Moisture in Oil

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

I just dumped the oil in preparation of doing the 2nd Gear fix on the Battle Cruiser. It was extremely hot when I got the plug out (it was 20 degrees in the garage and the pipes were starting to glow before I had changed into my old clothes [SWMBO has strict rules about ruining my office clothes]).

Anyhoo, when the oil drain got down to the dregs, the oil coming out in the last trickles was milky. It was only a small thread of moisture in the final bit of oil. Was I seeing perhaps some crankcase moisture cooked off by the fact I had let it get so hot? (I was mortified, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of damage) If this was just some crankcase condensation, what causes that? Should I be looking at replacing the Cranksace vent?

[ZXDavid]

One thing that causes that is starting your bike up once in while and not riding it but just running it in the garage. You get condensation buildup because the oil doesnt get hot enough long enough to cook off the moisture. Its better not to start your bike at all if you dont plan on riding it for at least 30 minutes. Keep the battery charged and stabil in the fuel and when you do get ready to ride its ready for you. I used to be of the mind that if I started the bike up in the winter and warm it up I was helping it. After pulling the clutch apart because it finaly stuck so bad I couldnt break it loose I discovered that all the steel plates were rusted. It then dawned on me what had happened. If you dont start the engine you wont generate the condensation to begin with.

[mason79]

maybe your head gasket is leaking coolant to the oil passages

[Ken Talbot]

Hey Mason, you forgot to add a smiley to your post. Without that, someone might think you actually think these bikes use coolant, and it could somehow find its way into the crankcase. The air that cools all of my XSs certainly isn't going to leak into an oil passage..

[mason79]

sorry Ken, you are right, if you have to explain the punchline, the laugh isn't as hard

[mason79]

Re: Moisture in Oil

Originally posted by BLUEJEEPLAB
I just dumped the oil in preparation of doing the 2nd Gear fix on the Battle Cruiser. It was extremely hot when I got the plug out (it was 20 degrees in the garage and the pipes were starting to glow before I had changed into my old clothes [SWMBO has strict rules about ruining my office clothes]).

Anyhoo, when the oil drain got down to the dregs, the oil coming out in the last trickles was milky. It was only a small thread of moisture in the final bit of oil. Was I seeing perhaps some crankcase moisture cooked off by the fact I had let it get so hot? (I was mortified, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of damage) If this was just some crankcase condensation, what causes that? Should I be looking at replacing the Cranksace vent?

HeyBLUEJEEPLAB,

In all seriousness, I used to own a porsche 944S, fine car and went faster than the 8 valve 944 and no turbo problems, just the way i liked it, long to short, the way these german engineers did it, and i think we all have to agree the german's has a way with metal.

they actually place the oil cooler within the radiator and in the book the symptom of a leaky oil coller fitting, was ...drum roll...
you guessed it milky oil, talk about freak'n out, those engines are not cheap to work on or replace,

i don't know if the metallurgy used was able to cope with that type of pollution, when i tore into it and fixed it, i couldn'd help but think the engine's back end was truncated( read life)

the car ran fine, matter of fact it took me 2 tries to get the fix right, talk about an anxiety attack, so in perspective, i think you are okay if you don't go a knockin...

[motoman]

Hey there BLUEJEEPLAB...........it's 65degrees in my garage and mine needs the dremal fix too.......hint hint

[red bandit]

The air that cools all of my XSs certainly isn't going to leak into an oil passage..

I think your wrong!!! Why else would you have a crankcase vent??? Plus, when you drain your oil, after the oil drains didn't you ever notice all the air that runs out.

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Moto Shouldn't you wait to see how mine turns out? LOL

I am a little apprehensive about taking my baby apart, but I have this fine site with all the great XS'ers, three boxes of zip lock bags, a Sharpie, model paint (more on that in a second) and a digital camera to help get it back together.

Explanation of the laundry list above -

I took my little DT 90 apart years ago and even with a Clymer's manual, it took me six months to get the tranny back together. So as I disassemble the Battle Cruiser I am taking pictures of each step, bagging the parts in the groups they came out in and when I get down the the Gear and Shaft assembly, I will attempt to mark each part with the model paint (dot-dash-dot) to try to document it's place in the cluster. I forgot to mention my trusty notebook to write the code in. My big concern is getting the parts cleaned up enough for the pain to adhere.

While the BC is down for this, I am redoing the front brakes. The Spooge hole is most definately blocked and the hoses turn you hands black when you handle them. It ain't road dirt doing that. I plan on replacing the old rubber with Bike Barn's stainless kit. Haven't decided on Cat 3 or 5 yet. I think 3 will do just fine, but overengineering is a family trait...

[Pat Kelly]

You can't put the gears back together the wrong way. They're machined so that they only go one way.
I just did the fix.
The only parts that could get mixed-up is the shift forks and if they're in the wrong spot it won't go back together.
It's really not that complicated.
The tough part for me was getting the cluster assembly back in after I was all done. Of course I didn't flip the bike . One thing that was hanging me up was the kickstart gears. Since I never use it I removed them. If you don't have the kick start then it's a non-issue.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by red bandit


I think your wrong!!! Why else would you have a crankcase vent??? Plus, when you drain your oil, after the oil drains didn't you ever notice all the air that runs out.

Hmm, now that you mention it....

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

I tied to keep the air in since I haven't run across any discussion on this board about the proper type of air to run in your crankcase

[motoman]

Thanks for the encouragement Pat. I'm a 'wrencher' by trade(was), and have built several race motors(auto) which have been winning combinations back in the day, put clutches and top-ends in my moto-cross bikes, so doing the fix is kinda childs play for me, even though I haven't done one before. I just wish I would of looked at the 'dogs' a little closer when having the pan off the motor putting in an oil pump before installing the motor...........Oh well, now I can do it with gravity not helping. Is it fairly easy to get the forks to balance in place while stuffing the shaft/gear assembly back in? If there's a trick using grease to help forks stick where you want them to stay or something, let me know. Other than that..........have just been putting it off. With the torque these motors make, it becomes an excuse to keep skipping second, as Ive ridden several long 1,000 mile rides with it this way. I've just taken a small drain pan, allen wrench, and extra shift pawl pin retaining washers, as a bad shift resulting in the dreaded ratching WILL bend or break an ear off the retaining washer, causing one of the pins to eventually fall out, and not being able to shift..........Trust me, it has left me in nuetral a couple times, and luckily only had to push the dressed bohemath a mile home, pull the shift side cover and put pin back in with a new washer. The tranny gears digested a pin on one occasion, and found the filing remains in filter housing bolt. So you all don't have to worry bout having a tranny lock-up at speed not finding the pin. Those gears are way harder than the pin. Another one I know is still in the bottom of pan somewhere, and don't worry bout it as pan bottom is lower than tranny housing , and pin and washer are cheap from Yamaha and still available ......Anyway, gotta do it here soon.....

[motoman]

That's one part carbon dioxde to two parts oxygen in a high volume amount bluejeeplab

[Incubus]

Personally, I like to use a mix of four parts nitrogen to one part oxygen in my crankcase and throw in a few trace elements for texture and flavor. Running in urban areas, I find additional of NOX and VOCs make for a bit spicier air mixture. Sometimes I premix these additives into ozone.

I find, in these proportions not only does the air properly cool my xs, but I also can use the coolant as am emergency breathing mechanism for those times I drive off a bridge into deep water....

Patrick