First Impressions, 800 Etec

nuggetau · Nov 14, 2010

Rode 79.5 miles of mountain road today. 4-10" of new snow on packed base. Consumed 9.1 gal fuel(8.7mpg), just over 1/4 tank of oil in 2.2 hour ride. As we were told the fuel consumption is pretty heavy during break-in.

First pull starting with no choke is nice. I like the 36" front, but frankly I expected a bit more, I guess I can experiment with eliminating the sway bar again. Front shocks set at 2.

Rear suspension seems fine, although they have the center shock cranked down pretty tight from the factory, makes for a very light feel but it won't turn until you back off the center shock. It still wants to push more than I like in the turns.

The fit of the front hood actually works like it should.

I had my doubts about the placement for the dual intake being the solution for the bogging, but having seen it in person I think it will work most of the time, even for those really deep days the location makes for just a quick swipe of the hand to get things going.

It's hard to assess the motor or clutching just riding the road and still in "retard" mode. Throttle pull is some easier, the motor is all over the place, runs clean for a little while, then loads up some and kind of boggy. I will withhold my judgement on the motor for another 13 gallon of fuel. I left the clickers in 1, just to keep the rpms down road riding, but bucking 10" of wet snow she would only hold around 7300 rpm while still in retard mode. There is also a buzzy note from the motor I will get accustomed to, but don't really care for.

At idle it sounds more like a 4 stroke than a 2 stroke.

winter brew · Nov 15, 2010

Click that thing up to 4 and hammer down! Running it easy and low on RPM is not a good idea for break in...plus it'll help you burn through that 22 gal break in fuel.

nuggetau · Nov 15, 2010

winter brew said:
Click that thing up to 4 and hammer down! Running it easy and low on RPM is not a good idea for break in...plus it'll help you burn through that 22 gal break in fuel.

Yes, opinions abound regarding the easy run-in versus the hard. I'm of the opinion ride it like you would normally except no LONG wide open runs. So I'm not babying it, but was curious what it would pull set on 1 in retard mode. Your point about it not running at the top of the powerband is well taken, I moved them to 3 as I'm guessing that is where it will want to be for trails after the retard mode is gone, and 4 for boondocking/climbing.

Rest assured, I'm not putting up and down the road at 20mph.

I'm off to burn another tank today.

XP Summit · Nov 15, 2010

keep us posted on todays ride!

sledheadd · Nov 15, 2010

nuggetau said:
Yes, opinions abound regarding the easy run-in versus the hard. I'm of the opinion ride it like you would normally except no LONG wide open runs. So I'm not babying it, but was curious what it would pull set on 1 in retard mode. Your point about it not running at the top of the powerband is well taken, I moved them to 3 as I'm guessing that is where it will want to be for trails after the retard mode is gone, and 4 for boondocking/climbing.

Rest assured, I'm not putting up and down the road at 20mph. I'm off to burn another tank today.

Luck sob. Have fun!!:face-icon-small-hap
We got no snow up here in northern alberta.:face-icon-small-sad

SuperBad · Nov 15, 2010

Good to hear, should be an amazing sled.

Mallolet · Nov 15, 2010

Pics please....

Teth-Air · Nov 15, 2010

QUOTE

"At idle it sounds more like a 4 stroke than a 2 stroke."

In the snowmobile industry this is now to be known as:

"THREE STROKE!" :lol:

nuggetau · Nov 15, 2010

86.5 miles today, burned 7.6 gal fuel(11.38mpg), 3/8 tank of oil. The snow settled so that could account for the increase in fuel economy, but as to why the oil consumption increased 4-5oz, shrug......
Moved clickers to #3, it will now jump to 8000-8100(between 1/2 to 3/4 throttle) but as the ground speed increases the rpm drops about 200rpm, I'm guessing this is due to the reverse helix?
Motor felt very crisp today, no bogging, coughing etc...
Does anyone know if the break-in function is a graduated release, or all at once? I now have 16.7 gallons through the injectors, the way the motor felt today I'm guessing mine might have released early. If there is more to be released in the motor tomorrow I will be surprised, but smiling from ear to ear if it gets even better.

It's not too bad as it was today.
A couple complaints though. I don't like that the seat tapers down to the tank, my legs are just the wrong length and find myself sliding down into the tank. For those shorter than 6' you will probably be down in the taper, but your legs won't be too cramped, those over 6' will be seated further back and avoid the slope, guess I'm just the wrong height.
The painted tunnel and running boards will be a double edged sword, the boards clear a little better because they are slicker, but the paint won't hold up very well, I have already worn a dime sized hole in the paint on both sides (brake rotor and chain case) from the eyelets on my boots.

nuggetau · Nov 15, 2010

sledheadd said:
Luck sob. Have fun!!:face-icon-small-hap
We got no snow up here in northern alberta.:face-icon-small-sad

Don't be too jealous, I have to get up over 7000' before there is enough to even ride the road. It is better than nothing, but man these warm storms are pissing me off, starting off like last winter, wasting all that good precip as rain.

ak · Nov 15, 2010

I have 105 miles on mine And I think the break in is gradual, it gets better every time I ride it. And the coating on the tunnel doesnt last very long.

AndrettiDog · Nov 15, 2010

The painted tunnel and running boards will be a double edged sword, the boards clear a little better because they are slicker, but the paint won't hold up very well, I have already worn a dime sized hole in the paint on both sides (brake rotor and chain case) from the eyelets on my boots.

I wondered about this. Too bad because the all black Doo is a sweet looking sled. I wonder how hard the tunnel will be to touch up.

winter brew · Nov 16, 2010

NICE! Keep us posted. We're just getting teased my mother nature....snow, but not enough to ride.

nuggetau · Nov 16, 2010

The weather guessers predicted 3-5" last night, we got nothing. :face-icon-small-fro I have tramped down the only 2 high elevation rides I have within 50 miles so I guess I will have to wait til Friday for more snow.

I took the sled to the dealer and had them put it on the Budds to see where the break-in was at. Sled has 167 miles and used almost 17 gallon of fuel which according to the manual it should be released in another 5 gallon. Not so fast, budds says 49% still remain. The release is graduated, but they won't even tell the techs how many steps or even how much the timing is retarded. If the motor runs that good only halfway thru break-in then this motor will be a good runner!!

A fly in the ointment though, found coolant dripping from the belly pan after returning from the dealer. Either the tank is burping and running down into the belly pan, or those damned Oetiker clamps are leaking during cool down. The tank still had pressure, so not sure? My guess is a micro leak on one of the clamps or as in the past the overflow bottle doesn't want to be filled to the line and is burping out the excess?

nuggetau · Nov 16, 2010

BugIto said:
I wondered about this. Too bad because the all black Doo is a sweet looking sled. I wonder how hard the tunnel will be to touch up.

I guess I'll find out, thinking I might try some of the armoured paints just on the wear spots, trying to get the color match may be a problem though.

I'm thinking almost any conventional paint won't hold up to the abrasion in the wear spots. I think I will pick up a can of this Friday it might work better than paint, provided it will adhere.

http://www.homedepot.com/Blacks/Pai...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Seeyacop · Nov 16, 2010

Some 3m Stoneguard protective plastic might be a good idea to run on these tunnels where the boots rub. Cheap on ebay and easy to put on.

nuggetau · Nov 16, 2010

Seeyacop said:
Some 3m Stoneguard protective plastic might be a good idea to run on these tunnels where the boots rub. Cheap on ebay and easy to put on.

On the flat side surface of the tunnel that is a good idea, on the uneven surface of the brakerotor and chaincase (where my holes are)we will need something else, the bedliner may or may not work? I think it would be resistant to the abrasion, just a matter of if it will stay adhered?

sdsnocop · Nov 17, 2010

I do not have any experience on the 800 e-tech motor but I have a lot of experience (7500 miles) on the 600 e-tech. I found the breakin period was over by around 500 miles. My fuel economy was not quite what ski doo claimed but I got 10-12 busting powder, 12-14 general off trail or agressive trail riding, 14-16 average trail riding with some off trail and 16-18 easy trail riding. oil consumption was 1 quart to approx 125 miles. Fuel quality is extremely important with the e-tech. They will not tolerate any contaminants or octane lower than 91. The fuel system contains several very fine screen filters that will easily plug with dirty fuel. The lower octane fuel will cause the motor to fall on its face (drop rpm's) on a long pull. The computer has a function that when it senses a problem it will go into a "limp home" mode where the rpm's will be limited to 5500 rpm's. This function can be temporarily bypassed by shutting off the motor and restarting. However you will need to take it to the dealer to hook it up to a laptop for diagnosis. I had problems with mine going into "limp home" but the dealer could not find the problem. The sled burned down 2 miles from camp on the last day I rode it at 7500 miles. My problems all started with a bad batch of dirty fuel.

AndrettiDog · Nov 18, 2010

Break-in took 500 miles? :face-icon-small-con

Some guys don't get 500 miles in during a season.

nuggetau · Nov 18, 2010

BugIto said:
Break-in took 500 miles? :face-icon-small-con

Some guys don't get 500 miles in during a season.

If I am at 49% remaining at 167 miles, and the break-in is completely linear, then I would predict complete release for my sled at approx 330 miles. However the tech said the last 10-20% would likely not be very noticeable, so I'm thinking at the end of my next ride will likely be what I can expect from the motor.

My goal is to ride 1000 miles a month until mid march.

First Impressions, 800 Etec

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