Hi All!

New to the forum and thought you guys could lend some expertise.

I have a 2007 Arctic Cat 500 Manual that got drowned out about 6 months ago. It wasnt rode after it flooded until the oil was changed 9 times. It was ridden about 100 miles after this.

2 weeks ago we rode it for about 5 hours with no problem. Ran great.

Last weekend we put on 30" mud lites and took it out to test them. About 6 hours into riding, it seemed that the rear end had locked up. We put it in 4 wheel reverse and were backing it up to the road to get picked up. While doing this it seemed to be alright. We tried it forward and no more problems so we decided to try to get it back to our truck.

On the way back we noticed it started pushing blue smoke out the pipe. A lot of it.
If there was a loss in power it was very small (also hard to tell cause we had just put the 30"s on) and everything sounded fine. No Knocking or anything.

The next day we checked out the rear end and it was good.

We were about a quart and a half low on oil and the oil was black (should've been clean and new). Drained the oil and there was about half a teaspoon of metal shavings on the magnet on the drain plug.

We put new oil in and ran it for about 5 minutes. Didn't drain it again yet but it is already black and the smoking got a little worse.

We tested to see if it was the crank case ventilation (hoping) but it was not.

We cant do a compression test cause these babies have the compression release.

Soooo, was wondering if anyone had any idea what it was before we start pulling it apart.

On our short list of possibilities:

Ring
Valve guide
Head gasket

However, remember, there is no discernable loss of power.

We were thinking the rear end like problem was a piece going through the tranny that cause it to lock up temporarily.

I appreciate any help!

Thanks.

 

When its running now does it sound normal? If the oil had been changed so many times, how was it 1 1/2 qts low on oil? Sounds like it may have burnt up or done serious damage from the low oil level. My guess is your right about something getting in the tranny and locking it up, but i dont understand how it got low on oil and how its turning black so bad.. Maybe a bad exhaust valve is turning it black and causing the smoking!

 

Hi Tancat500,

Thanks for responding.

It sounds normal now. I cannot tell any difference.

The oil was good when we started riding the day we had the problems, it was the next day when we checked it that it was low.

Thinking that gas getting into the oil is turning it black.

 

Sounds to me like exhaust gases are getting in the oil and oil in the cylinder through the exhaust valve or valve guide. If i were you i would start by pulling the head off and checking it out real good.. If it seams to run good now and has no apparent knock then i would say its just a valve.. Maybe some trash on the seat or something. If you dont mind me asking, How did it get flooded?

 

Does it have a separate oil cooler in front of the radiator?. If it does, I would suspect it being clogged either internally or externally by mud from the flood caught between the rad and the oil cooler.

I say this because the oil is getting 'cooked' by extreme heat, that's why it's black. The only reason for it to cook so fast is oil cooler failure.

The bike runs OK because its cooled by water, which is working OK. Whats bad is the oil is burnt and it isn't lubricating like it should.

Check the oil cooler and hoses.

 

Good Point heftylefty i hadn't thought of that..

 

Thanks guys,

I will check it out and report back.

It was my Dads at the time and it got flooded in some deep muddy water. I think it went dead and just pulled some in.

 

Hi all,

We tore apart the top end and replaced the rings. The oil ring was worn down but the cylinder wall was not scored up at all. We have been running Petron in it and think this is why the cylinder wall was in such good condition with the spontaneous wearing down of the oil ring (the smoke started all of the sudden)

After that everything is running great and no smoking. However, the oil is still turning black and there may be a bit of clutch drag.

We are thinking that this is what happened:

We put on the 30" tires. This may, or may not have, caused a piece of a gear to break off.

The pieces went through the tranny and into the cylinder and wore down the oil ring. Also, since it is a wet clutch, some pieces went into the clutch and scored up the clutch pads.

The grinding of the clutch pads are causing the oil to turn black from the powder wearing off.

There is no gas in the oil.

Any ideas?

Thanks!