re: " The Easy Way to Pull the Skid! "

[Mark Andolina]

Good morning All.

Hoping to pick a couple expert brains on this one.

In the Frequently Asked Phazer question section, there is a "Easy Skid Removal" link posted by RuggyBuggy to easily remove the skid. first of all, that was great - HUGE help. Skid was pulled in about 13 mins I'd say. reason for removal was to beef up some corner gussets, the pivot link and replace the center skid shock with one off of a newer Viper.

so I had the sled tilted on its side (battery side down) for those 13 mins or so, and when I flipped it back over - I had a small 4-5" diameter circle of fluid leak out, dripping out from the plastic belly guard. it was a milky white substance which did have an oily smell to it, so I thought some moisture somehow got into the oil, or coolant in the oil.

but when I pulled the dipstick it was fresh black yamalube from an oil change at the beginning of the season. just trying to find out where and why the milky white substance may have come from? any/all help would be greatly appreciated, thank you all.

 

[kschitoskey]

Has the machine ever rolled over completely? It makes an ugly mess inside your engine compartment / air cleaner. A 4-5" circle can be made by surprisingly small amounts of fluid.

Just laying it over like that would not likely drain oil out of the breather tube on top of the oil reservoir...

The only other place for petroleum is the chaincase. Have you had a look at that fluid as well?

 

[Mark Andolina]

RE: " Has the machine ever rolled over completely? "
- Nope, never completely over. right handlebar on a 5gal bucket so it was pretty much straight up and down sideways.

I have not yet checked the chaincase, which I should have and will ASAP. is chaincase fluid that milky white color? I have never changed it before to be honest, just the oil. and it definitely was not oil that leaked out, as the oil is black and clean/fresh as it gets.

All in all yes it does not look like a lot of fluid at all, but any fluid leak at all alarms me. thanks very much for the response.

 

[YukonMP]

You could have had a small amount of oil trapped in a number of places, the result of overfill, sled on its side, or who knows what. Main thing is that your engine oil is not milky now and watch the level/color. Your chain case oil should not be milky white either and would benefit from being changed and checked as frequently as the engine oil.

Sorry I'm not much help speculating as to the source, I would just confirm the level and quality of the fluids and keep a eye on them.

 

[Mark Andolina]

no need to apologize at all, I am MUCH better off than I was this morning knowledge-wise. Stoked I joined TY finally after years of just reading. thank you for your help

 

[kschitoskey]

I utilized the same high tech tip device (5 gallon bucket) - never had a problem either. My son rides our Phazer and we ride mountains so one of the first things I purchased was a rollover kit from fourstrokesolutions. The inventor is active on this site and his product paid for itself when my son hit a berm this past week. He bent an a-arm, rolled it over a couple of times, but his lanyard worked and it didn't lose a drop of oil. That device saved a $ 1800 + engine.

Re: chaincase - make sure you adjust the tensioner while you're down there changing the fluid. Easy to do, and you'll already have the panels off.

I love our phazer - has some idiosyncrasies, but the aftermarket has more than made up for it.

 

[Mark Andolina]

that is great to know, thank you.

I am going through it all tuning it up for my girlfriend, just getting to know it at the moment as it is a fairly new sled to me. Putting some older fox floats on the front, new front bumper, 2015 Viper center skit shock, new billet aluminum pivot link (beefed up the OEM steel one as well just for a solid spare), wired in a heated visor cord, all updates are done.

it is a fun little sled that's for sure.

 

[Voda2000]

My money is on gear oil from the chain case.

What year is the sled?

 

[Mark Andolina]

2007 FX

Yup, that is my #1 step to check when I get home from work.

 

[Voda2000]

There was some updated parts (a tube and a grommet) for the reverse gear box where it connects to the chaincase. You might want to look into that if it looks like the oil is coming from the up higher on the chaincase.

 

[Mark Andolina]

Well I confirmed it is not engine oil or gear oil. Both full and clean. Hoping it’s just overflow but will continue to monitor levels and cleanliness of both.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Mark Andolina]

is that tube at the top of the pic the engine oil overflow? I believe I found the culprit.

 

[Voda2000]

Is that the bottom of the air box?

 

[Mark Andolina]

It very well may be. It’s best center of the sled, toward the front more. I bet it is, have not checked the air box though, I will in the morning for sure.

Does the air box have an overflow tube like that? That’s for sure where the leak is coming from. Sorry I am a little green when it comes to this machine.

 

[Voda2000]

There is a drain for the air box and if you got oil in it could come out there.

I can’t tell from that photo if it’s the bottom of the air box or part of the engine block I’m looking at.