Using kerosene

[DJones]

Can I put kerosene in the crankcase as a motor flush? How much should I use? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Re: Using kerosene

Can I put kerosene in the crankcase as a motor flush? How much should I use? Thanks.

I'm told that many engine-flush products are largely kerosene, but I personally wouldn't use a like amount of kerosene instead of a commercial product.

Why are you considering an engine flush? Modern engine oils do a really good job of keeping the engine clean. Synthetic oils are even better in that regard.

[redliner1973]

DON'T use kerosene to 'clean' a motor. Use Neutra or Auto-RX. :twisted:

[mdole]

When I was younger that was how we would clean out old automobile lubrication systems. We would fill with a mixture of kerosene and engine oil, (about 50/50), then run the engine for about 5 minutes and dump the kerosene, fill with 20 wt run for a couple of hundred miles and then change to correct wt oil.

I would never use this method on a bike kerosene has no lubricating qualities and on a bike engine with its tighter tolerances washing the lubricating film of oil off with kerosene just seems to be asking for bearing failure.

Even when using this method with old cars all it took was revving the engine a little to wipe out a set of bearings.

Mike

[Jeff Tate]

Even if bearings weren't an issue I'd never put any kind of additive or whatever in the crankcase due to the clutch more than likely going south.

[Anonymous]

I'm with Mike. The bearing surfaces for the camshafts are not really bearings at all, they are machined aluminum. The clearances are 0.0009 to 0.0021 inches. I would not trust kerosine to keep these properly protected due to the high loading.

[DJones]

Thanks for the input. I won`t use the kerosene. Has anyone used Kendall GT-1 oil in their bikes/

[Anonymous]

Earlier Al asked why you were wanted to do an engine flush. That is a very good question.

The inside of my motors have always been very clean, and I don't do anything out of the ordinary as for engine oil.

Do you see a buildup of sludge?

[Anonymous]

I have used nothing but Kendall GT 1 in both my dragbike & my 02 Bandit 1200. Never had a bearing failure or any clutch trouble.....ever. Good product as far as I am concerned. My gs1000 dragbike is for sale if anyone is interested in going 150 mph in 9 seconds.

https://www.gofast.ca/forsale.htm

Paul (Nasty Racing)

[DJones]

no I don`t have a sludge problem. I just wanted to flush it as a preventive measure.

[Anonymous]

no I don`t have a sludge problem. I just wanted to flush it as a preventive measure.

Here's an option to consider if the motor isn't clagged up, but could do with some internal hygiene all the same.....

At your next change (or sooner if you want) fill with a good synthetic oil. Change the filter if it's due or you think it might be a bit bogged up - take it out and have a look. Then do another change after say 2500km (1500 miles) and refill with synthetic including a new filter. The old filter will have all the gunk ripped out by the synthetic.

Did this when I bought my GS. The first synthetic change was quite dirty. I'm now on a 10000km change interval with Mobil1, plus filter of course.

Now a couple of qualifiers. You need to do some decent runs to get things hot and moving. Don't bother if your motor's stuffed anyway. Seals and gaskets may leak - I found they settled down within a week. Clutch might be a problem - mine was fine. If the synthetic is a problem, then consider it a flush and go back to the old stuff on the next change.

[Anonymous]

At your next change (or sooner if you want) fill with a good synthetic oil.

Clutch might be a problem - mine was fine.

Having made the big leap of faith that's necessary, I can tell you that synthetic oil (even the automotive Mobil-1 15W-50 I buy at Walmart) shouldn't hurt a clutch that's not already quickly going south. As always, I invite first-person accounts of appropriate car oils (seek advice or search the forum on this subject before choosing) goofing up motorcycles. Perhaps those stories are out there, but thus far I have only been told of problems with bikes belonging to friends, or more properly, friends of friends.

[Anonymous]

At your next change (or sooner if you want) fill with a good synthetic oil.

Clutch might be a problem - mine was fine.

Having made the big leap of faith that's necessary, I can tell you that synthetic oil (even the automotive Mobil-1 15W-50 I buy at Walmart) shouldn't hurt a clutch that's not already quickly going south. As always, I invite first-person accounts of appropriate car oils (seek advice or search the forum on this subject before choosing) goofing up motorcycles. Perhaps those stories are out there, but thus far I have only been told of problems with bikes belonging to friends, or more properly, friends of friends.

100% agree with you there Al. The only first hand problem I've seen was years ago with an early synthetic in a Honda road bike used off-road. The clutch was likely to be marginal anyway. If the clutch is OK then a modern 40 or 50 weight synthetic oil is unlikely to cause problems.

To quote the old mechanic's saying (my father was one) - a fill of premium oil and a con rod cost about the same, it's the labour that's the killer.