Saturday, February 13, 2010

No snow - Maintenance

Since theres no snow I figured I should catch up on some maintenance. The throttle on the '95 Ski-Doo is HEAVY, my thumb aches after 5-10 minutes... I could replace the cable but it doesn't appear to be worn and the housing is still in good shape so I decided to lubricate it instead. The best way to do that would be to disconnect everything and spray it off the sled. At that point you might as well just buy a new cable. Instead I shot the spray in at each end. I had the airbox out anyway so I took the tops off the carbs and sprayed in from that end too. While I had the spray out I did the cables (both throttle and brake) on the Pantera. The Pantera brake cable had water in it when I first got the sled and was frozen so bad it wouldn't work at all. Its been getting better as every ride melts the ice and more gets out. Today I got the engine good and warm and sprayed both ends of the cable and tried to work the spray into the housing. That seems to have worked well, I'll know more tomorrow if it refreezes. If it does I may take it off completely and hang it over the woodstove for a couple days.

The primer on the Ski-Doo has always leaked down overnight. When I did the fuel lines I replaced the line from the pickup to the primer and things got better, it would only leak down on the carb side but thats still a hassle so today I replaced all the remaining lines. Good thing too considering how easily they came off. That should make starting the sled easier.

Finally with the brake cable moving better on the Pantera I tightened the brake. I'd had to loosen it when I was dealing with the cable and it takes time to figure out exactly where it should be set. Should be good now.

If only we could get some snow. For the first time in 9 years I'm not planning on going to the NHSMA winter rally. Its a long drive, we don't have anybody to take care of the dog, I get cold quickly now and theres no snow so there won't be any riding.
I feel bad about not going but...