oil everywhere! HELP!

[chris d]

I just brought a 78 xs back from a 20 year rest (back from the dead!) And I finally got it started. The problem is I have oil coming up the crankcase breather hose dumping into the airbox and getting sucked into the carbs where its creating a james bond effect. Why? and HELP! I wont let this bike beat me. any advice is greatly welcome.

[rover]

you might have gas in the oil from leaking floats, and/or petcocks, maybe enough to overfill the crankcase. The oil will be forced out the upper breather (the large hose going to the airbox), or the oil is so thinned out with gas that it is blowing in there. Check your oil level, then put a clean wooden dowel or something like that, in the oil fill hole, way down in the oil. After a few seconds, pull it out and smell it, see if it smells like gas. Try to light the stick with a bic or match, if it burns, change the oil. DO NOT OVERFILL!! Then, of course, if there is gas in the oil, find out how and where it got in, and repair. Standards have vaccuun petcocks that can leak, specials have the infamous octopus, a vaccuum controled shutoff valve mounted on the bank of carbs. See tech tips if you want to remove it. Good luck

[Ken Talbot]

This happened to me when I bought Tsunami. The PO did not know that you are supposed to use the sight glass on the lower right side of the motor to check the oil level, and this is while the bike is on the centrestand. Instead, he filled it up to the bottom of the threads in the filler hole, like you might do on a lawnmower. Exact same result - oil spewing out all over the place. Darin it back to where it shoud be, make sure it is not diluted with gas, and you'll be on your way.

[yamarider]

And be sure to clean the heck out of your air box and clean or replace that air filter. You might even pull the spark plugs and see if they need cleaning also.

[79XS11F]

Was it over filled as suggested? Maybe the owner did that for storage? When I picked up my bike there was NO oil in it. Not one drop!!! Good thing it wouldn't start when he tried.
Rob

[prometheus578]

"not to question your competence, but..."

Had another fine example of "too much oil" at work last week. As had been stated earlier, check the oil through the sight glass window. The oil level is checked with the bike on the centerstand, NOT the side stand.
And as already mentioned... gas in the oil. With a bike that has sat for 20 years, might need new carb float needles.