Huge increase in oil consumption & rod through case?

[ReX]

Next time I'm in the US I'll try to pick some up. It doesn't seem to be available in Canada.

One thing I just noticed. I had to move the RX-1 to get at another sled. As usual I took it for a ride to make sure the engine was well warmed up (warm heat exchangers) before shutting down and then instead of parking it decided to park it off the end of my driveway (about a 30° slope) and do the seafoam in the cylinder treatment.

I pulled the plugs out of the "hot" engine and found the plugs were just warm. The plugs were no where near the temperature I would have expected for a warmed up engine. It was only running about 10 minutes, but still...

I wonder if my thermostat is stuck open or something. Shouldn't the thermostat stay closed until the engine is at 165°F and keep the heat exchangers cold?

Anyway, I poured in a measured 1.5 fluid ounce into each cylinder, manually rotated the engine a little and loosely installed the plugs.

I'll head out in 3 hours or so and take it for a ride (after pulling the plugs and cranking it to make sure it doesn't hydrolock).

 

[Skydog]

(((Anyway, I poured in a measured 1.5 fluid ounce into each cylinder, manually rotated the engine a little and loosely installed the plugs.))

I did this to it help a little but the ring free for me is the way to go! Order some from a Yamaha dealer

Skydog

 

[Skydog]

The motor running cooler is normal, that is alot of the problem with the carbon build up.

Skydog

 

[ReX]

I just ran 260 kms since letting the Sea Foam sit in the cylinders for a few hours.

Worse than ever!

It burnt 400 ml!!!! - almost 1/2 a quart in 160 miles!!!

I'm not positive it was full before, but I'm fairly sure I filled it to the full mark after the last ride (I ran out of Yamalube last top up and I think it was just a hair under the full mark).

This isn't looking good.

 

[RX-1 Flyer]

Rex sorry to hear about your results so far. I just bought an 03 with over 10,000kms (which is burning oil) so I've been following your issue closely.
Also, you mentioned your Yamaha dealer wasn't able to help you with the Ring Free. Well the dealer in my town is also a Carquest guy, and he was able to order me some Ring Free earlier this week. Maybe you can get it from a different dealer? Or maybe my guy ordered it through his CarQuest affiliation... Either way, I'll let you know when it arrives. (if it does ) Good Luck!

 

[Sled Dog]

Rex you need to put some in your oil and gas and run the machine for a day hard. Then change your oil I would be very suprised this would not work for you.

 

[Len Todd]

RingFree worked for me.

 

[ReX]

I tried to special order ring free and called several local dealers. It simply isn't available anywhere in Canada.

I did speak to the district service rep and he recommended Yamaha Combustion Chamber Cleaner. Apparently that is what is being used in Canada to free sticky rings.

Last night I ran the full treatment through the motor (following the instructions), went for a very short ride to clear it out and then changed the oil.

We're leaving for Gaspe Sunday so I'll have a good idea how much oil it's burning over the next week (somewhere close to 4000 kms of sledding).

 

[Len Todd]

When you get the ringfree, dump 1/4 bottle in a full tank of gas. Add gas over the next 500 miles w/o more ringfree. Then change the oil. It should be fairly filthy. Then dump another 1/4 bottle in the gas and go for another 500 miles. I'll bet the oil will be fairly clean this time.

I did this and the carbon in the pipes is all but gone. My oil consumption is back to nearly nothing.

The only bad thing about all this is the oil now stays so clean that it is hard to see that you are still full on the dip stick. (I've learned to live with that problem! )

 

[RX-1 Flyer]

Still waiting on the ring free up here Rex. (supposedly Monday is the day). Hopefully the combustion cleaner produces good results in Gaspe!

 

[RX-1 Flyer]

You were right Rex. My dealer fell through on the ring free. Supposedly he thought it was on Monday's shipment 'for sure'..... I didn't stick around long enough to hear the story about how its not available in Canada......

How about you other Canadian RX1 guys? Where are you all getting your ring free or sea foam from?

Someone suggested Car Quest had it, maybe Lazy Bastard, but I asked at Car Quest in Cochrane and they said if they had a part number then maybe they could find it.

Any thoughts? The situation is getting pretty desparate as I'm burning more oil than the two stroke guys I ride with and the laughing is getting pretty old!

 

[LiLAl]

I just picked up a couple of bottles of ring free at a U.S. dealer. I guess I should have taken an order from the Canadian sledders on here, eh? Not cheap, 12.75 USD a bottle. Reading the back of the bottle, it says developed in conjunction with Chevron Chemical Co, Oronite Additives Division. Just starting to checkout Chevron's website, wondering if they sell a similar product that is available in Canada.

 

[nhsrx701]

As much as I hate to admit this...I purchased a used rx1 (03) with 4000 miles on it.....it now has 5k and I just got back from quebec and this sled is an oil s%^king pig....honestly I have gone a thousand miles.....and put 6 quarts in it....the guy I purchased it from said it doesn't burn oil.....my A$$! So I have read this thread and if I'm going back to quebec in two weeks I have a choice....strap a case of oil to the sled.......take the srx that burns half the oil and spend the 175 for the quebec sticker...... or pull this motor down and install the updated rings...

And to add the the oil concern...when I went to start it friday and Saturday it cranked and then stoped cranking..because it hit a high compression/???(i dont now what).. during the cold start after sitting over night. I had to grab the clutch and work the engine past the tdc (top dead center) then hit the starter and it fired and ran fine...this happened both Sat a Sun morning....oh and I haven't lost any coolant so its not coolant wich leaves either hydro lock from oil or gas....

I like the sled and I honestly can't sell it to someone else with this problem.....I don't even feel right trading it to a dealer on a new one...because I'm screwing them too.....so I'm going to sleep on this and decide whats best.... No offence to the ring free....I believe it works but also agree that its only a temp repair and the real fix is the updated rings...
I'll sleep on and let you all know...the dealer isn't open until tuesday so...
when they a not munching oil!

 

[ReX]

We just got back from our trip to Gaspe.

The motor burned just as much oil as before - about 400 ml/700 km (or around a quart per 1000 miles) - UNTIL!!!

This morning while cruising at about 100 kph (60 mph) with the engine turning somewhere around 7000-8000 rpm there was a very loud BANG, followed by a cloud of smoke pouring out from the engine bay, followed by lots of vibration.

I shut it down and rolled to a stop. Oil was pouring out below the motor and I discovered a hole in the side of the block. It looks like the mag side rod failed and punched out the back of the motor.

I'm not a happy camper. The oil was kept well within the crosshatches the entire trip (topped it up once per day and the light never came on). I had just topped the oil up about 50 kms (30 miles) before so I know for sure it wasn't low on oil.

I don't know why the connecting rod would let go!!!???

The sled has 19,500 kms on it now and always ran 0W30 Yamalube, except for once it ran mobil 1 5W30 full synthetic. The oil was always changed between 2000 kms and 3200 kms (normally around 3000 kms) with a new filter every time (except the last time - the oil was changed at 2500 kms this time).

We spend the day searching for a u-haul to rent and eventually convinced a lady to open her u-haul dealership so we could rent a cargo truck and get home from Shawinigan.

Not a good day at all.

 

[RX-1 Flyer]

Oh man what a bummer. Sorry to hear...