Snowmobile Storage Tips

As riding season winds down, how you store your snowmobile makes a huge difference in what you’ll find when you pull it out next season. This year, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in preventable failure and we want to help you avoid them. Here’s what our techs see most often, and how to protect your sled all summer long.

                       ⛽  Fuel System: The #1 Cause of Engine Failure

⚠  This Year’s Alarming Statistic: Nearly 80% of injectors we tested this season were bad and needed replacement. Ethanol-blended fuel is the primary culprit because it leaves sticky deposits that prevent injectors from opening properly, causing the engine to run lean. A lean engine runs hot, and at wide-open throttle (where your engine makes 133 revolutions per second), a plugged injector can destroy a piston in seconds.

What to Do Before Storage:

•     Fill the tank with non-ethanol fuel for your last ride of the season.

•     Mix it with a mineral-based 2-stroke oil (the cheapest on the shelf works fine). This lubricates the injectors, adds rust inhibitors, and sends extra protective oil through the engine.

•     Add a quality fuel stabilizer. We personally use Mercury/Quicksilver brand in our own sleds.

•     Always store with a FULL tank of fuel. A full tank keeps the fuel pickup fully submerged, prevents drying out, and eliminates static discharge risk.

Preparing for Fall Start-Up:

Stabilizer is not a substitute for fresh fuel. Fuel loses its octane rating as it sits. We recommend draining the tank completely in the fall and refilling with fresh 91 octane and mineral-based additive. Run an injector cleaner once during the season as well.

                🛢  Oil System: The Hidden Danger in Warm Storage

If you store your sled in an enclosed trailer, pay close attention to this one.

Heat causes oil to expand. If the vent on your oil bottle fails or is fully sealed, the oil has nowhere to go therefore it gets forced into the engine. Oil cannot compress, so this causes a hydrolock condition that frequently bends connecting rods. This is an expensive repair that is almost entirely preventable.

💡  Our Recommended Oil Storage Procedure

✓   Mark the oil level on the bottle before storage.

✓   Do NOT fully seat the oil cap!! Leave it slightly loose so the bottle can vent upward instead of into the engine.

✓   In fall, check whether the oil level has risen. If it has, your vent system needs attention

before you ride.

                    🔋  Battery: Don’t Let It Die on the Shelf

We strongly recommend a battery tender (trickle charger) for the off-season. A discharged battery sulfates over time and often cannot be recovered. A battery tender pays for itself the first time it saves you from a replacemen and ensures your sled fires up instantly next season.

If maintainace is not your strong suit let us handle it for you! Drop off your snowmobile and we’ll perform all of the above storage procedures. While it’s here, we can also take care of:

Hifax & Carbides  •  Drive Bearing Greasing  •  Suspension Service  •  Performance Upgrades