Hey all,

So I picked up a 1987 LT230e from a neighbor. I cleaned the carb and it is running great. Drove it around and appeared no problems. So last night I changed the oil and filter. No clue when it was last done. I grabbed some Carquest brand SAE 10W40 at advance auto - 2 quarts. That is what is stamped on the filler cap. Changed the filter (Wix with new oring) Added about 1 2/3-3/4 of oil. Used the sight glass and it was just under the upper line.
As it was late last night, I could not fire it up. So this morning I went out and fired it up and holy white smoke?!?!?!?
What is going on? I don't think I overfilled it. Did I not use the right oil? Now I see there is ATV oil - should I have used that?
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

 

If it has a wet clutch, you have to use a wet clutch safe oil. If you look at the circle where the API Service rating is the bottom part of the circle must be blank. I use Shell Rotella T6 in my Suzuki powered Arctic Cat 400. It can't say "energy conserving" etc. Why it smokes baffles me. My AC also has the sight glass, btw. Is the air filter clean, crank case vents in place?

 

Hydrex - thanks for the reply. I am not sure if it has a wet clutch - new to ATVs. The air filter is clean, vents in place. Nothing changed from the previous ride the day before. No smoke and ride was around the neighbor on pavement.

 

There are several things that it could be, a valve seal could fail and let oil start passing into the cylinder. That is probably the best scenario. I think you need to get a compression check done, could be a cracked or broken ring if compression is low. A borescope down thru spark plug hole will show what the cylinder walls look like and if the piston has damage . As far as having a wet clutch, if it does, and you run oil with friction modifiers, it will start to slip very soon, and can be a serious repair.

 

So I changed the oil. Wow. That oil was in there for 24 hours and was run for maybe 10 seconds. It was black!
This time I put in Kolpin 10w40 ATV oil. I also only put in about 1300ml this time (stamped in big letters on the case is 1500ml). So I am a little low in the sight glass. Did not smoke nearly as much. I did a compression test on a luke warm engine (down the street and back and then let it sit for 15 minutes) After 6 pulls with WOT (still chasing electrical) the gauge read from 180-190psi. Every time it was in that range after 6 consecutive full pulls. It also held that value for about 8 minutes before I released it. What is compression numbers on this thing supposed to be? I mean for a 30 year old quad, it does not seem too bad.

 

That is good news. Change oil often, that will remove all of the grunge/sludge from the motor. I would run no more than 50 miles, then change again. Always check the level before you drive it. I would change between 300-500 miles after you get the sludge out. Seems like those Suzuki motors are nearly bullet proof. Oil is cheap, rebuilding not so cheap. BTW, I ran my AC 400 wide open for 10 miles racing another guy. Didn't seem to hurt anything. Suzuki motor. I've heard they will smoke if overfilled. I try to keep it just below the top line. My AC holds almost 4L ,btw.

 

So this morning I went out and started it up again. Darn it if the smoke screen is back! What the heck?!?!?
I grabbed a quick pic. Next time I will get video. Kind of shows the smoke screen....
I am thinking I need to add some more oil - I can't even see the level in the sight glass...
Should i do valve seals? Something cheap and easy?
Reality is that I am a dad of 3 and I like to play around on it, but if it sees two hours a month of riding (mostly up and down the neighborhood streets) that would be a lot. So I am not looking to rebuild the entire thing. I only paid $200 for it.

 

I must say it is a peppy little thing! It will throw me off if I hit it hard! No easy feat at 6'5 240lbs. Pretty clean overall too:

 

Try to keep the oil almost at the top line. Let it set on level ground or garage floor to check. Don't run it out of oil. OK, I'm going to ask a dumb question: No way that you put 2 stroke pre mix oil and gas in it, right?

 

I plan on filling it up to the top line or just under on the sight glass. No - i did not use pre-mix oil and gas! It is ethanol free gas and used this oil but the semi synthetic 10w40 version: