WINTERISING AND STORING A SLED

The Technique

1. If you buy a snowmobile and store it for months, with us or anywhere, proper winterisation is not optional. Skip it and you can lose a full day or more of good snow fighting to get it running. That's a day you've paid a lot of money to be standing there for.
2. What goes wrong in storage: fuel degrades and leaves varnish and gum through the fuel system, moisture corrodes the engine internals and everything else, batteries self-discharge and can be ruined permanently, and tracks, belts and seals take a set or degrade under load. Older sleds are particularly unforgiving. Newer ones are more tolerant, but still benefit enormously.
3. Newer sleds, use the factory storage mode. Many modern machines (notably BRP/Ski-Doo E-TEC models) have a built-in engine storage mode accessible through the dash, which runs the engine through a controlled oiling and preparation sequence. Consult the operator's manual for your exact model and year. The menu path and button sequence vary by year and gauge type, and getting it wrong wastes the procedure. Where it exists, the factory mode is the cleanest and most reliable way to prepare the engine.
4. Core step one, clean thoroughly. Dirt, salt and debris off everything, especially under the tunnel and through the suspension.
5. Core step two, fuel system. Either drain it completely, or add a quality stabiliser and run the engine long enough to circulate treated fuel through the entire system, including the injectors or carburettor bowls.
6. Core step three, engine protection. Fog the cylinders, or run the factory storage mode.
7. Core step four, fluids. Change engine oil on a four-stroke, top the injection oil on a two-stroke. Chaincase oil if due. Check coolant condition and freeze point.
8. Core step five, battery. Remove it, clean the terminals, and store it on a maintainer somewhere cool and dry.
9. Core step six, grease. Suspension pivots, steering components, and every other grease point.
10. Core step seven, track and skis. Elevate the rear so the track is off the ground, and consider blocking the front too. Loosen track tension slightly if the manufacturer recommends it.
11. Core step eight, protect. Breathable cover, block intakes and exhaust against rodents, dry storage where possible.
12. Older sleds need more manual attention: fogging oil into the intake or spark plug holes, draining float bowls on carburetted models, and so on. They don't have dash-activated storage modes. The extra care pays for itself the first morning of the season.
13. Bottom line: a properly winterised sled starts when you need it. An unprepared one costs you the best day of the trip. If you're storing a machine with us, make sure the steps appropriate to that sled have been completed, and when in doubt follow the manufacturer's storage procedure in the operator's guide.

Common Mistakes

Parking it for months on untreated fuel. Fix: drain the system completely, or stabilise and run the engine long enough to circulate treated fuel through the entire system, injectors or carburettor bowls included.

• Leaving the battery in the machine over the off-season. Fix: remove it, clean the terminals, and store it on a maintainer somewhere cool and dry, because batteries self-discharge and can be ruined permanently.
• Guessing your way through the dash storage mode. Fix: the menu path and button sequence vary by year and gauge type and getting it wrong wastes the procedure, so consult the operator's manual for your exact model and year.
• Treating an older sled like a new one. Fix: older machines have no dash-activated storage mode, so do the manual work - fogging oil into the intake or spark plug holes, draining float bowls on carburetted models, and so on.
• Sheet plastic over a dirty sled sitting flat on the ground. Fix: clean it first, elevate the rear so the track is off the ground, use a breathable cover, and block intakes and exhaust against rodents.

The Drill

At the end of a season, run the whole sequence on your own machine with the operator's manual open beside you: clean, fuel system, engine protection, fluids, battery, grease, track and skis, protect. Tick each step off as you do it, then write on a tag what was done and when and hang it on the bars. Next season the tag tells you exactly what state the machine went away in, and what still needs doing before it goes out.

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