Crank Case Questions!

[andrewraffaele]

Hello gentlemen!

I have a series of novice questions for you all, would really love to get some help quickly because my bike is my only form of transportation. I recently replaced my valve cover gasket with silicone gasket maker, I've been looking for the proper gasket but can only find complete gasket kits, I dont have the 120.00 to shell out right now.

I replaced my oil with synthetic. I've found this to be a mistake after reading several of your threads. Anyhow, the bike seems to be performing better, except for one major issue...

The crank case breather (part #22 in the linked diagram) is spitting oil all over my left ankle when ever I jump on the freeway.

http://www.cmsnl.com/yamaha-xs1100-h...list/B-11.html

will this problem go away if I switch to non synthetic oil?

I put 3 liters in, should I just put a hose on the breather and let it spit until the bike has sorted itself out?

is the silicone gasket okay? it's not bleeding...

[John]

I'll bet you have pod airfilters on your bike, don't you? That CC vent should have a 1/2 inch tube on it that leads to the top front of the airbox, and the fumes/oil is drawn in with the fuel and burned. If this is the case then you need to install a hose and vent it away from your leg, and the rear tire. You may have oil coming from this vent because of high CC pressure, possibly bad piston rings. You can buy gasket paper and make your own gasket for the valve cover.

[tarzan]

How much oil did you drain out of it?Did you remove the bolt behind the filter housing as well as the filter housing?Because if not you didnt get all out and you may have overfilled your oil.

[DGXSER]

Hmmmm...well...first off, do you have Pod filters, or the stock air box? I ask because the crankcase breather on my bike has a hose connected that runs up to the top of my air box. If yours is not connected to anything, then it probably will spew oily mess out of it. Others that run pods can tell you what they have done with it if you have those filters.

As to the gasket, I would just cut my own, that is my plan actually. If it is sealing fine, then do not see why you need to mess with it!

And now I see John has already covered all of this!!

[The Lorax]

put a hose on it, and a filter. I'm guessing you don't have the stock air box on the bike anymore as the hose is supposed to run to the air box. I've never run a bike without something on the crank case vent so I don't know if the spitting oil is normal or not, I would imagine that it would tend to throw out a fine mist as the oil heats up and some of it atomizes. I could be mistaken though, it would not be the first time. the main issue with the synthetic oils as I understand it is the friction modifiers in the oil tend to make wet clutches slip. I don't know of any other issues with it though. but anyway, put something on the vent as you don't want undesireable stuff getting into the crank case, you know, bugs, water, dirt, etc. so put something on it (but don't plug it) and I would expect you would be ok. have a nice day and ride safe

[ELDR]

Welcome on board.

The breather has a hose that connects to the air box. The air box has a oil separator that lets oil vapors be aspirated into the carbs intake, liquid oil returns to the crank case through the same hose.

If that hose is missing, leaking or disconnected you need to replace it. If you are not using the stock intake box and filter you can buy a small automotive breather filter and hose and install it to prevent oil from squirting out.

[TopCatGr58]

Don't know where you've been looking for gaskets, but $120.00 a set is way too much. As for cutting your own, it's a bit more daunting for the valve cover gasket, many more turns and such.

The single gasket is available from www.partsnmore.com for about $10.00, whole set for ~$80.00 or so including the head gasket!! Also, IF you've got oil leaking around the half moons on the right side, you can get replacements from PNM as well!

Others have covered the oil problem, yep, need to get hosed, and be sure you drained all the oil, but don't feel bad if you didn't, you're not alone....
right Stralya!!
T.C.

[andrewraffaele]

you are all champions, gentlemen it's true. Not a single one of you is mortal, you're more like half gods... who ride fricken sweet, old school yamahas. Thanks a million!

[fredintoon]

- - - The crank case breather (part #22 in the linked diagram) is spitting oil all over my left ankle when ever I jump on the freeway. - - -

Hi Andy,
hook a hose to that breather spigot and lead the leakage down onto the road.
If that was good enough for my old Norton it's OK for a Yammie.
That said, a little mist is to be expected but the bike should not puke oil. Over filling is a prime cause of oil puking.
Did you remove ALL the old oil before putting the new oil in? As has been posted, removing the oil filter cover casting under the crankcase only lets out a pint or so of oil. To get the rest there's a forward-facing drain plug just behind the filter casting that has to be removed. What do you see in the little round window the Yamageniuses gave us instead of a dipstick? A proper fill should put the oil level half-way up the window.