Oil in Air Box??

[WFO]

My buddy asked me to look into an oil leak problem on his '05 Rage. I traced the leak down to the air box. Oil is spurting out the breather tube from the oil valve to the air box. Below are pictures of what I'm talking about. Any idea about what's wrong and how to fix it?

 

[Metallicat]

Did he overfill the oil tank?

 

[WFO]

Metallicat.........No. In fact, the oil was down a quart and a half.

 

[Metallicat]

I can't quite tell from the pics, but does the oil look like normal oil should? Not mixed with coolant is it? That is a breather hose, I can't think of any reason why oil would puke out of it. Somebody here must have some idea though!

Oh, someone mentioned on the Nytro forum that if the sled was on its side oil will come out of the air filter.

 

[WFO]

Metallicat..........The oil has a chocolate milk appearance. I think this indicates water in the oil. Would water from condensation cause this? The antifreeze looks normal and is not low. At this point, I've removed the battery and holder as well as the oil tank. I can't find anything that looks abnormal. I've also removed all the oil hoses and checked for kinks or blockage. The oil pressure valve also appears to be working correctly.

My guess is that when the oil pressure in the tank reaches a certain point, the oil pressure valve opens to relieve the pressure. In doing so, some oil is dumped into the air box. The excess oil is then routed back to the crankcase via the return hose. My guess is that when my buddy replaced the battery, he forgot to attach the return line. Consequently, the excess oil from the air box was not returned to the crankcase, but rather simply spilled out and caused the apparent oil leak under the sled.

 

[jarmentrout]

The breather tube is off of the bottom of the air box.
It's the smaller one that goes on under the right (riders rt) side.

 

[sleddheadd]

Did he roll the sled or turn it on its side to change hi-fax or other maintenance? if you put it on it's right side there is a resevoir in the air box that will fill with oil and cause a mess.

 

[WFO]

Put everything back together yesterday and let it idle for about 15 - 20 minuets - no leaks and everything sounded good. So, today I took the sled out for a test ride. Well, about 3 miles into the test ride (at about 20 mph,) the engine suddenly cuts out and the RPMs will not go above 2500. Now, there is a steady stream of oil leaking from the right side of the belly pan and the engine is making a terrible sound and running VERY rough. Immediately, I shut down the engine and after about 5 minutes the oil stops leaking. I, of course, check the oil and it is just above the "L" mark. When I changed the oil and filter, it took a little over 3 quarts. There is something seriously wrong with this engine. It's at the dealer now.

 

[tabhp]

I also have an 05 rage, a few weeks ago starting it at -35C it backfired and broke my starter clutch. I replaced the clutch and now I have the same oil blowing problem. The engine seems to run fine, but it think something internal is damaged. Did you here back from the dealer?

 

[thrasher]

Your pictures show normal operation. Oil under some pressure comes out of that line, goes into a separate reservoir in the left side of the air box ( open the lid on the air box and you will see a sealed compartment at the left that is fed from that line) then returns to the engine via a small return line on the underside of the airbox. These lines are only secured with a weak spring clamp and once removed they don't stay well in place when you resecure them. Just had my airbox off to check my battery and when I started it and warmed it up, I had a steady stream of oil pouring from the bottom of the engine at the access panel, thought my oil tank had cracked again. However, loosened the airbox and dicovered the oil return line underneath had popped off. Resecured and no problem, but the oil continued to drip for a half an hour, must have lost a half a quart in five minutes of running after a cold start. Will be looking at placing a stainless steel ring clamp on that return line so doesn't pop off while riding.

 

[Crazy Canuk]

I agree with Thrasher, if that return line pops off, you are in for a mess, but it is normal for oil to run through the airbox. The clamps they use are not good and it is difficult to get your hands in there to get them on properly.

 

[WFO]

thrasher........After explaining the problem to the dealer, he said what you said. When I initially took the airbox off, I noticed the oil return line was not connected at the airbox. So, I figured that was the cause of the oil leak problem. As long as I had the airbox off, I decided to remove the oil tank, battery and battery box. Additionally, I removed all the oil lines and checked for cracks, plugs, and kinks. I couldn't see any other signs of an oil leak and all the lines were good. So, I put everything back together and thought I fixed the problem. Obviously, there was something else wrong with the sled. The dealer has not had a chance to look at the sled. As soon as the dealer finds the problem, I'll report back.

 

[WFO]

According to the dealer, the engine is toast. Busted rod that punched a hole in the crankcase. Not sure what caused the broken rod, but it will cost more to fix the sled than it's worth.

 

[tabhp]

Sorry to here your engine is toast. I hope I don't end up the same way

The question I have is how much oil flows out this line from the oil tank to the air box seperator. All my lines were connected and I pumped about 2 litres of oil in 3km. I then got the low oil alarm. The inside of my air box was full of oil. My worry if I get a slug of oil sucked up into the carbs it would wreck the engine.

The compression is 185psi on all three so I don't think it is blow-by.
The only other thing that I changed was I moved to a full synthetic oil.

anyone have sugestions?

 

[thrasher]

That certainly sucks WFO, I feel your pain. Someone on this site may possibly have an engine for you if you do some checking. This season hasn't been that good anyhow, get her ready for next year.