Extreme cold start up and oil on the snow.

[olivia317]

Riding the North Shore this weekend. It was -17 F this morning when I started my two 2012 Nytros. They started up fine. When I moved them there was oil on the snow right in the middle under the motor. The oil on the snow had a sprayed pattern, solid in the middle with misty drops on the outside. Like it was spit out. Both sleds had about the same amount on the snow. What? Why? Weird, have never seen this before.

 

[maim]

sounds like you might need to replace the oil filters and check the lower line from tank. i think yellowknife had his 08 nitro mtx do that in the cold to him for the filter and agman had the line happen on his nitro.

 

[olivia317]

Got to check things out last night. It appears all the oil came from around the oil filter gasket. The filter needed very little effort to remove. I've never seen this before. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Gone Blue]

The old shrinking o-ring, haha. Glad you figured it out. G.B.

 

[Mountaintech]

Got to check things out last night. It appears all the oil came from around the oil filter gasket. The filter needed very little effort to remove. I've never seen this before. Thanks for the tip.

The filter gets pressurized oil supply. With the extreme cold the oil would be at it's thickest viscosity wise. That is why the oil got past the loose fitting gasket. If the oil filter gets even a small hole in it, and the engine is run at operating RPMs, you will take out the engine.

 

[R00STER]

The part of this solution that I am not understanding is how you could have an oil spray on the snow with that area being blocked off with a skid plate??? Seriously, even with the crappy stock plastic skid plate in place, there should not be a clear path from the engine filter to the snow in order to make the "spray pattern" as described. I'm thinking you should investigate further. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Mountaintech]

The part of this solution that I am not understanding is how you could have an oil spray on the snow with that area being blocked off with a skid plate??? Seriously, even with the crappy stock plastic skid plate in place, there should not be a clear path from the engine filter to the snow in order to make the "spray pattern" as described. I'm thinking you should investigate further. Just my 2 cents worth.

Very good point and I thought the exact same thing. Stock "engine protector" piece of plastic may be missing. There was someone else back east trail riding that complained about his clutches slipping while riding in 18" of fresh powder. Guess what was missing on his sled?!!

 

[R00STER]

I am running your full length skid plate, and I could not count how many times it has saved my bacon!! I would not ride off of the trail without it! But now it just sounds like I am putting in an ad for your product. lol

 

[olivia317]

Update. Called the Wix Filter Tech line and described my situation. Oil used is Mobil 1 0W-30. Filter is a NAPA Platinum 41358. The probable cause was a hardened filter gasket. Filter gaskets have a shelf life of around 5 years, even if they just sit on the shelf. Did not know this. Both of these sleds I bought new. Oil was changed after 500 miles and because it doesn't snow in Minnesota anymore, they finally reached the 3000 mile mark. Wix figures the age of the filter, time on the machine and the extreme cold was too much for the gasket. The gaskets are hard. I am attributing the spray pattern on the snow to the wind. The factory skid plate is in place. Oil ran straight off the back of the plate. The moral of the story is change oil sooner regardless of miles. Side note. My 2012 Apex had the oil changed last spring, same oil, same filter, same morning, no issues.

 

[Mountaintech]

Get rid of that factory skid plate, especially if you are running a 1358!

 

[Confused]

Get rid of that factory skid plate, especially if you are running a 1358!

Also get rid of the Wix filter. If you’re going 2500 miles per change, spend the extra few bucks for OEM.

 

[Mountaintech]

There is nothing wrong with the higher end Wix filters.

 

[Confused]

There is nothing wrong with the higher end Wix filters.

I agree, the filter itself is fine. It’s the seal that is better on the OEM, in my opinion. Take it for what it is.

 

[SumpBuster]

Oil filter seal. Happened on my old vector! Thought I had another 'busted sump', it sat in the back of the truck after running fine the day before, and oil under the pan right after a cold start the next day. Tightened it up and never saw it again. Did put a new one on after making sure. Wierd.

 

[Mountaintech]

The filter that Yamaha uses in the Nytro application is a 5DM-13440-00-00. It is a fairly short filter. Some dealerships will substitute a longer Yamaha filter if they do not have the 5DM. The 1358 WIX filter is about 3/4" longer than the 5DM. Because the filter is mounted on an angle off the back of the block, a longer filter will hang down lower. The OEM "Engine protector" sump cover has 2 U shaped aluminum stiffener ribs riveted onto it. If you are running a longer filter and still have the OEM cover in place it is possible for the RH stiffener rib to start rubbing on the oil filter. If you pinhole the oil filter while the engine is operating at over 4000 RPM you will take out the motor in very short order. Why??? Because the oil filter is pressurized, the oil pressure to the engine will be reduced enough for a given rpm to take out a ROD BEARING (usually cylinder #2). Oil pressure will not be low enough to cause the oil pressure switch to shut engine down. That will eventually happen when oil supply runs out, but by then it will be TOO LATE.