Hello,

New to the board and desperate for help.

I have a 2002 Sportsman 700 that has never seen water higher than the bottom of the rims.

I just trailered to my local pond to do some riding (had the fuel shutoff OFF of course). I unloaded it, started it, and it ran find for over 2 hours. Just after that, it started to smoke terrible and all I could smell was oil.

In looking underneath the ATV, I notice oil was spraying from the top of the engine (looks like its coming from some black cover that BOLTS to the top of the engine, just above the exhaust manifold). It sprayed onto the exhaust, hence the smoke and smell.

I loaded it back to the trailer and took it home. I checked the oil once home and it seems that I suddenly have 2-3 times more oil than I should.

Now, like I said before, its never been in water deeper than 6 inches. The oil appears clean, no cloudiness or white appears at all. My coolant bottle remains at the same level it did from the time a purchased it and has never dropped even a 1/4 of an inch.

I do notice that the oil seems runny and has a fuel smell to it. The ATV has never been flooded nor has it ever not started on the very first key turn.

DOES ANYONE know what might be causing this and what I should do now. Of course, it is out of warranty. BTW, it has about 200 miles on it.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

 

A couple of questions.
1) When did you do the last oil change, and how much oil did you put in?
2) What color was the smoke?
3) Did the temp light come on at all?

 

Did the oil smell like it had gas in it? I have seen the carb needle/seat valve leak on a motorcycle before and fill the crankcase up with gas overnight and then blow it out the breather vent. If you always turn off the fuel shutoff that's probably not the problem.

 

1) Last oil change was about 3 months ago, which for me is about 75 miles ago. I have ridden this ATV and at least a dozen times since then and always check the oil before I go. The level has ALWAYS been in between the two dots listed as SAFE.

2) Black. The oil was spraying onto the exhaust manifold and burning it.

3) The temp light has never illuminated on this ATV. NEVER!

When all this was happening, the ATV still ran without missing a beat. Had it not been for the smoke, I would have never known anything was wrong.

I did call a dealer and they seem to think the following:

Since it has never been in water and the coolant level has not changed, plus the oil smells a little like gas, they seem to think that the engine became flooded and gas was introduced into the oil.

Only problem is that this ATV has never NOT STARTED on the first key turn. So how would it have been flooded.

One thing I will admit to is that my ATV takes a long time to warm up when riding in very cold weather. It was around 8 degrees F that day. This engine has always needed to have the choke on partially the first 5 minutes to warm up. There WERE a few times that day that I left the choke at that position for maybe 30 minutes or so. I know, I know; STUPID!

Could that have caused this mess. The dealer recommends to drain the oil, replace the filter, make sure intake (air-box?) is drained and refill the system will fresh oil. Then keep an eye on it.

Does that sound logical to you guys or gals?

Thanks,

Tom

 

The oil does smell like gas to me.

I have always used the fuel shutoff, anytime I will be getting off the ATV for more than an hour or so. My dealer told me to use the thing, so I always have.

The issue I am ahving right now is what is the deal with oil coming from between the engine and this black cover bolted to the engine. Is that thing like a "valve cover" up there? Anyone know what that is? It is a black cover that bolts to the engine located JUST above where the exhaust manifold bolts to the engine.

Thanks,

Tom

 

I did'nt answer right away because you were talking about ponds and water so I assumed you were in warm weather.

3 guys in my area with 700's have had the same problem. 2 of them caught on fire!!! In cold weather the crankcase ventilation hose has a tendency to ice up and become compleatly clogged, this causes the pressure to build up and force its way out through the valve cover. One guy released the dip stick lock and got a real nice oil bath. The dealer corrected the problem by making a 3/4" incision in the breather tube (EDIT) before it connects to the filter. He has'nt had any problems since.

 

Thanks for the response. One question though, did this problem cause their oil levels to increase way up? I have 2-3 times more contents in my engine than I should. Did this problem cause gas to fill into the oil?

Is so, could you please tell me where to locate this breather line?

Thanks,

Tom

 

Don't know about the oil level. Look at part (EDIT)#20 on the link Air box

 

Sounds like you are describing the valve cover on top of the engine. All engines have to be vented, it sounds like somehow your crankcase has become overfilled with gas and the oil/gas mixture is coming out the crankcase vent. I can't imagine it happening while the engine is running. In the case of the motorcycle problem I described above, it would run fine even with the crankcase overfilled with gas/oil, just sprayed out the vent everywhere and could have easliy caught on fire. I just noticed something I didn't know before while looking at the parts manual I downloaded from the Polaris website, these things have a fuel pump so this changes the equation from the old gravity feed fuel systems. You have something going on with the fuel system.

 

If you at times had the choke on half way for a extended period of time, there would be to much fuel being dump in. There would be to much fuel to ignite at TDC of your stroke. So thus some will go out you exhaust and some will drain by your piston into your oil. If this is done a lot, or for a long period of time, you will have gas in your oil. Most would burn off, but if had your choke on for 30 min, you will fill your oil. The oil that came out threw your Rocker Cover (the black one on top) most likly came out your breather reed and should be allright. Do what your dealer said and change the oil and filter and try not to leave the choke on for more then 5min tops. I have a 700, and it's been bitterly cold the last two weeks and mine after 3-5 min is running fine. What do you have your idle speed set at? Your RPM should be when warm around 1000 to 1100 RPM. If your RPM are to low, it may seem like it takes forever to warm up. Maybe thats why you use the choke so much.