they all swear by the stuff for small engines. If you have a carb that's partially gummed up on an engine and it runs like crud, you mix the Neutra heavier than normal, run the motor until it gets into the carb/s.......wait a day or two and it dissolves the crud. The stuff is amazing. We have not had to clean the carbs since the first year we have owned our Vipers in my family. I took them apart last year just for the heck an they were spotless. I thought I was having carb issues and my reed petals were shot. Maybe the stuff is hard on reeds though.........but I had over 7000 miles on the sled when they went. Our other Viper has 3400 miles and everything is great with that machine.

http://www.schaefferoil.com/neutra_plus.html
Click to expand...

Huh?



Neutra Plus is a highly concentrated multifunctional fuel stabilizer that is specially formulated for use in all types of diesel fuel.
 
journeyman said:
............it was 1982, the SRX500 which was the forerunner to the VMAX 540. The problem was the clutch was out of balance and it would take the cranks out. In 1983 when the Vmax came out they used a Comet 102C. The SRX 500 is a very rare sled but a few do exist.
Click to expand...

mid 1981, they had a trade in plan because there was a large class action lawsuit about to be filed. they would give you full trade in on a 81 srx440 to a new 1982 srv540. They would then destroy the 81 engine by smacking it with a sledge hammer. The 82 srx500 was dropped preseason and not released to the public. A couple were given to race teams for testing rest are rumored to be stored in a warehouse. 1981 srx440 had i think 27 service bulletins on repairs/updates, basicly they released a race sled to the public to try and trail ride and it didnt work out very well. It wasnt the clutch out of balance but the crank snout stuck out too far and used a small narrow pto bearing with not enough support and it was a disaster. The comet clutchs were used because the yamaha clutchs prior to 82 were garbage and they couldnt get any amount of reasonable service life from them. In 82 a new yamaha clutch was brought out much like todays clutch on the 2 stroke sleds, but the trusty comet again saw service life in various models up thru the years, vmax540 being one of them.
 
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