QuestionThe other day I Added to my oil about 1/4 of a quart Mobile Synthetic I own a honda shadow 2002 vlx/dlx 600cc a week went by and I go to check oil levels and its well above the 3 indicater. then I smell gas mixed in with the oil what does this mean and how can I fix the problem?
AnswerJoshua, you didn't mention the mileage on the bike, which may be an influence on the problem potentials.
I will assume that you check the oil levels in the same manner, either after an overnight stay or after briefly starting the engine and shutting it down again. It has to be checked when the bike is fully upright, as well.
Gas fumes can build up inside the crankcase, if you do a lot of short trips, using the choke often, or if you forget to push it back in and run it at length with partial choke operation.
If you are sure that the oil level is rising due to strong gasoline presence then the automatic petcock diaphragm may have failed and allowed fuel to transfer from the tank into a vacuum line attached to the carburetor intake manifold connection. If you turn off the manual petcock switch/valve, then that will generally prevent that from happening. However, the automatic petcock valve is supposed to prevent fuel from flowing to the carb when the engine is not running. A combination of the petcock being left ON and a bad diaphragm could cause this condition... pretty rare, though.
You might want to drain the oil into a measured container to be sure that there is more fluid in the crankcases, than would normally be present with a normal oil change amount.
Heavily contaminated oil can cause damage to crankshaft and camshaft bearings surfaces. In worse case scenarios, a backfire could cause a fire/explosion in the cases/air box.
You have to determine if the amount is residual fuel vapors from cold starting or an actual fluid transfer of gasoline into the crankcase oil, though.
http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/honda-motorcycle-vt600c-shadow-vlx-...
for illustrations.
Bill Silver
