So I am currently rebuilding a lt230s quadsport and when it ran it would burn a good bit of oil and I was told someone had rebuilt it before me. When I tore it apart the piston looked brand new and the rings,piston, and jug looked fairly good so I think they did some work on it. My dad is a mechanic and he said that the jug and rings looked in good shape but how else can I check to see if the jug and rings are okay? Also if it isn't the rings or jug could it be the valve guides leaking? Any thoughts would be good who have had experience with these engines. Thanks

 

I had completely rebuilt one and it smoke at start up and then stopped. It could be the ring seat or valve seals. I Would replace valve seals and head gasket and maybe New set of rings since they are from previous owner, just for piece if mind.

 

Could be a worn valve as well. You can check where the valve seal rides for wear.

 

I bet you could remove the valve seals and it wouldn't burn oil. I've always wanted to try that just to see.

If its a 230 and its burning oil, its the rings. 99.99999999999% sure. I suppose it could be a head gasket, but I just had a kawi with a bad gasket that would smoke when it warmed up and never when cold. Valve seals don't sit in a pool of oil like they do in cars, so that rule of thumb doesn't apply.

 

Alright thanks for the info..I ended up replacing the valve seals anyway and did a valve job. I agree with the rings being the problem. The top ring gap was .025 and the second ring was .030..I read something about the gap supposed to be .011? if anyone can confirm that would be awesome. I also honed it and cleaned everything up.

 

I think its .0040 per inch of bore for standard riding. Wiseco calls for .004 per inch of bore for dirt / atc / snow, .0045 for high-perf street / strip, .005 for street - moderate turbo / nitrous, .005 late model stock, .0055 circle track / drag race, .0065 blown race only, .0070 nitrous race only

Who knows what it should be, but .025 is big.

 

Well we ended up breaking the jug trying to put it make together. The guide on the jug wasn't sitting in right and ending up causing a hairline fracture so we are gonna start from the beginning..Does anyone know where I can find a decently price jug and piston set?

 

Ebay. Or you might be able to find a whole other quad for parts for the same price.