Dealers checking for ethanol fuel on engine failures.

machinest660 · Jul 9, 2011

Was at the dealer today and was talking to the service manager about all the engine failures on the Polaris 800's and he said next season will be very expensive for a lot of people because the will be checking the fuel in the tanks and if it has too much alcohol or water in it they will consider it when making decisions on warranty claims.

SO just a heads up to all you 800cfi owners out there... be sure to run good fuel :face-icon-small-win

suitcase · Jul 9, 2011

Well if your not burning the good stuff, and they void the warranty, then you deserve it. lol (not trying to be mean) But Your nuts if you don't run the good stuff.

paulharris · Jul 9, 2011

thats gonna be a tough one for them to prove. lots of variables, how long fuel has been sitting, fuel brand, small gas station that doesent sell a lot of premium, ethanol/ no ethanol, additives, etc.

94fordguy · Jul 9, 2011

I also don't see how they can make that one stick either... Don't they say right on them "87 Octane Minimum"

I know I'd be all over them on that one if it were me.:face-icon-small-fro

INDEEP · Jul 9, 2011

They must have just got their bill for "acceptable failures" this season. :face-icon-small-sho

slash · Jul 9, 2011

INDEEP said:
They must have just got their bill for "acceptable failures" this season. :face-icon-small-sho

THE PROPER EQUIPMENT TO CHECK FUEL COSTS MORE THAN THE DLRSHIP never happen dip tests arent any good spefic gravity eather it drops with age after a week

knee deep in it · Jul 9, 2011

most refineries used to use two highly calibrated engines to test octane. They would play with the timing until it knocked. That told them the octane of the gasoline being produced that shift.

Impossible for a dealership to accurately measure octane without a million dollar setup.

AdrenalineAddict · Jul 9, 2011

Where do you think your typical station puts the 87 octane when the load delivered is more than the 87 tank can hold? You know they don't send it back. Would this now place the liability on the station? I've personally detoed a few motors over the years that was no fault of mine.

xc6rider · Jul 9, 2011

AdrenalineAddict said:
Where do you think your typical station puts the 87 octane when the load delivered is more than the 87 tank can hold? You know they don't send it back. Would this now place the liability on the station? I've personally detoed a few motors over the years that was no fault of mine.

Yes it would, IF you can prove anything. If your dealer tries to tell you your fuel is bad, take your fuel receipts and info from the dealer to the fuel station. And find out who the higher up to contact is. Also, request signed documentation from your dealer regarding their fuel claims.

Keep your receipts, and make sure your dealer is prepared to hand out legally binding documentation.

I dont think they'll actually be doing this though.

snowmobiler · Jul 9, 2011

i dont know anybody who runs regular in a newer sled.

05900 · Jul 9, 2011

Guess they'll be removing the 87 min rating now, or they are in deep now.

2XM3 · Jul 10, 2011

Well at .009+ wall clearance, .015 out of round bores i've checked and the insane fuel mapping along with the overall hunk of crap these motors are you could burn 100% VP c25 and it would still grenade itself.

diamonddave · Jul 10, 2011

I don't think this year will be any more expensive than last year was. Many of the CFI's ran out of warranty last season or are now out of warranty anyway and the many looking for goodwill were sent up the river.

It still blows me away how many still think the 8's suck and the 6's and 7's are golden.

suitcase · Jul 10, 2011

A thought that just come to mind, When you go and pick your new sled up from your dealer and it is ready to hit the snow with all the goodies the dealer put on it, made sure the sled ran good and pulled the RPMs it should so on and on. Did the dealer put premiun fuel in it or not????? Are they going to spend the extra money on the good stuff or not???? They put fuel in alot of sleds, and with things being tight in the market, along with everything else, would they or would they not run Premiun?????
Just a thought.

machinest660 · Jul 10, 2011

Alot of interesting comments here, the kit he showed me was a small hand held kit that he said the cost of was a little over 1000 dollars(which polaris is supplying the dealers with i was told). It said something on the box about checking ethanol content as well. I think this will stir up a whole new can of worms if they start pointing fingers at guys that fail the so called "fuel test":face-icon-small-dis

AKSNOWRIDER · Jul 11, 2011

I would definately be saving every fuel receipt for every bit of fuel I bought this winter..just in case polaris did test my fuel and it failed as premium..at least I can take the results and go after the place I bought the fuel from...with receipts in hand....

suitcase · Jul 12, 2011

suitcase said:
A thought that just come to mind, When you go and pick your new sled up from your dealer and it is ready to hit the snow with all the goodies the dealer put on it, made sure the sled ran good and pulled the RPMs it should so on and on. Did the dealer put premiun fuel in it or not????? Are they going to spend the extra money on the good stuff or not???? They put fuel in alot of sleds, and with things being tight in the market, along with everything else, would they or would they not run Premiun?????
Just a thought.

I don't durn it but is the ethonal fuel cause any of these problems?

rocket · Jul 12, 2011

Yes, ethanol can cause problems, especially if the fuel comes in at more than 10% content. Still, I'm having a hard time believing Polaris will have any luck making such an arrangement fly, considering all their documentation, owners manual, etc. says "Premium fuel recommended, 87 octane minimum". On the other hand, fuel exceeding 10% ethanol is a different story. That could be "out of bounds", but is also outside of what fuel suppliers are supposed to have in their pumps. I agree with the comments that their biggest problem is the hosed up fuel map, not what guys are putting in the tank. I've been running my sled with the wires always in the "ethanol" configuration AND adding 5%+ fuel to the midrange, whether I buy what is advertised as "no ethanol" fuel or not. I've also done long WOT runs with 10%+ fuel removed from the WOT fuel calibration using 89 octane gas known to contain ethanol without any ill effects.

Butta · Jul 12, 2011

I think the bigger picture here is viewed by looking at the entire sled market....are OTHER MANUFACTURERS having their motors mysteriously blow up recently, setting a trend to point to an industry-common problem (i.e. our crappy fuel supply)?

No, I think not. Polaris may have once again found a way to deny (at least temporarily) a large percentage of motor claims. If they'd spend the money on R&D to fix and provide a solid motor to begin with, they'd save all the warranty claims and so-called fuel test equipment this thread eludes to.

Not impressed.....looking at AC for the next sled.....

INDEEP · Jul 13, 2011

Wonder how they'll like the extra oil in the fuel like everyone recommends? Polaris just needs to figure out how to build a motor. Does any other manufacturer have a ethanol setting for their motor? On top of that Polaris 800's make the least amount of power. Good thing they have a good chassis.

Dealers checking for ethanol fuel on engine failures.

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