Roll over valve problem.

[Joe ltx-le]

I know this has been mentioned a few times but it deserves its own thread.

A common problem we have been seeing on the sidewinders is leaking oil tanks. The leak is from the seal between the oil tank and chain case.

When I seen my leak first thing I did was take the tank off and reseal it. This fixed the problem at idle until the first time I drove it on the truck.

What Has been found is , it is not the oil tank seal that's the problem but there is pressure in the tank Caused from a malfunctioning roll over valve. Since the seal is only silicone it does not seem to handle the pressure well.

Take a look at your oil tank for leaks. Run your hand under the tank down where your foot would be when your riding.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Where is this valve located? Can we just remove it? Or mod it so it is not holding pressure?

thanks, good for us all the check these things.

 

[Joe ltx-le]

Check the "oil leak!!" Thread also.
There's a couple cases there

 

[Joe ltx-le]

The valve is located above the oil tank , the large black vent hose goes to it.

You can defiantly bypass it , but it has a purpose . If you're sled goes upside down the oil will fill up the air box and I geusse there's a chance of fire if oil gets on the exhaust.

It seems to be a bigger issue then I thought. Yamaha had no valves. There on back order

 

[Joe ltx-le]

It seems to be a sealed unit. No real way to take it apart.

When I removed it it seemed like the valves was stuck. After I blew through it a few times with lp air it opens just like the new one off my buddy's sled

 

[STAIN]

I wonder if a PCV valve could be used as a replacement for now? At least until a fix is found

 

[Joe ltx-le]

I wonder if a PCV valve could be used as a replacement for now? At least until a fix is found

That's a good question. I can't see why it wouldn't. The only issue is the hose into the valve is bigger then the one out.
I have two of them here I'm
Looking at. One off a new sled (500 miles )the other off of my sled (5800 miles )

Before I blew through my valve it was really hard to get to open. Now it's acting exactly like the new one.

I'm starting to think it we gummed up with oil. Question is how long will it stay working.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Good info here Joe, thank you.

So, if one has a leaking oil tank seam, could they just loosen something to allow pressure to get out?

Man i wish I had my sled Im clueless until i get her home and able to dive in to her.

 

[Joe ltx-le]

If you have an oil leak at the seam , you need to re seal the case. Once the silicone is compromised it's nfg.
But I'm thinking it's caused by the roll over valve sometimes.
If you run the engine with vent hose off. You can feel there's a tun of pressure coming from the oil tank, so if the valve is sticky I think it over pressurized the tank and that silicone gasket just doesn't hold up.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

So what about a tiny vent hole drilled into the fill cap or something simple to let the pressure out? I doubt it would leak if it was small enough....

 

[Joe ltx-le]

Once you run the sled with your finger over the vent hose youll understand how much pressure comes out of the tank. A small hole isn't going to change much.

I think there's a reason to have a slight pressure in the tank to keep the oil from getting pulled out.

Still a poor design to seal the oil tank with silicone.

 

[cannondale27]

Joe we were told to use Threebond Liquid Gasket 1194 for sealing the oil tank.

 

[KnappAttack]

I have never rolled a turbo sled.

I don't know why it wouldn't work to remove the roll over valve and just connect the two hoses together. Eliminate the problem right from the start. Maybe I'll try it this season just to eliminate the failure prone valve.

 

[Joe ltx-le]

Joe we were told to use Threebond Liquid Gasket 1194 for sealing the oil tank.

I also recommended threebond until I used it. It didn't handle the pressure on the tank at all.

1194 runs to much when applying in this application. Rvt silicone seems to Be the best choice since it sets up solid. There's a lot of gap in places on these oil tank flanges. Not a good seal at all. I blued the two faces when I had it apart, the flanges aren't straight to each other. That's why silicone works because it actually can take up air gaps in the seal.

 

[Joe ltx-le]

I have never rolled a turbo sled.

I don't know why it wouldn't work to remove the roll over valve and just connect the two hoses together. Eliminate the problem right from the start. Maybe I'll try it this season just to eliminate the failure prone valve.

I agree with you. I never roll my sled, until something stupid happens going over the highway or something like that.

I might try removing the guts of the valve , atleast then there is a restriction to slow the oil down if I do tip over