Hello, I am having an issue I cannot figure out with the oil in my minibike disappearing. I ran conventional 10w-30 in it, and after probably 3-4 hours of riding with the new oil, enough of it was gone to make the engine shut itself off! I got this engine used, but I have rebuilt it and can confirm there are no leaks anywhere. There is no smoke in the exhaust, and the spark plug looks normal. Anyone have an idea?
Predator 212 disappearing oil
- Thread starter Luke20001
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Hellion
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Make sure you add oil when the engine is perfectly level to ensure the oil level is correct. Also, make sure you check the oil when the engine is level. Some minibikes have the frame at an angle which can make checking the oil give an erroneous reading on the dipstick.
It’s (likely) not the problem but you should remove or disable the low oil sensor for a non stationary engine, but in this case maybe it saved your engine? Sometimes these engines use a lot of oil, especially when they get tired. The old engine manuals said to check it and top it off each time you use it.
I have been doing my best to have the engine level when I mess with the oil. I haven't had any problems with the oil before when riding, and did not have this issue until a couple hours into my last trip, which tells me the oil was good at first, and then went somewhere
Hellion
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Years ago I switched to straight weight SAE 30 engine oil because of excess oil consumption. Technically speaking you don’t need a multi-viscosity oil (0W, 5W, 10W oil with a “W” in it) for these air cooled engines because they run so hot. Some of the old Briggs engine manuals warn against the multi-viscosity oils.
You can burn oil and not notice it, it’s normal and probably expected at 3-4 hour run times. Whew!
You can burn oil and not notice it, it’s normal and probably expected at 3-4 hour run times. Whew!
It could be the crankcase breather, just to confirm, that is the vent on the valve cover right? Currently I do not have anything connected to that because I have been playing with different air filters
Denny
Canned Monster
Not running a breather or an improper one can cause excessive oil consumption.
Hellion
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Is it actually a road (trail) trip or just bombing around having fun? There’s a guy who posts a photo montage of a 50 mile (round trip) trip on a well equipped Baja Warrior which is essentially a mini motorcycle. He might be camping out there, not sure.
ezcome-ezgo
G'me sumthin to write on
I have your oil. I am a magician.