motorcycle with creamy oil
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 0
From: Stephenville / Harlingen Texas
motorcycle with creamy oil
A friend of mine keeps his motorcycle at my house and rides it when he can. I walk by it in the driveway everyday and yesterday I noticed a white film on the oil sight glass on the side. I pulled the oil cap to find a big glob or cream sludge under the cap. This looks to me like moisture in the engine. I just don't see how it got in there. Surely these things are sealed enough to that rain water falling on a parked bike wouldn't get in the engine. He doesn't ride it when its raining. Could it be the result of a lot of short, cold trips?
Can this moisture be burned off by running the engine for a long hot run or should it all be flushed and replaced with new oil?
Can this moisture be burned off by running the engine for a long hot run or should it all be flushed and replaced with new oil?
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,497
Likes: 23
From: SE Mass
If it is liquid cooled first thing to to is water pump seal/impeller shaft. Water pump on most motorcycles is driven off the crank on either side of the case, and there is a seal on the shaft that keeps water out of the oil and vice versa. Cheaper/easier than head gasket, and it's common for them to just let a bit of water weep into the oil, had that problem on my dirtbike.
What type of bike is it?
What type of bike is it?
Registered User
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,617
Likes: 168
From: Pacific NW, B'ham, Kalispell MT
Yeah that's water in the oil from a coolant leak.
A minor whitish sludge under the oil cap is from condensation and vapor from burning fossil fuels, but i have never seen it like your pic unless its leaking coolant from a blown headgasket or other source as mentioned above.
A minor whitish sludge under the oil cap is from condensation and vapor from burning fossil fuels, but i have never seen it like your pic unless its leaking coolant from a blown headgasket or other source as mentioned above.
Trending Topics
Administrator ........ DTR's puttin fires out and workin on big trucks admin
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,013
Likes: 3
If it is liquid cooled first thing to to is water pump seal/impeller shaft. Water pump on most motorcycles is driven off the crank on either side of the case, and there is a seal on the shaft that keeps water out of the oil and vice versa. Cheaper/easier than head gasket, and it's common for them to just let a bit of water weep into the oil, had that problem on my dirtbike.
What type of bike is it?
What type of bike is it?
Good info thanks for posting it.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,528
Likes: 16
From: Oregon
Generally motorcycle water pumps have a space between the oil seal and the water seal, and a weep hole so that if they develop a coolant leak it has someplace to go other than in the engine.
If he has been doing repeated trips of less than 20 minutes, it may just be water. You would be amazed at how much moisture they can build up (no positive crankcase ventilation).
If it were mine, I'd send a sample to blackstone labs to find out for sure, but my bet would be it will come back as having a lot of water.
If that is the case, change the oil and filter, and try to do a ride for 30 minutes or more after the engine reaches operating temp once a week.
If he has been doing repeated trips of less than 20 minutes, it may just be water. You would be amazed at how much moisture they can build up (no positive crankcase ventilation).
If it were mine, I'd send a sample to blackstone labs to find out for sure, but my bet would be it will come back as having a lot of water.
If that is the case, change the oil and filter, and try to do a ride for 30 minutes or more after the engine reaches operating temp once a week.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post