spilling oil

I finally got my 82 xj550 seca to fire up. A very exciting day..Whoot!
BUT....it is spilling oi lout of the air cleaner ???? What the crap 8O
I can see there is a hose going from the crank case to the air intake but this doesn't seem right.

 

The hose is supposed to be there. Check your oil level. Make sure that you don't have gas in the oil.

 

sorry I wasn't clear. I know the hose is supposed to be there but I don't know why the oil is spilling. How do I check the oil level? I don't see a sight glass.

 

on the left side of the bike, bottom front of the clutch cover is a sight glass. on level ground with the engine off, bike on the center stand. oil should be between the lines.

 

This happened to me when I first got my bike. I left the petcock on pri overnight and gas leaked past the pistons into the crank case. The gas mixed with the oil, combined with heat and agitation, and you have a good mess. on a brighter note, the gas cleaned the case out really good. It cost me an oil change and a new inline fuel shutoff valve.

 

On the RIGHT side of the bike, below the clutch "bulge," is where you find the sight glass.

Look at the VERY BOTTOM center of this pic, you can see about 3/4 of it.



When the bike is on the centerstand, the oil should be AT or ABOVE the top mark, but with a bubble still showing at the top.

On the SIDEstand, you should see NO oil in the sight glass.

If you suddenly have "too much" oil, one of two things has occurred:

-it got overfilled (not uncommon.)
-a combination of petcock and float problems has suddenly filled your crankcase with gas, causing it to have "too much oil." Also very common, and if this is the case, you have some work to do. (Do a forum search on "gas in the oil.")

 

Ya, right that's what I meant. Oops

 

Leaving it on "PRI" alone will not cause this. If your floats are functioning correctly, it won't happen (OK, once in a great blue moon if you experience a stuck float.) I've slipped and left one or the other of my XJ's on "pri" overnight by accident with no negative results.

However, if your float valves are marginal, incorrectly adjusted, dirty or just plain stuck, then leaving it on PRI will cause the problem.

If it happens all by itself, with the petcock in "ON" then it's a float problem AND a petcock issue.

Two kinds of fun in one!

 

Ok that should help. I will properly check the oil level.

As for gas in the oil would it also be likely i that situation that the leaked oil would smell like gas?

 

Ah ha I checked the sight glass, no bubble at the top so it is overfilled. I'm not sure where the drain plug is but I think this is an opportunity to change the oil filter anyways so I can just pull that and then fill it to the proper level after that.

 

The plug is located below the oil filter on the front of the oil pan. Between the header pipes.

 

Very much so. If you stick your nose in the oil filler hole and have a whiff, it should just smell like toasty motor oil. A strong gasoline odor indicates gas in the oil.

You need to check, don't just assume it was overfilled.

 

ok, will do

 

I drained the oil and got almost 6 quarts out!!! That seems like a lot. It did not smell at all like gas.

My next stupid question is which type of oil is best in this bike and approximately how much?

 

Try Using Castrol 20W/50 once.

It exceeds requirements across the board.
Most people call it "Racing Oil"
It can only do you good.

Put the Bike on the Center Stand.
Pour-in the Oil and watch it fill-up the Sump in the Oil Level Window.
Look carefully and you'll see an Upper Line on the Case.
Fill it OVER the Line.
Run the Bike and warm it up.
After the Bike sits and cools off, ... Top-up the Level.

Pour-in more Oil.
Watch the "Bubble" in the Window.

Leave a Tiny Bubble to "Eyeball" before Starting.

If the Bubble gets bigger every few days, ... Top-up keeping the Bubble the right size for you.

 

I got Rotella T 15-40W and I am reasonably sure that is a good choice. I ran it in my last bike and had no issues with my clutch.

The quantity is something I am curious about too!

 

Quantity is what is cast into the clutch case next to the filler hole (in BigFitz52's pic, its 2200 cm^3 (2.2L). But think of that as a ball park and use Rick's method to make sure you put the right amount of oil, and can SEE a bubble...to know if your oil level mysteriously increases (from gas in oil) or see how much it decreases.

 

Exactly. The correct amount of oil turns out to be about 200cc more than the number cast into your cover.

The slight overfill keeps the oil level sensor "happy" during hard acceleration (but who EVER does that with an XJ) and the "bubble" lets you monitor to ensure you didn't have a sudden rise in oil level.

My personal oil preferences: Castrol 4T 20W50 (Norton and "summer" oil in XJs) Spectro 20W40 (conventional) and I am about to evaluate Castrol's ACT>EVO Xtra 4T 20W40 semi-synth specifically for motorcycles. The 20W40 is for the XJs.

I used to run good ol' Castrol GTX 20W50 in everything but then it became "sludge fighting" or somesuch crap and the Norton's clutch suddenly doesn't like it. If the Norton ain't happy the Fitz ain't happy and we made a change... so much for a 35+ year tradition.

 

thank you