how reliable is the lighting a flame on the oil?

[mason79]

i ran the motor, i have the gas leak problem,

does anyone know how reliable is this method of testing?

will new oil fair better with a little bit of gas mix?

the level did not seem to have gone up, i'm just not sure, help!!

thanks in advance!!

[Doo-Daa]

Hey Mason,

The quick answers,

It's reliable enough that if it lights up and burns, you may cause bearing damage by not changing your oil.

Adding gas to any oil is bad. Adding one tablespoon of carb cleaner / per 2 qts oil, will dilute oil one complete viscosity range.

And in answer to your previous post, no, there is not an off position on your petcocks.

Actually, leaking petcocks is a common problem. It's not hard to remedy, lots of fixes talked about, but do a search on petcocks, and find which you'd prefer to do. Cleaning and polishing the inner seating surfaces is the most cost effective, especially when combined with a rebuild.

There are other solutions out there too.

Rebuilding an engine cuz you ran it with gas in the oil, is a lot more expensive.

Besides, having the bike sit and leak fuel, causes vapors. Sitting in your garage, leaking fuel, waiting for the hot water heater or furnace to start, REALLY expensive.

Happened to a guy down the block from me over Christmas. He lost 4 bikes, two cars, and 1/2 his house. His happened from a rotted tank seam though. And of course, they were all Harleys, and Fords though.


They're really easy fixes, just a pain to do. Takes about 3 or 4 hours to do one at a time and right.

My opinion,

Doo-Daa

[mason79]

thanks doo-daa!

i like fords,
anyways, i don think there was a "viscosity" change from what may or may not have occured, so what you are saying is...

if there is gas in the oil it will not burn until there is enough to cause a problem, correct? thanks!

[Doo-Daa]

The technique is supposed to be:...

Put some of your oil onto a roller paper towel. (enough to saturate at least an inch) While holding like a candle, try and light it at the tip. After removing the lighter (match), if the paper towel continues to burn, you have some gas in your oil. The better it burns, the more gas. Smoldering.... a little bit of gas (probally ok for some, (just not for me)). Flame on dude!!! = No Good.

Bottom line, oil is cheap. Engine re-building is not.

Another tip that might help is:

Don't set your bike on the side stand. When you stop, put it onto the center stand. This won't stop the leaking petcock, but it MAY give the floats a better chance of seating, which will slow it way down. (BTW- THIS IS NOT A CURE, IT IS A BAND AID)

[mason79]

thanks and thanks center stand is holding, while i get a break from the gasoline, no i know why people don't like carbs, it ain the carbs but the gasoline soaking all over, in, around the place

[oseaghdha]

Oil Burns Good

I have used motor oil to start campfires, so the flamimg paper towel won't tell you much.
Smell it. If it smells like gasoline well, there you go.
Had the same problem on a Virago. I have a pair of hemostats I would clamp on the fuel line when it was going to sit up for a while.
If you are getting a lot of blow-by from the crankcase vent, it could be from gas in the oil.

[JWSanders]

$10.00 buys a lot of peace of mind.......

[HobbyMan]

I would just change the oil and fix your float seals/ petcocks. For me its easy enough cause I done it a few times

[mason79]

if the engines runs on a few cylinders, not all four, will the non firing cylinder/s be flooded with the same amount of gas?

and is this tantumoumt to getting gas in the oil via sitting with leaky petrcocks?

thanks guys.

[HobbyMan]

yes they will. When the engine is not running, liquid gas will run down the pistons. when it is running, it is gasoline vapor so not much will seap past. Whatever gasoline vapor works its way into the crank case should be reused because of crank case ventelation into the air box.