2010 RMK Dragon 800 - Coolant in Oil Line

[The Dragon Tamer]

Just picked up a 2010 Dragon, on my second ride out it overheated about a mile into the ride and a fair bit of coolant came out of the overflow. On the limp back to trailers, I'd only make it a a few hundred yards before the temp light going off and I would shut it down.

After getting home I started investigating and found coolant in the oil fuel line from the bottom of the reservoir. There is also a 1/2" or so of coolant in the oil tank, floating above the oil. I haven't been able to find much on this when researching. Anybody know what could be causing this?

 

[mtncat1]

thats a head scratcher ,i don't know of any way for the coolant to get into the oil bottle other than mispouring coolant into the oil res . clean it up and put correct fluids where they go and test it

 

[sledsuperman]

Ya, that is really weird. Be sure to mix your fuel with oil during the testing. I hate to see you loose an engine.

 

[The Dragon Tamer]

thats a head scratcher ,i don't know of any way for the coolant to get into the oil bottle other than mispouring coolant into the oil res . clean it up and put correct fluids where they go and test it

Ya, that is really weird. Be sure to mix your fuel with oil during the testing. I hate to see you loose an engine.

Can you elaborate on how you would do this? I am thinking i need a vacuum pump to clear the oil lines then refill the oil res. I did not think that I needed to premix. Are you saying premix will help lube the engine if the oil pump is acting up? Guess i would need to clear out the gas tank too before adding the premix?

 

[mtncat1]

pull the oil tank and clean it out , pull the supply line to the oil injector and clean that ,add new oil and run premix for the first tank , then make sure the coolant is full an air bled out of cooling system .

 

[retiredpop]

Can you elaborate on how you would do this? I am thinking i need a vacuum pump to clear the oil lines then refill the oil res. I did not think that I needed to premix. Are you saying premix will help lube the engine if the oil pump is acting up? Guess i would need to clear out the gas tank too before adding the premix?

Yes clear out the oil lines for sure. No need to clear out the gas tank. If the tank isn't full premix enough oil and gas for a full tank in a small container then dump it in the gas tank. Fill the tank with undiluted gas and rock the sled to mix it all in the tank. I would go 40:1 ratio. 2 stroke mix Your tank should be 12 US gallons so that would work out to 32 oz of oil for a full tank.
Edit: I should mention this is only on first tank as mtncat1 said to make sure oil pump is working and oil level in oil tank is going down with use of sled.

 

[sledsuperman]

Dragon Tamer - do as retiredpop suggested. The premix is just a safety measure. Premixing gas is how it was done before injection systems ever came along.

 

[The Dragon Tamer]

Guys appreciate the help, during the week I was able to: verify the thermostat is working, refill the coolant system, drain / clean the oil reservoir tank and drain the oil supply line * not able to remove it from the oil injector access is an issue. In the process I also figured out my air box was not attached to the intake, the rubber boots were not set nor were the hose clamps tightened. That plus the condition of the crank case oil leads me to believe this sled was not well cared for.

Over the weekend I took the Dagon out to a sno-park and did some diagnostics, but first added the premixed fuel to the tank I had previously siphoned. Coolant system functioned properly and held eng. temp at 130 F. The oil was a problem, there as no movement to the pump. I think I introduced air into the lines and need to bleed the oil system.

I am going to be starting another post to ask about best ways to bleed the oil line. It seems like a difficult job getting access to this area. Does anyone have experience pulling the gas tank ? Is that needed to access the bleeder screw?

 

[retiredpop]

This is from the service manual. I replaced an oil pump but did not pull the tank to do so. Very frustrating to say the least.

 

[BobRoss?]

I would say that the only way that this is possible is someone accidentally added coolant into the oil container. Since Oil floats, the coolant all went to the bottom and started sucking pure coolant instead of mixing with the oil. It just seems physically impossible for the coolant to get in that line from the engine.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

^ Yep, I can't think of another way coolant gets in the oil lines either. Hard to tell what you were seeing in the tank, but the oil would be what's on top if someone poured coolant in. Keep in mind, for whatever reason, the oil lines in these often have a greenish color to them – the OE lines in my sled did at least – so you might want to verify that it's coolant. There is a chance it was different, incompatible oils too. If there's air in the system, it's critical that you bleed the line to the oil pump. Pretty much all you have to do is to crack open the bleed screw on the oil pump and let oil run out until any and all air bubbles are out of the line from the tank to the pump. After that, with premix, you could probably get away with just running it and letting the pump push the air out of the rest of the lines, but perhaps a better approach would be to fill the oil tank and, after you bleed the line to the oil pump, disconnect the oil lines where they terminate at the intake ports and crankcase. It should gravity feed past the pump; all you'd have to do is check it every hour or so and reconnect the lines individually as they fill with oil. IF IT DID have coolant in the oil lines, there is a lot of potential for engine damage. I'm not positive that's the case, but if it were, I'd do a leak-down check at a minimum. Could be a bad situation, but no use panicking yet; could still be a good sled after all!