Posts
4
Joined
6/1/2021
Location
Canton, MI
US
So I have a 2005 Kawasaki KX 250F. Its got 30 hours on the top. Previous owner did the top end build. Bike has been running greats so far.
Took her through some mud and water. Still ran for about 30mins. Stalled out on an unexpected turn. (my own fault there with the clutch, I'm a newer rider). Bike wouldn't start backup. Checked around the bike, and the oil levels were low. Didn't see any oil in sight glass unless tipping the bike on a 45 degree angle. Drained the oil out. and replaced with new oil. Used 5W-40 oil as recommended in manual. Put in 1.3L as also recommended in manual for when filter is not removed. The 1.3L seemed like too much oil, because it basically spilled out of the top. Put the oil cap back on. Oil came out of drain hose, which I heard and read was normal, it does that to remove excess oil. Figured I should be good, it would remove any excess oil and then I figured I would be at the correct oil level.
Bike started up after about 10-20 tries. Let it sit for 5 mins or so to work the oil through. Went back out to ride. Bike seemed to be working fine. Was still dripping some oil from the breather hose. Rode for maybe 20mins. Could turn bike off and start back up with no issue. Then at about 30 mins in, turned the bike off and it wouldn't start up. Looked at the oil sight glass, and the oil was gone again... Barely any in there
I'm thinking it's some kind of oil leak. I've also heard that if you run a bike through mud and water and the right amount gets in certain spots it can clog the bike up and cause oil to leak from the breather hoses.
Not sure exactly what the problem is. I'm newer to bikes, so I don't know too much on them. Shops are backed up for weeks because of covid. And I wouldn't want to sit there and wait if its a simple fix.
If someone could guide me in the right direction of what the problem is that would be awesome.
Took her through some mud and water. Still ran for about 30mins. Stalled out on an unexpected turn. (my own fault there with the clutch, I'm a newer rider). Bike wouldn't start backup. Checked around the bike, and the oil levels were low. Didn't see any oil in sight glass unless tipping the bike on a 45 degree angle. Drained the oil out. and replaced with new oil. Used 5W-40 oil as recommended in manual. Put in 1.3L as also recommended in manual for when filter is not removed. The 1.3L seemed like too much oil, because it basically spilled out of the top. Put the oil cap back on. Oil came out of drain hose, which I heard and read was normal, it does that to remove excess oil. Figured I should be good, it would remove any excess oil and then I figured I would be at the correct oil level.
Bike started up after about 10-20 tries. Let it sit for 5 mins or so to work the oil through. Went back out to ride. Bike seemed to be working fine. Was still dripping some oil from the breather hose. Rode for maybe 20mins. Could turn bike off and start back up with no issue. Then at about 30 mins in, turned the bike off and it wouldn't start up. Looked at the oil sight glass, and the oil was gone again... Barely any in there
I'm thinking it's some kind of oil leak. I've also heard that if you run a bike through mud and water and the right amount gets in certain spots it can clog the bike up and cause oil to leak from the breather hoses.
Not sure exactly what the problem is. I'm newer to bikes, so I don't know too much on them. Shops are backed up for weeks because of covid. And I wouldn't want to sit there and wait if its a simple fix.
If someone could guide me in the right direction of what the problem is that would be awesome.
Put 1.3 quarts in, if that’s what the manual specs, after making sure you’ve got all the used oil out. Turn the bike over slowly while holding the kill switch down and lean bike over to completely drain it. Also make sure the used oil is warm before draining. You want to get out as much used oil as you can.
Then in 5 hours, drain the oil again and measure how much comes out. Based off your experience, no offense, it sounds like you may not be leaking or burning oil at all. This way you can know for sure and can then further diagnose if you’re leaking or burning oil.
If no leaks and you are actually losing oil (see above post regarding sight glass), it’s either burning it or you have enough blowby past the rings that combustion gases are pushing it out the breather.
The Shop
Gonna go power wash it down more and see if there's any leaks. Then drain it (properly this time) and throw newer oil in and see if any leaks occur.
As a follow up question to your posts, Is it safe to run the bike if it is in fact a burning oil issue or a blowby past the rings issue? If I need to ride to disprove the leak theory, or at least have it run to warm the oil up before draining. I don't want to make any issues worse by running the thing.
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