Fuel Injection ATVs

[DrRod]

I suspect that the evils of ethanol and the carb problems that follow have been discussed at length in here. But I wanted to get some comments on fuel injection and how it might end the problem once and for all. I have a '99 450ES and a '01 Recon. I've had them both in the shop about once a year to get the carbs cleaned out and sometimes the gas tank cleaned out. At the moment, the 450ES periodically backfires [always exciting] and the Recon stalls when idling. Everyone says its the ethanol in the gas that's doing it. Then someone said that the new fuel injected ATVs would help end the problem -- maybe not eliminate it but greatly reduce the frequency of repair needed.

Has anyone out there bought a fuel injected four-wheeler? Has it reduced the bad gas problem? And how do you like the model you bought?

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[tamu94]

Ethanol will still cause water in the gas and the gas to go stale much faster than "pure" gas. I imagine the newer ATV's will be more resistant to their fuel lines and any plastic/rubber fuel system parts being destroyed by the ethanol (a huge problem on older ATV's and small engines).

I hate ethanol. Its worse for the environment, nations economy, fuel consumption, and food supply. The only reason it exists is to appease the corn producers in Iowa during presidential election years.

 

[timswi]

I have an EFI Polaris 570 Sportsman Touring that I bought this past summer...No problems yet although there are only a couple of hundred miles on it.

 

[firemech]

The issue is the fuel not the fuel delivery (carb versus EFI). While EFI has advantages these are not related to poor fuel, ethanol or otherwise. We have a marina in Ontario Canada and see boats, sleds and ATV's both with carbs and Fuel injection, the carb units may show problems sooner, but the EFI's do to it just takes longer and unfortunately; costs more to fix. Our practice and suggestions to our customers are to use good quality fuel stabilizer in anything that is not used regularly or stored for long times. If you can't; then drain the fuel and put it in your car or truck. Don't know a better answer; the new fuels suck regardless if the contain ethanol or not.

 

[dpb800]

I bought a 2008 rancher with efi and it has ran great for all these years. It's awesome for cold starts. It's been great. All my friends with ATV s wish they got one.

 

[Tig]

What exactly do they clean out of your tank or carb? Any pictures? Whatever is fouling things up will probably foul an injector too.
My toys are ten years older than yours and have used e10 for the last 10 to 15 years. I've had no problems.

 

[timswi]

What exactly do they clean out of your tank or carb? Any pictures? Whatever is fouling things up will probably foul an injector too.
My toys are ten years older than yours and have used e10 for the last 10 to 15 years. I've had no problems.

None of my equipment has seen any ill effects from Ethanol either.

 

[PapaPerk]

Questions for you... How long does atv sit with gas in it? Do you shut off the fuel valve EVERY day after using? Do you add stabil or seafoam to fuel? What is source of fuel? Is tank kept full during the winter?

Your issues will continue with fuel injection in my opinion. Those Hondas are pretty forgiving in my experience.

 

[dpb800]

We also have a carb rancher in Missouri that will sit for months on end. We took it in several times after it was hard to start and would run rich. The dealer said the last time that the seals were falling apart. We replaced all seals and it has been running much better. Sitting for extended time is hard on them.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have a 2008 Yamaha 700 Grizzly with efi. 4200 miles and no problems so far.

 

[joemd11]

I have a 2013 Yamaha 550 Grizzly With FI. I use Marine Stabil and a shot of Seafoam in the gas. Haven't had a problem yet - knock on wood. Just recently found a source for non-ethanol fuel and will continue to use the Stabil. The Quad sits for weeks sometimes between uses.

 

[dfkrug]

But I wanted to get some comments on fuel injection and how it might end the problem once
and for all.

I have never owned an FI quad yet, but I look forward to when I will. I have rebuilt hundreds of carbs by now,
auto, M/C, ATV, and 2-stroke power tools. I have also owned a Foreman 450 and a Recon 250 and nearly 40 other
quads.

I have a few hours on someone else's KingQuad 700 FI, and I gotta say, I love the easy cold start and drivability. The
only downside to FI may be initial cost, and the cost of some of the parts if you need them. Kinda like on cars. Who
pines for the days of carbureted cars? Not me. And rebuilding carbs on cars was much more complicated. Automotive
FI systems have been fantastic.

Anyway, the problems that ethanol causes in carbs is exacerbated by the things manufacturers have done to meet
emissions. Carbs from the late 90s and on are designed to run very lean, and have more tiny tiny air passages in them.
They are hard to get clean. I clean a lot of carbs and I recently invested in an industrial ultrasonic cleaner. Anything
to help get at those tiny passages. An FI quad will not have this kind of problem, if FI systems in cars are any indicator.

Best thing you can do is keep your carb-equipped ATV exercised, and clean the in-tank filters and petcock periodically.
Draining the float bowl can help, but leaky float bowl drains can be annoying, too.

 

[tamu94]

I drain all of my tanks and run the carb dry on my small engines if they are going to sit for a few weeks. I also use Stabil for my small engine gas. Before I started doing these precautions I have seen the seals/hoses destroyed on an older weed eater and chainsaw.

 

[DrRod]

What exactly do they clean out of your tank or carb? Any pictures? Whatever is fouling things up will probably foul an injector too.
My toys are ten years older than yours and have used e10 for the last 10 to 15 years. I've had no problems.

I'm not exactly sure. They always say there is gunk plugging up the carburetor. I usually take it to a local guy who works out of a garage by his house. Its close and has been reliable for basic stuff. But after the third time I took it to a dealer and they are the ones who flushed the tank and fuel lines. Again, not sure what came out other than gunk. Both mechanics said the gunk is the result of slowly dissolving rubber/seals due to ethanol.

In answer to other questions:
They typically sit for three weeks at a time and then get used all weekend around the farm.
I have put Stabil in the gas for the past two years.
The dealer gave me some Star Tron anti ethanol treatment a few months ago but its too soon to tell if its making a difference.
They have also suffered from mouse abuse -- i.e. mouse nests in the air box. Even if this gets cleaned out I suspect it is the source of additional foreign material being sucked into the engine.
Sometimes I turn off the fuel and run it dry -- should probably do that more consistently.

One other question: someone mentioned keeping the tank full. Always heard that was good for avoiding condensation, especially in winter. But unless you are riding a lot, that gas will sit in there a long time and get stale. I generally buy small quantities of gas [highest octane I can find] and put it in a little at a time in hopes of keeping it fresh. What do you think is the better way to go?

 

[nybirdman]

I use Marine Stabil +Startron in all my small motors,my outboard and 2 stokes gets 91 octane non-ethanol gas,the mower gets 87 octane plus the additives.I have had no problems with long term storage.

 

[dfkrug]

One other question: someone mentioned keeping the tank full. Always heard that was good for avoiding
condensation, especially in winter. But unless you are riding a lot, that gas will sit in there a long time
and get stale.

Yeah, that's a tradeoff. Older ATVs have steel fuel tanks and they rust, too. But "all" of them today
are plastic, which eliminates that problem. With steel, keeping the tanks full is a plus. With plastic,
that is not a problem, but stale fuel still is.

 

[PapaPerk]

Yeah, that's a tradeoff. Older ATVs have steel fuel tanks and they rust, too. But "all" of them today
are plastic, which eliminates that problem. With steel, keeping the tanks full is a plus. With plastic,
that is not a problem, but stale fuel still is.

Smaller volume of fuel will evaporate leaving shellac like material in tank. Either run it empty or fill it full with stabil added.

 

[MoKelly]

I really like the fuel injected bikes now --- at least for me they start so much easier and the "carb" problems seem to be non-existent. The fact you can't use a kick starter is a negative.

MoKelly

 

[dfkrug]

I really like the fuel injected bikes now --- at least for me they start so much easier and
the "carb" problems seem to be non-existent. The fact you can't use a kick starter is a negative.

Motorcycles have had FI on selected bikes for many years now. Reliability has been good, from what I
hear and read. Mine have all been carbureted.

I remember in the 70s when they started to eliminate kick-starters from street bikes. There was quite
an outcry amoung enthusiasts. Me, too. Now, virtually no street bikes have them. I will bet the
same outcry happened 100y ago when makers were eliminating back-up hand crank-starters from electric-
start cars.

As for kick-starters and pull-starters on ATVs, they are going away, yes. But, pull-starting big
thumpers, esp without compression-release levers, is very difficult. I find it very difficult to
kick-start my Honda TRX300FW, and it is only 300cc. Even harder than kick-starting my old
78 Kawasaki 650cc 4-cylinder.

 

[buickanddeere]

I bought a 2008 rancher with efi and it has ran great for all these years. It's awesome for cold starts. It's been great. All my friends with ATV s wish they got one.

There are far fewer problems with gasoline today than there was up into the 1980's. Fuel no longer gums up or forms varnish in the fuel system . Those people chirping about fuel in 2014 have short memories.