Summer Snowmobile Maintenance
Winter riding on your favorite snowmobile is always a lot of fun, but the season always comes to an end. When winter rolls into spring and riding becomes a no-go due to weather changes, it is time to think about summer snowmobile maintenance. Let's take a look at the top tasks you need to perform on your vehicle before you store it away until next winter.
Clean and Polish
The first thing to do when it comes to summer snowmobile maintenance is to give it a thorough cleaning before putting it away in storage. If your snowmobile has mud, dirt, road salt, or just general build-up, cleaning it at least yearly is an important maintenance task. Since build-up can corrode areas like nuts, bolts, and even the paint job, this should always be part of your pre-storage summer snowmobile maintenance. After you clean and detail your vehicle with warm soapy water and rinse it off, you should take care to dry it thoroughly to avoid leftover moisture creating rust issues. Finally, once the cleaning is done, you can apply some wax to the paint job to give it a bit more protection while in storage.
Fogging
An important task on any summer snowmobile maintenance checklist is fogging the engine. You should check the owner's manual to make sure it is safe to fog your model before doing this task. Fogging the engine can help with the overall power of the engine, as well as prevent malfunctions and even corrosion. You want to perform this task in a well-ventilated space and make sure you follow the process as outlined in your owner's manual. Since this task requires you to remove the air box and then spray fogging oil in the throttle body until white smoke comes out, you should make sure to read and follow any instructions to avoid inadvertently damaging your machine.
Take Care of Fuel System
You don't want to store your snowmobile away for the summer without taking care of the fuel system. The maintenance you perform will depend on whether you have a carbureted model or a fuel injected model. A carbureted model should be stored with an empty fuel tank, unless otherwise noted in the owner's manual. A fuel inject model should be stored with a full tank to reduce condensation forming in the tank. If your snowmobile should be stored with fuel in the tank, make sure you add a fuel stabilizer. When you add the fuel stabilizer, let the engine run for a few minutes to make the most of the solution.
Grease It
Part of summer maintenance for your snowmobile is greasing it in crucial areas. A snowmobile is vulnerable to rust which is why adding a protective layer of grease to key points is so important. You should grease areas such as lube points, chassis, nuts, suspension rails, and anywhere there is a grease fitting. Of course, you want to make sure you rinse all this extra grease off before you start riding next winter.
