Hey, just wondering because i know how terrible the winter is for our batteries and quads in general, what people do that is different than the summer. Usually on my raptor and warrior i litterally put the choke on, start it, and go back in my house for like 5 minutes.. This is what my dad told me to do he says that the winter makes it a bit harder for the oil to flow through and i should let them warm up before i even shift them.. Although we now have multigrade oil. So yeah is there anything you guys do in the winter to prevent breakage?

 

maybe richen the idle up a bit and keep an eye on the battery in the cold

change the oil,,,and put a winter grade oil in there

be sure your coolant is up to snuff

 

well in summer.. i can tap my throttle a bit and push the button and it starts right up... this winter i am expecting to do about the same thing...

 

1. turn choke all the way on
2. hope to hell it starts up (honda)
3. keep it running on full choke for about half a minute
4. put it to half choke and let off on throttle a little
5. let it idle on half choke, then put it on no choke
6. go back inside for about 10 minutes
7. dread the ride home

 

When I had my stock carb I would rejet for the winter, that made it run a lot better. I'd choke it full, pump the throttle a couple times to squirt some gas down the throat, then hit the starter and it'd fire right up. After about 5 or 10 seconds when it starts revving up by itself, i'd kick it to 1/2 choke for 30 seconds to a minute, and after that it would idle by itself with the choke off completely. The biggest no-no on a cold engine is to rev the engine up until it's warm. The jug should at least be getting warm to the touch before you give it any more than 1/4 throttle.

5 minutes is a bit excessive for warming up (better longer than you need than not enough though), and you definitely shouldn't let it sitting with the choke on for that long. When the choke is on, especially full choke, the engine is running extremely rich, which means the fuel isn't burning clean or complete, and carbon deposits will build up pretty quick from that. If you need the choke for more than a minute from a cold start, you probably need to at least back the fuel screw out a little bit, start with 1/2 a turn, and if that's not enough, try again until it gets better.

Now that I have my Edelbrock, I don't even have a choke to screw with. I flick the throttle a couple times, hit the starter, and keep the throttle cracked open just a hair for 10 seconds or so, then it's usually ready to idle on it's own.

If I could only get my van to start that easy when it's cold... damn cold blooded dodge

 

I'm thinking 5 minutes with the enricher on may not be that good of a thing. When an engine first starts and idles, in the cold, it'll need a bit more fuel in the mix. After that, I just let idle and slowly let out choke/enricher.

Another thing to consider is a battery tender. If your battery is up to snuff, it'll have little problem spinning over the engine.

 

no, running without the enrichener for 5 minutes is a bad idea, without a doubt. When it's jetted correctly for the cold weather you shouldn't need it for more than a minute, if even that long. I don't even have one at al on my carb and it starts fine.

If you're feeling really confident about letting the quad idle for 5 minutes while it's running extremely rich, then fire it up and let the choke on for a while, then shut the engine off, pull the spark plug, and look at the tip. It's going to be all black and sooty, and that's the same carbon deposits that are building up in the combustion chamber, on your valves and seats, in the ports, and even in your exhaust system. And the spark plug may be self cleaning once the choke gets let back out and the engine gets ran for a few minutes, but the rest of your engine's internals isn't going to clean itself. From all those carbon deposits you get accelerated wear on your piston, rings, cylinder wall, valves, and valve guides, plus a decreased oil life because some of that nasty carbon will make it's way past the rings into the oil, and contaminate it.

I agree with the battery tender though, if you keep your quad in an unheated garage, shed, or just sitting outside, and don't ride it very often. I keep my quads outside in the shed, and never had a battery go dead on me though without a battery tender, but it's rare for mine to sit for more than a week at a time.

 

i was told if you rev the engine (after neccesary warmup time), the temperature will burn off all the carbon deposited.

 

I normaly just turn the key on and then press the magic lil grey button an tap the gas my atv allways cranks very easy!!!

 

I have never had anything start as well as my kodiak in the winter..... or anytime for that matter.....from 10-95 degrees..no problem what-so-ever