do you need to split the cases?

[321racer]

this past weekend at a race my quad started smoking ALOT......
the tranny fluid is going into the motor and burning up causing white smoke POURING out of my exhaust....

i know its this because the smoke smells like oil .... not 2 stroke oil....
and the tranny was empty when i pulled off the track....
is this the crank case seal that went?
or what else do you think it could be?
also do you think i will need to split the cases?

[deathman53]

could be crank seals, thats the easy part, if its anything else, you need to split the cases.

[DPR250R]

Counter balancer could have let go too... sent a bearing into the crank area....

If you are lucky.... it is just the right main seal... and you can reaplce it with the motor in the bike... using the wood screw/plier removed technique...


If the motor has a lot of hours... you might want to go ahead and rebuild the lower end...

[BLACKeR]

white smoke typically means coolent. also if you were getting gear oil into your cylinder you would have run rich, did you notice any significant performance loss? you may have other problems on top of leaking oil from your tranny.

[DPR250R]

Originally posted by BLACKeR
white smoke typically means coolent.


Not always... a lot of motor/gear oils burn white now...

You have to rely on your sense of smell.... or a pressure tester :D

Give us some more info after you do a little more diagnosis and tear down...

[321racer]

i thought at first that it was coolant but the coolant was full....
heres a pic of the smoke before i noticed it...
just so you guys can see the color of it...

ill probably tear it apart tommorow after work ...
ill try to keep you guys updated

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n214/xandy321x/capeway9-17-063.jpg

[BLACKeR]

that looks blue/grey enough thats its not coolent. i would do a leak down to see where the leak is coming from, might be advisable to split the cases though, if you ran out of oil it would be good to check and make sure all is well inside.

[86 Quad R]

as mentioned, i'd do a leak down test to pinpoint the leak. was the tranny totally dry or juss VERY low?

[atvmxr]

Maybe everything is ok, but I dont see how you could suck ALL the oil out of the tranny through the seal. 1) it would take a long time and 2) the seal is up high enough you would have 1/2"-1" of oil below the seal. to me sounds like a crack in your case, but hopefully not :ermm:

[DPR250R]

Originally posted by atvmxr
Maybe everything is ok, but I dont see how you could suck ALL the oil out of the tranny through the seal. 1) it would take a long time and 2) the seal is up high enough you would have 1/2"-1" of oil below the seal. to me sounds like a crack in your case, but hopefully not :ermm:

That is why I mentioned the counter balancer bearing...

I have gotten a couple R motors where the bearing failed and one of the balls got pushed through the inside of the case (by the balancer) and ended up in the lower crank area of the case.....

That would explain the missing tranny fluid...

Hopefully it is just the right side main seal...

[86 Quad R]

and it is also possible the center gasket got sucked in and sucked it dry. at's why a leak down test should be done. if any of the areas in question are leaking then it can be seen at the crank case vent tube. :cool:

[C-LEIGH RACING]

If its the clutch side crank seal, then you need to find out why the seal failed.
I've seen the main bearing on the clutch side inner cage come apart & eat the seal up before.
As far as all the oil getting sucked out of the trannie when the seal is bad, not completely, but it wont be but a oz or so left in there when you check it.
Neil