We have this new Yamaha space that isn't getting much use so I guess I should make a post here. Apologies to Pops but I am abandoning the VW in my Thatcher CX4. The VW runs great in the summer but it is a real pain to operate in the winter. Very coldblooded and prone to icing. I am going to install a 80 hp Phazer snowmobile engine. It is made to operate in cold weather!
I bought a pair of Yamaha Venture Lites. They use the 80hp, two cylinder Phazer engine. The red one is a 2012 and is a user. It has 15,000 plus miles and needs ball joints in the front suspension before it goes to the mountain. It does fine running around the yard though. The white one is a 2010 and has 7400 miles. The frame is broken and the front suspension is bent up and broken. The young man who I bought the pair from wouldn't fess up as to how it got damaged. He did indicate that it didn't happen on the trail. I think somebody drove over the left front suspension while it was parked in his driveway. Whatever, he did claim the engine was good and ran last year. In truth, I believe it ran two or three years ago.
My first step was to take all the fairings off and see if it would run. I borrowed the battery and a fuse from the red sled and checked fluid levels etc. The gas in the tank was stale so I replaced it with fresh gas and turned the switch on. Nothing happened! The fuel pump should run when switched on. I jumped from the battery to the pump and it ran so I checked all the fuses and electrical connections in the pump circuit. I didn't find anything wrong but when I put it back together it worked. I then disconnected the fuel return hose from the pressure regulator and pumped fresh gas through the fuel lines to get fresh gas at the injectors. I then proceeded to try to start it. It caught on the third try and ran like a top! I tested it several mornings when the temps were in the teens and twenties and it always fired right up. So far so good.
I can't run it up so I don't know what it will do under load. I will have to find that out later. This morning I started digging the engine out of the chassis. It is quite a project to take one of these apart. 10,000 stubborn electrical connectors and a bunch of bolts later, this is where I left it today. The engine is visible!
I ordered the Skytrax gearbox and I should get it this coming week. I will probably have Ian Bange rework my wiring harness to get rid of the extraneous sensors and disable the limp modes. Pricy, but that stuff is above my pay grade and it is the fastest way to get this running in the plane.
I bought a pair of Yamaha Venture Lites. They use the 80hp, two cylinder Phazer engine. The red one is a 2012 and is a user. It has 15,000 plus miles and needs ball joints in the front suspension before it goes to the mountain. It does fine running around the yard though. The white one is a 2010 and has 7400 miles. The frame is broken and the front suspension is bent up and broken. The young man who I bought the pair from wouldn't fess up as to how it got damaged. He did indicate that it didn't happen on the trail. I think somebody drove over the left front suspension while it was parked in his driveway. Whatever, he did claim the engine was good and ran last year. In truth, I believe it ran two or three years ago.
My first step was to take all the fairings off and see if it would run. I borrowed the battery and a fuse from the red sled and checked fluid levels etc. The gas in the tank was stale so I replaced it with fresh gas and turned the switch on. Nothing happened! The fuel pump should run when switched on. I jumped from the battery to the pump and it ran so I checked all the fuses and electrical connections in the pump circuit. I didn't find anything wrong but when I put it back together it worked. I then disconnected the fuel return hose from the pressure regulator and pumped fresh gas through the fuel lines to get fresh gas at the injectors. I then proceeded to try to start it. It caught on the third try and ran like a top! I tested it several mornings when the temps were in the teens and twenties and it always fired right up. So far so good.
I can't run it up so I don't know what it will do under load. I will have to find that out later. This morning I started digging the engine out of the chassis. It is quite a project to take one of these apart. 10,000 stubborn electrical connectors and a bunch of bolts later, this is where I left it today. The engine is visible!
I ordered the Skytrax gearbox and I should get it this coming week. I will probably have Ian Bange rework my wiring harness to get rid of the extraneous sensors and disable the limp modes. Pricy, but that stuff is above my pay grade and it is the fastest way to get this running in the plane.
