Oil is coffee & cream colored :-(

[mysledblows]

I had one a couple years ago that spent some time in the lake. It took 4\5 changes to get it back to oil. Filter has to be swapped too. Good luck

 

[stevewithOCD]

It only takes a half Teaspoon of water to turn the oil into "coffee"
You probably wouldn't notice any coolant missing with the short run time you're doing
Put some of the oil in jars & let sit
It takes a day or 2 to separate
And you must completely drain the whole system including filter

Also, when you check oil level, warm sled up until Heat Exchangers on running boards are warm.
Then slide dipstick in til threads touch without screwing in, pull out and look at stick.

And send PICS!
We are very visual guys
The old saying "believe NOTHING you hear & half of what you see" applies here

 

[Confused]

If you really feel it's coolant, send a sample to a lab. That will tell you if it's water, coolant, or nothing at all.

 

[jpilk99]

Thanks all. Here's a pic of the oil in the tub. Photo taken at night with flash...

Preparing for multiple oil fills, runs, drains, cleans, refills.... Okay to use a "cheaper" oil? Same with filter?? I'll grab a sample and put it in glass jar to sit a few days. Thanks all.

 

[Confused]

Ok, that’s water or coolant. Any way to pressurize the cooling system?

 

[jpilk99]

Not by me. I’d have to bring it to someone

 

[jpilk99]

Is this something I can buy for this sled?

 

[RobX-1]

Something like this would work. I used to flush and refill the coolant in my 08 Apex but can also be used on cars and such.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BW39HJS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[stevewithOCD]

When you said it looks like coffee, i was thinking Large with 1 milk.
Not a Small with 6 milks.
That looks like when my cheapo dad would only put 1 teaspoon of Nestle Quick in my Chocolate Milk.

Pressurize it.
Youtube will show you how to do it & what to look for.

P.S: It takes TWO Tablespoons of Quick to make Chocolate Milk

 

[STAIN]

Thanks all. Here's a pic of the oil in the tub. Photo taken at night with flash...

Preparing for multiple oil fills, runs, drains, cleans, refills.... Okay to use a "cheaper" oil? Same with filter?? I'll grab a sample and put it in glass jar to sit a few days. Thanks all.

Yikes!!! was that sled sunk at one point? Any other evidence you can see that maybe that sled went through the ice?

 

[mbarryracing]

Yikes!!! was that sled sunk at one point? Any other evidence you can see that maybe that sled went through the ice?

I agree, I'd wonder if that sled was sunk or maybe left outside with a valve cover off or dipstick out or something.

I don't think you even need to buy a coolant system pressure tester. That is a significant amount of moisture, enough that if it is coolant that the coolant level would be dropping significantly enough to see the level go down in the reservoir. If you top off the coolant you'd see it dropping over time as it weeped into the oil cavity. Sources for getting into the oil would be a head gasket or a cracked oil cooler between the block and the oil filter.
I'd think a head gasket would see combustion pressure bubbles in the coolant reservoir when running and probably misfire and run like crap. The oil cooler you could remove and probably bench test easy enough.

 

[mbarryracing]

If it were my sled, I'd pull the valve cover to check for corrosion / rust on the cams etc. If it sat for a while with alot of water / moisture in it, over time it would eventually condense on the steel and cause surface rust as the detergent type motor oil wicked off the parts and exposed bare steel...

 

[Mooseman]

Check with your local auto parts store and see if they have free rentals on cooling system testers. And as others have said, I would pull the valve cover and check things out since it is new to you and this is looking very suspect.

 

[jpilk99]

This is all great information; thank you. Going only by what the seller shared, and I'm inclined to think he's being candid, I do NOT think this sled was a swimmer.

He said that he changed the oil, (getting ready to go up north for some riding), and drove it around his yard and into trailer for departure the next morning. He said when he got up north and pulled the sled out, ne noticed oil underneath it. Not alot. He said he added oil and was going to ride it and keep an eye on temp, add more oil etc. Then he damaged the front a-arm going over railroad tracks and was done for the day. He never said anything about it going in water. But, as I'm not naïve - who the hell admits that freely. The guy is about 52 years old and quite wealthy ...so I am sort of inclined to believe him, but ya never know. Plus, I don't see any signs of things getting soaked - there was plenty of mouse poop/nest down at bottom of engine compartment.... Who knows.

The other thing that makes me think it did not go swimming is: When I went over the first time to look at it, the oil that was at the bottom of the engine compartment (maybe a cup or 1/2 cup, not a lot) as well as everything that was in the tank was just ...dirty. Gray'ish. Not at all the coffee, or half-assed hot chocolate you guys mention.

I've ordered a couple 5-quart 0W-30 containers and 2 new filters. I have the drain plug out now and the oil tank drained - and then, per a friend who has snowmobiled for 30 years and owns 5 of these 4-strokers - I have tossed in about a cup of dry dishwasher detergent into the oil tank and shaken it all around. I'm about to get a few buckets of hot-#*$&@ water and rinse it all out. Then rinse it 5 more times to make sure 100.0000% of the detergent is gone. Then I'll make sure it's 100.0000% dry (duh!) and reconnect everything, and start again.

 

[STAIN]

5-quart 0W-30 containers

I would use cheap-#*$&@ oil to flush it, dont waste money on the good stuff just to drain all out.