I just noticed that there is gas in my oil. It was blowing out white smoke real bad, and had a strong gas smell. Any ideas on what could cause this.

Thanks,

 

1 carb leaking gas into the cylinder. (carb rebuild kit, and good cleaning)
2 running VERY rich.(jet down)
3 pumping the throttel alot before you are starting the engine?(dont do that)
4 if its a fuel-ish smell in the oil there could be some blow by from the rings( compression test to ruel that out)

check your compression on each cylinder, if its less than 100psi i would be worried. but if its an 01 i would be more inclined to say the carbs are leaking gas into the cylinder, or while you are idoling the needle/seat are worn and arnt makeing contact allowing more fuel into the cylinders.

my best guesses!

 

I know this is an old thread... As soon as you have gas in your oil DO NOT RUN YOUR ATV/BIKE or any motor for that matter. They will sometimes explode. With Prairies what can happen is the springs are very weak that return the enricher tips to their home potions so they can stick in the open postion. So if you leave your fuel on when storing it fuel will drip down your cylinders and into your crankcase. It is recommended that you always turn off you fuel when leaving yourbike/atv for an half hour or more. On the prairie's I would replace the enricher springs with stronger ones. I also would recommend you shorten your idle screw spring by two coils while doing it. That makes it much easier to set you idle. Goto Chet's Prairie Pages for complete instructions.