Storing your Bike, Boat or Car? Protect The Fuel Injectors
If your bike, boat or car is going to sit for a few months, you risk having fuel injectors decrease in flow, or worse, becoming in-operational. Electronic fuel pumps are also at risk when left to sit for months at a time. The ethanol in today’s fuel breaks down and clogs the openings of the fuel injector and the filter baskets. Even the pintle inside the injector body can become stuck, as the ethanol does it’s dirty work. Ethanol blend fuels (E10, or 10% ethanol) attracts water, and even 1 tablespoon of water could contaminate gallons of gas. Ethanol blend fuels have a shelf life on only THREE MONTHS. According to some research, it is best to store your machine with the tank FULL. This way there will be less water from condensation. Phase separation occurs as the fuel breaks down, and tanks half full will breath more air and form more condensation. Full tank, less condensation. Less condensation, less water in the fuel.
Many of our customers live far enough north that they store their bike or boat over the winter. Some are racers that are rebuilding engines in the off-season, some buy and sell cars and bikes at auction and the machines have sat for months. What do all these customers have in common? The injectors had fuel in them long enough, that it dried up and left residue inside the injector, decreasing flow or potentially sticking the injector open or closed. If the injector isn’t closing completely when the engine is shut off, the pressure inside the fuel line pushing fuel past the injector into the cylinder. This leaks past the rings and into the crankcase oi,l or worse, hydro-locks the engine.
What can you do? Cycle your gas every month if it’s possible. If that won’t be possible, FILL the tank. Apparently there is no fuel stabilizer that will prevent phase separation or keep the E10 from breaking down. But it could help. If you do add a fuel stabilizer, be sure you run the engine long enough for the stabilizer to get all the way through the fuel line, fuel rail and into the injectors. Some street bikes have secondary injectors that only fire at higher rpm, so run it on the track or street hard enough to get the treated fuel to those upper injectors. Even if you drain the gas tank or run the machine till the engine dies, you still have fuel left in the fuel line and in the fuel injectors. It won’t hurt to start and run your machine every week or so, but if you can’t, at least get some quality fuel stabilizer into the fuel system and keep the tank full.
To ensure your machine runs as good as it can, send us your fuel injectors at the beginning of the riding or racing season. Get started here http://www.proflowtech.com/shipping/
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