Motorcycles, Snowmobiles, Go-Carts, ATV's and Golf Carts - preventive maintanance for older arctic cats

I just purchased a project sled '90 arctic cat el tigre EXT with a liquid cooled 530cc engine and one of the cylinders and piston is bad..burned out a piston. My question is, what would cause one piston to fry but not the other? I'm sure there are reasons that would cause both to go. From reading other posts it seems anything from crank seals causing a lean situation to myriad of other things like reed blocks. (or I could be wrong :). Is one cylinder more the sign of a carb too leaned out? Is it possible that the oil injector for that side failed? I bought a '88 el tigre off a guy that was obviously getting too much injected oil so I took the oil pump thingamajig off the lower part of the engine and there were small metallic shavings in the worm gear that wouldn't let it regulate properly...yes,yes I know those shavings came from somewhere bad and I'll need to address that too. I like tearing things apart and putting them back together which is why the wife won't let me buy anything new. In addition to the many questions already in this post, does anyone have any advice for what I can do to keep my sleds depedable i.e. routine engine maintanance? Do reed blocks get old etc..... Thanks.

As far as your question about why one and not the other, it can be something significant and obvious. A lean mixture no matter what it's attributed to can run one cylinder hotter than the other (crank seals would be a real possibility or an intake leak). If your engine is shorted on the injected oil, certainly you can tear up an engine, but one verses the other could be another matter. A failing ignition on one cylinder can affect the loading on the other = more heat buildup. The cooling system, either by liquid,fan or motion induced air flow could represent a variable - one cylinder verses the other, although the liquid in my estimation would be more consistent.

In less obvious terms two identical cylinders with identical combustion configurations and/or environments are more theoretical than possible. You just can't get it done, although you can come close. So within those variables you can cross the threshold with one cylinder and be not quite there with the other one.

Make sure your injectalube is working and filled and check your plugs periodically for a light brown coloration. If you cover those two bases, you'll be OK.

get exhaust temp gauges easy to install and you can keep an eye on things b4 they go bad. they saved my motor more than id like.

try this link





http://snowmobile.off-road.com/snowmobile/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=195914