JeepJimmy
New member
got 3 sleds, srx and two vmax's that if you let sit for a few months the ethanol turns into small white balls of goo and plug up the pilot jets. would cleaning out the jets and carbs and leave dry be the best bet for storage? we have tried stabil blue marine ethanol treatment, and startron with no luck the past two years. any opinions on preventing this or just keep cleaning!!
atf in the last little bit of gas seems to work good.
YAMMIEGOD3:16
Active member
AND FIND NON - ETHANOL FUEL. 3:16 (yammie tony)
Devilin AblueDress!
New member
How shade tree do you want to get? Heres my process for storage. Fire sled up and let it warm up for a few minutes. Pull the 90 elbow apart right behind airbox. I use a 80/90 wieght type jug with a nipple to mix 50/50 atf/fuel, pull oil cable adjustment apart, fire sled back up and when I can start to smell ATF out exhaust I HOG the carbs with fogging oil. Syphon as much as I can out of tank. Pull drive belt,slack the track back and give the entire engine/clutches a nice coating of fogging oil, Take weight off suspension and tuck it good night for the summer. Late fall I pull carbs (5x)/powervalves(4x) clean and re-install (PVs wipe clean easily when soaked in atf/fogging oil for months) As snow is creeping up on us I tighten track back up,re-install belt (after cleaning clutches) Onve snow graces my presence I add fuel and fine tune.
Vt Srx
New member
A guy near me who has been a small engine mechanic for years built his own system to remove ethanol from the gas. He has a clear container that holds 5 gals of gas with a drain hose on the bottom, he pours in a quart of water and lets it sit for awhile. The ethanol bonds to the water and he drains off about 2 quarts and says it's the best windshield washer fluid ever made! He has been doing this for years now and is now selling the gas to a lot of loggers in my area. This guy told me he only has time to work on chainsaws and lawnmowers now since ethanol came out and he can barely keep up with them.
Devilin AblueDress!
New member
Vt Srx said:
This is a fine example of how ethanol fuel screws us all. UG or any fuel storage tank is basically the same as "clear container" major differance is the pump draws of the bottom of storage tank pulling (the crap he uses for window cleaner) and right into our sleds!
Vt Srx said:
By doing so he has changed the octane rating of the fuel he's "making". May not be a big deal for chainsaws; although my year old Stihl recommends 91 non-ethonal fuel, but I don't think it's the answer for an SRX.
To answer the OP - there is no getting around pulling and cleaning the carbs before the first ride regardless of your storage practices so IMO it doesn't much matter whether you drain the bowls dry or not. If you don't drain, but instead store with a full tank, DO NOT use the fuel for the first ride if you're on a 2-stroke. Dump it in your car or truck.
FWIW - I've drained my carbs and tank for at least the past 15 years and pull the carbs before the first ride. This year I got lazy and tried to fill and go to putt around the yard with a kiddy sled tied behind.
No dice, 2 of the three pilots were plugged.
I have yet to hear of a preventative and am still waiting analysis of the opaque boogers.
I might add that I ran atf last year roughly as Don described (same amount of atf but with about a little over a gallon) before draining. Then I ran the fuel out of the carbs while fogging.
Yup, still had white gel in the pilots. In fact each bowl had some level of white boogers. Perhaps draining them vs. leaving the aft/fuel sitting in the bowls made a difference.
However you proceed, pull the carbs before the first ride and use fresh, in season premium.
Last edited:
when you get to the end of your season riding, run the sled down on fuel but leave a couple gallons in it. I just take 2 old spray paint cap fulls of ATF and dump it in the gastank. Rock the sled side to side and pick up the back and slam it down a couple times to mix up the atf to the gas, or you can also mix it up before(thats what I did last time) in a container, gas and 2 cap fulls of ATF, dump in fuel tank.
start up the sled and run it on the clean out stand for a bit, youll know real quick when the atf has gotten into the engine, youll see the increase in smoke. Run it for a good bit and get it warmed up,your done.
In the following fall time when your ready to get the sleds ready, fill up the tank with fresh premium fuel, it will dilute the atf so it just pretty much goes away. The powervalves will be way easier to clean if a srx or viper and the carbs will be clean. I still remove them and go over/thru them but no more plugged pilots and boogers in there with the atf.
atf is high detergent, so it softens up the build up crud on the pv's and white jelly stuff is gone from the carbs. I used it last couple years, worked great for me. Gary from this site was the guy who introduced the concept.
start up the sled and run it on the clean out stand for a bit, youll know real quick when the atf has gotten into the engine, youll see the increase in smoke. Run it for a good bit and get it warmed up,your done.
In the following fall time when your ready to get the sleds ready, fill up the tank with fresh premium fuel, it will dilute the atf so it just pretty much goes away. The powervalves will be way easier to clean if a srx or viper and the carbs will be clean. I still remove them and go over/thru them but no more plugged pilots and boogers in there with the atf.
atf is high detergent, so it softens up the build up crud on the pv's and white jelly stuff is gone from the carbs. I used it last couple years, worked great for me. Gary from this site was the guy who introduced the concept.
tractordanp
New member
i run marine stybil in everytank of gas even when we can get NON - ETHANOL FUEL and anyone i do carbs for i tell the same and any sleds i go through that use the marine stybil carbs are spotless