• Don't miss out on all the fun! Register on our forums to post and have added features! Membership levels include a FREE membership tier.

ENGINE OIL/WATER CONTAMINATION

V
Sep 22, 2008
250
48
28
2009 WR450F YAMAHA RUNNING THE OUTWEAR PREFILTER OVER THE FOAM AIR FILTER AND STILL GETTING SNOW INGESTION INTO ENGINE ,OIL WAS COMPLETELY GREYISH WHITE AND ENGINE KICKSTART FROZEN UP NEXT MORNING (9 DEGREES OUT) , OIL CHANGED PRIOR TO RIDE 5-40W T6 FULL SYNTHETIC ROTELLA USED ANY ONE ELSE HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS OR IS THIS STANDARD ON THE REALLY DEEP POWDER DAYS
 
Y
Nov 26, 2007
306
46
28
56
ditto

same issue and not sure what to do, puked my valve cover seal yesterday as well. Going to put filter material around entire airbox under seat. cut a small slice in the air line from air box to engine. Any others suggestions welcome....
 
M

mtn-doo

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2004
1,315
661
113
Kalispell, Mt
Seal it up good under your seat with 3/4 inch foam. Cut a frame to seal entire area under your seat, then stick frog skin's over your air box intakes, and install a thermostat. Will help you out a bunch.
 
M

mtn-doo

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2004
1,315
661
113
Kalispell, Mt
do you have any photos or more descrip on the foam and sealing. More on the thermastat??

thanks if possible

Get a piece of 3/4 thick open cell foam in a 2ft square. Easy to find. Cut it to fit under your seat from the gas tank gubber strap to the rear of your cross frame rail behind the air box, even over lapping a couple inches onto the rear fender. Next, cut a rectangle hole in it to match the top of your air box. When you put your seat on, it compresses the foam and seals out the snow but still lets air flow into the box. The seat covers all the foam so it is not visible and looks stock. Pretty much eliminates all snow. On those zero degree days in super dry fluff, you will still get a little but not much.
The thermostat i am using is KTM #59435013044, 70 degree C crack temp. It installs in place where the factory aluminum Y is. Main line from your Head in the bottom and the Y out the top to each radiator.
 
B

Blaser

Well-known member
Feb 24, 2004
285
207
43
Idaho
www.2moto.com
Puking the valve cover gasket is usually due to the crank case breather tube being pinched off or plugged with snow.

Verify the crankcase breather tube is routed properly, and install a "T" in the line up under the tank and run a short piece of hose off of the "T" to a location that won't get plugged with snow. Having 2 outlets for that crankcase pressure should solve the valve cover seal problem. Before this fix, I had it happen on a KTM 505, and on a WR.

I haven't run an airbox on a snow bike since 2002- in favor of the pod filters. I would carry a spare pod for later in the day, when the pod would finally get wet.

Now I run a 3 foot section of 3 inch "discharge tube", purchased from a pool supply store. Smooth inside bore, and the outside looks like vacuum cleaner hose. I built a 2.5 inch galvanized intake tube off of the carb, and it connects to the discharge tube just behind the aluminum strut rod that bolts in where your main shock was. The intake tube runs back and up through a 3.5" hole in my back fender. I drilled 1/2 inch holes in the top 6 inches of the tube, and covered it with a Outerwears prefilter. No snow ingestion anymore. The snow has to be deeper than my shoulders to get to the intake... and I had to jet from a stock 155 to a 185 main- which tells me I'm flowing more air.
Hope that helps!
 
R
Dec 18, 2007
12
0
1
Rigby, Idaho
I had the same issue last year i blew out my valve cover gasket. i found out that my vent hose was frozen and packed with ice. I fixed the problem by cutting my breather hose off and strapping it to my lower radiator hose.
 
R

Rush44

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
2,135
1,041
113
Flathead Valley, MT
Great information here, guys. Talk about appropriate timing.... I just did an oil change on my bike tonight and HOLY **** I WAS CONCERNED.

The story goes: I was going out for a ride last Sunday and I decided to check my engine oil after my last ride. I had just changed it the ride before with Yamalube 10W-50 and added the .95Q w/o the Oil Filter replacement. Previous oil change was good, full, had some fuel in it (smelled of it), but wasn't anything to be concerned about. Rode the next day on a cold blistery semi-deep day and then came home. So Sunday rolls around and I go to check my oil before leaving.... none on the dipstick. I ended up adding 3/4 of a Quart before the dipstick finally had a reading and then what I ended up with on the stick looked foamy and white. Heated up the motor, checked again, foam was gone with addition of new oil, rode that day checking my oil every hour or so. The level indicated the oil was fine and the white went away and became dark like a normal oil.

During the Sunday I rode the bike I was banging through some deep heavy snow almost all day.... full wide open throttle through the tree action.... you know, one of the good days. I did have problems with my vent lines clogging up. I'd be pulling a sweet line up through some trees and then I'd let off the throttle to turn downhill and the bike would just go straight to dead.... I couldn't blip the throttle to bring it back either. Check oil level - good - beat vent lines clean - head back out. This happened about 5-6 times near the end of the day when the snow was really deep. Checked oil level again, good and no white stuff.

Got a call to go ride tomorrow and I decided to do a fresh oil change tonight and keep another good eye on the level. Warmed the bike up, cracked open the drain plug on the bike and only about 1/8 of a Quart ended up in the pan. I immediately freaked out and decided to check my oil level.... guess what, it says my bike is full. Pull the oil filler cap and there is a white thick goo all over it. Pulled the airbox cover and there is a small pool of white thick goo at the bottom. Pulled the radiator cap and the level is plumb full and the overflow container still has a small amount in it like normal - no coolant missing.

What the hell is going on here? My level reads full when it's not. I keep losing 7/8 of my engine oil per ride (2 rides this has happened on). Vent tubes were probably clogged on both days but only on the 2nd day did I notice any performance woes with the bike dying. I figured on the first day that I just didn't let the bike come up to temp and the piston rings didn't seal therefore causing some serious blow-by. On Sunday I made sure to warm up the bike and take it easy right out of the gate.... still, lost a ton of oil. I'm seriously freaking because now I think I burnt up my piston rings and I need a full top end rebuild. If I'm not losing coolant then where is the water coming from? Is it a ton of fuel in the oil causing the foaming and goo buildup?

What do you all think is going on? I could really use some help here before I go break the bank and my local dealer.
 
T
Jan 20, 2010
8
11
3
Three Forks, MT
I hope you know that your WR has two drain bolts. Left and right crank case. There is also a oil fill level bolt on the left side, by the shift shaft. (shifter) The white stuff your getting is moisture getting in the oil. A bi-product of combustion is moisture. If your oil is never hot enough to evaporate the water off, you get the white gunk. The problem with the snowbikes is the motors rarely get up to operating temp cause they are bathed in snow all day and aluminum dissipates heat like crazy. Like MTN DEW said before, cause I told him the problems and how to fix them, get a thermostat on your bike. Good luck with the KTM one if you can find it. KTM is back ordered with no release date and i heard of guys that have cracked them. Guessing the plastic doesn't enjoy being hot then cold that fast. Another trick is grab your ladies PAM outta the kitchen and spray your whole engine with it. Unpolished aluminum is notorious for snow sticking to it and this helps the snow to slide off. A warm engine is a happy engine. Good luck.
 
R

Rush44

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
2,135
1,041
113
Flathead Valley, MT
I guess what concerns me the most is the LACK of oil after one ride. 1/8 of a Quart in the drip pan sounds like a bike motor that is toast. I just can't imagine visiting the rev limiter throughout the day with only 1/8 of a Quart. I left the truck with a full quart in her!

Edit: And the false reading in the bike indicating oil in the motor is really BS. That's another one that completely confuses me. All I can think is that white gunk is everywhere in the motor and causes the oil to be stuck around the check bolt... but that might be silly thinking. Not sure, and being unsure about my baby keeps me up at night, which is why I only slept about 4 restless hours last night thinking about this.
 
Last edited:
Y
Nov 26, 2007
306
46
28
56
oil

,ake sure engine/garage is warm, perhpas oil/water is solidifying and therefore not draining or reading properly. I am going to start changing oil and filter every ride. Might be the expensive way to be sure but I too amd having oil level and water in oil issues.

Fun to ride but not sure on the WR function as a winter toy in the deep fluff.
 

J&L Snowhawk

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Jan 3, 2008
1,269
288
83
Aberdeen, SD
stores.ebay.com
NOT SURE

I have now rode 3 weekends with area 51 and the oil looks like new, still havent changed it. the thing i have noticed is that i dont get hardly any snow on my engine and if i work it at all the cooling fan is running. I am using a LTR450 quad engine that has a thermostat built into it too and only use 1 ktm radiator and fan asm.
All the white slime is def. water contamination caused from condensation. I think i would remove one radiator and install a fan on the other one in conjunction of a thermostat.
Why havent you run your vent lines into the airbox yet??? that will help alot with the running.
another thing that i think would benefit you guys is to build a plastic enclosure around the engine to keep snow off some. :director:
 
R

Rush44

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
2,135
1,041
113
Flathead Valley, MT
I hope you know that your WR has two drain bolts. Left and right crank case.

Busted out the manual after I read this. You are right.... I knew there was 2 drain bolts but what I thought was my 2nd bolt was actually my oil filter drain bolt. The left side case drain bolt was holding a lot of oil (almost a quart). So I had been running about a half quart overfill since the white thick foamy oil was distorting my readings from the dipstick, giving me a false low reading. Problem solved.

Good luck with the KTM one if you can find it. KTM is back ordered with no release date and i heard of guys that have cracked them. Guessing the plastic doesn't enjoy being hot then cold that fast.

100% correct... my dealer has some coming but they won't be here until Feb 26th. I'm going to pick up the Yamaha one in the mean time and we will see what I can get my temps up to. Another thing some people have been doing is wrapping the header exhaust in order to better retain heat. Plus it would probably be a bonus to keep that pipe from possibly getting real hot and then falling over into some super cold snow. That's gotta weaken the header over time making it brittle.

Thanks for the help folks. Dodged a bullet here I think!
 
Premium Features