Hey i need help i have a 1987 lt230s and its smoking really bad i dont know why i changed the oil after i put a sidecase saver on it and i put synthetic oil in(dont know if that could be the prob) but now it smokes unbelieble bad. I think i need new rings but i bought it used, it was bored and i dont know the size or the type of piston in it. If you could do anything to help. the only thing ive tried so far is some smoke stop stp stuff that is supposed to work and it didnt do anything im gonna try to put normal oil in it again and see if it still does it. Anything would be appreciated.

 

definatly sounds like you're in need of some rings, my son rides a 230 we bought used and was smokin when we bought it, had a little trouble getting it started also. Had to pull it to get it started. Once i replaced the rings it was back to normal. To find out the size you'll need to tear it appart and look at the piston. It will be stamped on the piston.
hope this helps and gl with the project.

 

Thanks for the tips im gonna take it apart tonight do you knoq if top end gasket kits are easy to find or no?

 

you should be able to pick up a gasket kit from your local suzuki shop. If i remember correctly they arent too expensive. I think the one we got ran us around $30.

 

I purchased Wiseco piston kit with rings and Cometic gasket kit for around $100 from Recreation Unlimited. Along with new valve stem seals from Suzuki and a valve job from local machine shop it fixed my smoking LT230S up good. Runs like new and no more smoking! Don't know if it was the piston/rings or valve job that fixed it but as long as it's apart I would be sure to do the valve job too. When I took mine apart I found nothing that looked bad but I have around $150 in the whole job so it was one of those "what the heck" situations and replaced all suspect parts.
Good Luck!

 

this sucks the local places around me said to look at it and change the rings and valves and stuff it would be close to 400 DOLLARS if anyone can help please tell me otherwise it looks like im out of ridining for a long while.

 

I did the mechanical work myself, had the local machine shop do the valve job and reassembled it myself. On an old quad {or car, boat motor or anything old} it is easy to get a larger repair bill than it is worth unless you do it yourself. This sounds like the situation you have here. Since you've written it off anyways, why don't you tear into it yourself? The LT230 is a fairly simple quad and if you have basic mechanical skills what's to lose? The only funky tools I needed were a 0-25 foot lbs. torque wrench for head retorque and a fat ziptie to use as a ring compressor. All other tools needed were just basic hand tools. Unless the head is cracked, I can't see any more than $50 for a valve job. Take the jug into the machinist too and check the bore and piston size. Maybe you don't need an overbore. Mine didn't. Give it a shot. Just pay close attention to where everything goes and how it goes back together.
Good Luck!

 

I bought my first zilla 2 years ago. I completely restored it from top to bottom. Then I wanted to baby the old beast so I put in syn. trany oil. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!! It started to leak after that. I changed the seals around the sprocket and gear shift shaft and started leaking again after a few days. Changed the seals again and the same thing happened...leaks!!!!! THEN it started smoking out the tail pipe. Remember this is a two stroke! The syn. oil eventually got to the main seal on the crank shaft and started leaking inside the combustion chamber. Synthetic oils is not made for just any machine especially older machines. The seals that are not made for synthetic will absorbe the oil and will get really soft and let the oil leak through. I did a little experiment, you can do this to. I took an oil seal that I bought for a spare and let tit soak in the oil for a few days. Imagine my surprise when the seal started deforming and looking like an accordian. I e-mailed the manufacturer and they confirmed that you should only use synthetic oil in machines that are made for synthetics. If your quad started smoking after you put in synthetic oil it most likely is leaking past your valve seals thus making it smoke!!! Go to bel-ray web site in tech tips and you will see for yourself that oil machines are not made for synthetic oils.

 

Thanks for the info StormNorm. I have seen similar things happen to older automotive engines too. The rule of thumb I've heard on synthetics is after break-in on a new machine, use synthetics and stick with them, following manufactuers instructions closely. Good results used that way. Miracles in a bottle just don't happen.

 

if i bough brand new rings, and weisco piston kit, i have the valves done, and i ran the new piston kit through a cyclinder that needed replaceing , did i kill the rings? the shop told me the cyclinder was fine, but in reality it was bad, and i got it resleved by LA sleeve. should i get new rings, the new rings and piston were mabey ran for 2-3 mins, and i saw it smokeing, so i said F it and shut it off. i do not want to damage a brand new cyclinder. it sucks because i have spent so much $ on it, and do not want to buy more stuff. if you know what i mean.