crankcase vent shooting out oil

[Cuhls1984]

So i have had my 81 xs1100 special for a couple years. bought it bone stock. since then i changed the exhaust removed the air box and put on the individual air filters etc etc. Ran great. So i park it for the winter cranking it occasionally. So few weeks ago crank it up take it down the road and splash, oil shoots all over my foot, from the crankcase vent. I shut it down right then and there and trailered it home. (wasnt an easy task.) I crank it again to listen for odd noises and well to see it do it again. nothing. No valve chatter no piston slapping rough idle nothing. Sounded great hoenstly. So i topped the oil back off to put back what was lost. (wasnt much maybe a quarter of a quart, probably less) i take off down the road. Splat. got me again. turned around and parked it. Now there is no smoke coming from the exhaust at all. alot of blow by from the vent of course but thats it. theres no gas in the oil. checked that. I searched all the threads i could handle for an answer and had no luck. I did find the site for the stock piston rings and do appreciate that. Im on a very limited budget for this bike and if its a problem thats not the piston rings im all ears. Took it to a local shop 1500 for a rebuild.(had it in a horse trailer hit a bump and it fell over snapping a plug wire, gotta fix that too now!) I walked out. I miss my bike. My father has a 1300 vtx with a lot of mods on it and i miss smoking him when we ride. help.

[Ken Talbot]

Sounds like the oil is grossly overfilled. Remember, you check the level via the sight glass on the lower right sde of the crankcase, when the bike is on the centrestand.

[Cuhls1984]

oil is right where its supposed to be. double checked that. the oil was changed early spring last year. none was added or really burnt over the summer or early fall. Ran great no problems.

[petejw]

im with ken, but if you know for sure the crankcase
isnt over filled and there is no fuel in the oil, then im not to sure
what could cause that,
my engine atm is worn out, and even tho it blows a heap of blue smoke, i dont get any serious oil coming out of the breather, plenty of fumes tho.

maybe do a compression check and look at the plugs to see how things are running?

[WMarshy]

A similar thing happend to me. Its possible that gas leaked into the crank case and over filled it and it burped some out. My adivce is to take a strip of heavy construction paper or a tongue depressor and dip it into the crank oil, pull it out and try to light it on fire. If it lights up then you know you have gas in your oil. A simpler way is to remove the fill cap and place an open flame in front of it, it will light and vapors if gas is present. It will also light if you just got done riding it, so do it on a cold engine. Just keep your face away from the hole and be ready to cap it. Having a fire extinguisher on hand isnt a bad idea either.

[randy]

A simpler way is to remove the fill cap and place an open flame in front of it, it will light and vapors if gas is present.

WTF???

The breather is located well above anything in the crankcase so I don't see any way fluids can get out of there unless it's overfilled with something.

[WMarshy]

WTF???

The breather is located well above anything in the crankcase so I don't see any way fluids can get out of there unless it's overfilled with something.

What I was trying to say was, you dont necessarly have to stick anything in the crank case to dip into the oil to check for gas. You can just remove the fill cap and hold a lighter in front of the hole and give it a little blow to push the flame into the crank case. If a flame shoots out and burns out your eyeball then you know you have gas in the oil. Just dont do it right after you run the engine b/c it will ignite due to the normal fumes from the oil.

I do agree though, it has to be over filled with something in order to come out the vent hose.

[crazy steve]

There may be one other possiblity... a holed piston or maybe broken rings. If you have extreme blow-by, that could cause it to puke oil. Try running a compression test; if you have one very low hole that may be it. Another way to test this would be to pull all the plugs, and pull the vent hose out where you can put your finger over the end. Then install just one plug at a time and spin the motor. If you get an increase in pressure at the hose from one plug being in, that cylinder is likely the problem.

'78E original owner

[Ivan]

If you have pod filters, what did you do with the vent? It should have a hose about a foot long that goes up to the airbox. Most guys with pods run the hose over by the p0lastic inner fender. I ran it up between the middle two pods for a while, but have since machined an elbow to take the place of the hose barb in the cover and put a small crankcase breather filter on it.

If you just have that hose barb sticking out and nothing on it, you will get some oil splash from it, especially at high revs. All those gears flying around and whipping up oil will get it in place for the normal blowby to push it out. The stock hose running up a foot would give it time to flow back down, and flipping it over to the fender will make a mess there, but not on your foot. I haven't had much time to run my new setup, so I can't say how it works.

[yamtom]

what Ivan says if all else is proven ok

I too have wondered how to handle the breather pipe and havnt done anything about mine other than to put it behind the trans near the centerstand area. I know a filter should be put on it, if for no other reason than to inhibit bugs from crawling into the crankcase over the winter.
OP may want to check on this too, gawd help him if he has some kind of growth or something helping fill up his crankcase area. I know when I cleaned out my air cleaner at first, there was all kinds of shedded paper somesuch up in that. Here is hoping that something isnt up into that breather area,, or maybe if the pipe is turned up, that water could have gotten into it by gravity.

[Cuhls1984]

alright to answer the gas in oil question, negative. took some out took a torch to it. nothing. thankfully. other than warm oil of course. I was actually thinking it was what crazy steve was thinking. A faulty piston ring could release preasure into the crankcase and cause it to burp out like its doing. i actually didnt have anything on the vent until it barfed oil on me. Then i ran a hose from the vent up to where the breathers are at and pointed towards my leg. i thought that maybe with a further distance to travel it wouldnt puke so much. you know release the pressure over a distance. Didnt work. Puked on my thigh insteasd of my ankle. Any words of wisdom before i start to break the motor down. I have a clymer manual for it. Bought it the same day i got the bike. thanks for all the advice by the way. hopefully i can get a pic of my bike up soon. im really proud of it.

[clcorbin]

Have you tried Seafoaming the engine? Perhaps you have a stuck ring and getting rid of the carbon might help. It's a long shot, but it beats tearing into the engine if you don't have to.

[petejw]

have you done a compression test yet,
that will at least give you an idea of
whats happening inside the engine.

or a leak down test if you have a compressor
would be even a better way to check.

[Cuhls1984]

i have no means of doing a compression test. im sure your talking about a little guage that looks a a car tire gauge kind of deal. Dont have one. As far as getting it checked locally, everbody is way overpriced. plus i would have to trailer it to the destination. Too much trouble. The answer as to seafoam i dont think its carbon buildup because when it does run there is no miss or hard firing from the motor,nothing. worth a try. I think its pure ring faliure.

[CatatonicBug]

A compression tester is not all that pricey. Run to the auto parts store and get one, and you'll have it forever. Harbor freight sells them too.