Oil leak/smoke

[Guest]

Hey guys, recently I noticed that I had a slight oil leak. I thought that it was coming from my drain plug, and I needed an oil change, so I figured why not change the oil and put a bit of high temp silicone around the bolt, and it'll solve the problem.

As for the smoke, I used to think that the smoke was coming from my overflowing carbs hitting the engine block. I have since fixed my carbs, so I know that is not the problem.

All this information leads up to this, I took the bike for a ride last night, and as I pulled up, I noticed that I once again had oil dripping from the bottom of my block. So today I went out to check things out, and I noticed that not only did I have an oil leak, I noticed that there was [white] smoke coming out from the bottom/front of my block, and out of my exhaust pipes. Last night while riding, I smelled a faint burning smell, and noticed a bit of smoke at idle, but couldn't tell where it was coming from as I was sitting on the bike. Today, the throttle was bogging down a bit within the first couple of minutes having the bike started, and the idle was a bit off.

So, my question(s): Is the throttle related? What is the significance of smoke coming out of my exhaust? I used the 15w40 diesel oil as suggested by most on the forum; I assume this doesn't have any significance to my smoke/burning smell?

Side note, I didn't know where exactly to put this thread, so I put it here.

Thanks guys!

[tom203]

Clean engine well, go for ride, and stop frequently to attempt to see where oil starts to come from.
Have you checked petcock for correct operation?
And what does "fixed the carbs " mean?

[mike1414]

The carbs were overflowing from the float bowls and the bike wasn't running well, so I rebuilt the carbs. Petcock is good, no issues there. A friend of mine said: white smoke = relatively safe; a dark grey or blue tint to the smoke = bad. Sound like a reasonable argument to anyone? I'll get the pressure washer out and give the engine a good clean and see if I can tell from where the leak is coming.

[tom203]

And "rebuilt carbs" means what exactly?
I don't like smoke at all, unless it's a two stroke fogger

[mike1414]

Bottom end rebuild; floats, needles, float bowl gaskets, o-rings, jets

Smoke isn't exactly what I like to see. And I feel like there is no such thing as a harmless or safe smoke. Smoke to me is smoke, and means something is not going right, and I don't like it. I'm about to go clean things off and try and figure out where the leak is coming from.

[tom203]

yes, clean it up and search for oil leak source. I know you said petcock was OK, but best to be sure-some of your symptoms sound like fuel found its way into crankcase ,so put petcock in "ON" spot, disconnect fuel line and leave it off overnight -nothing should flow. Also ,remove oil fill cap and take a whiff. Faulty petcocks are real common, so absolutely rule it out before blaming carbs.
These new carb parts - original mikuni ? or aftermarket stuff?

[mike1414]

Cleaned the underside of the engine, checked for the leak, and I seem to have isolated the leak to the gearbox. It's not anything significant, but it is still enough to be a problem. I'll have to check the petcock out; would the gas be mixing with the oil and that would be causing the leak? Or that is simply what would be causing the burning smell and the smoke I guess? If that's the case then I think that my petcock might just be bad. Before I rebuilt the carbs, turning the petcock to the "on" position would cause my carbs to overflow with gas. Therefore, I had to turn the petcock to the halfway position between "on" and "reserve" to keep the gas from flowing.

Also, the carb rebuild kit came from Z1; that being said, I think it was original.

[mike1414]

Anyone have a resource for a petcock rebuild kit? I didn't see anything on Z1, and that is usually my go-to place for parts. Just want something fairly reasonably priced and good quality. Suggestions? Anyone?

[Phred]

I would not bother trying to rebuild the petcock. Just buy a new one from Z1 and you will have years of trouble free use out of it. There are some petcock rebuild kits out there but I tried one and it is a hit and miss. I missed as something inside went that I could not replace when trying to rebuild mine. Researched it here and discovered others had the same story with trying to rebuild.

[mike1414]

Well looks like Z1 is coming up short again. I believe that Parts N' More has a petcock available. I'll check through them. If not, maybe someone on here has one that it in fair enough condition to use.