I just got back from the fourwheeler shop that i do all my business with .They had my four wheeler because i blew a hole in my pistion one nite out playing in the snow .I just got done putting a new carb on it to make it a little faster so when this happen i thought for sure that must of been the problem that they didnt put it on right .Well when i was there to pick it up they said it was not there falt that the carb was put on right but that i had put gas in it that had ethonol in it and that was the problem .does this sound right or am i getting the piston in the you know what

 

Hey i run ethenol in almost everything never have i had a problem from my cars to bikes chainsaws wheelers 2 and 4 stroke i even switch back and forth,the only thing i have noticed is less gas milage when running with ethenol but that might be in my head also kinda sounds fishy about the problem to me

 

Whatever melted your piston, it's hard to say from the information available and probably even harder to prove.

Too fuel-lean a mixture could cause overheating; too lean a mixture could be a result of an air leak from improper installation, or improper jetting/adjustment of the carburetor.

I'm less certain of the possible contribution of ethanol; since ethanol is an alcohol, and alcohol generally burns cooler than gasoline (or has some favorable combustion properties along this line, used because of these properties in some ultra high-compression engines), ethanol hardly seems a likely culprit. You might contact the gasoline company providing the fuel and ask them about possible consequences of using the ethanol blend.

Good luck; by the way, did the bigger carb make your ATV run any faster? Is the larger carb the only mod?

Tree Farmer

 

I would suspect improper jetting in your new carburetor. What type of carburetor and what size jets are you using ?

 

I would suspect improper jetting in your new carburetor. What type of carburetor and what size jets are you using ?

 

I would also vote for the lean condition caused by an air leak because of an improper installation or carburetor jetting/adjustment.

Did you ask the installers what their jetting procedure was for installing this particular carb on your machine? Unfortunately there are too few good technicians and too many parts replacers.

Oh... If they didn't blame it on the ethanol their other favorite excuse is improper warm-up.
Both excuses designed to shift blame to the owner rather than themselves.

 

Yes ethynol can burn down a motor. We are familar with it here because in the winter we have to run oxgenatiated fuels for environment and that is the main ingredient. Fuels with ethynol lean down the fuel air mixture so if it was jetted on non oxgenatiated fuel and then you pulled up to the pump and put oxygenated fuel in it could lean you up enough to burn the piston if your quad was jetted a little on the lean side with regular gas. Yes alcohol does make the engine run cooler but you also have to rejet alot richer to run alcohol

 

The ethanol is not the cause, like tree farmer said it burns cooler, this is a fact, just like any higher octane gasoline it also burns cooler and takes more compresstion to touch it off. As a side note if the gas you burn is from a local station and is used in your area to comply with EPA laws for emissions, it usually only containes about a 10% ethanol. Some cars (and lots of race cars ) burs nothing but ethanol, the difference is you burn much more than stright gas and it burns very cool, this reduces the engine tare downs for race crews buy a great margine) Also ethanol will raise your octane rating a bit. ie: if you take 87 pump gas and add 10% ethanol you raise it to 90 octane.

 

Ethanol does lean the mixture like JC said! If it was jetted for warmer weather so it was a little bit on the lean side, the ethanol fuel could do it. I have heard of it happening in snowmobiles even by running too much fuel de-icer.