gas smell in the oil
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,881
Likes: 34
From: USA
RE: gas smell in the oil
Look inside the gas tank & carb with a strong flashlight for yellow-ish brown deposits or crap at the bottom of the tank (Looks like varnish). If the tank has deposits or corrosion you need to drain it & clean it out. Then use the fuel cleaner on the whole system. Maybe a few cleanings.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 18,575
Likes: 4
From: Norfolk, VA
RE: gas smell in the oil
Fuel in the oil can get burned off when the oil temp gets up to 150-degrees or higher. If the rich condition is such that the fuel is constantly being dumped into the oil, that can cause problems. The winter months prevent the oil temps from getting high enough to burn that excess fuel out. It could in extreme cases wash away the oil in the upper cylinder wallsand cause wear on the rings. It would be a good idea to fix the rich condition before the wear causes problems. Read the spark plugs andlook forany dry/wet black-sooty deposits. Rich fuel/air mixtures will foul plugs in a heartbeat.
I fouled a set of plugs because the accelerator pump in my S&S "E" was dumping fuel in like a waterfall. A simple adjustment fixed that. Look for black smoke in the exhaust or use your sense of smell for gasoline in the exhaust. At one time my eyes started burning in the garage due to the rich mixture. Always use your senses when looking for problems.......sometimes reaching for a cold one will heighten those aforementioned senses!
I fouled a set of plugs because the accelerator pump in my S&S "E" was dumping fuel in like a waterfall. A simple adjustment fixed that. Look for black smoke in the exhaust or use your sense of smell for gasoline in the exhaust. At one time my eyes started burning in the garage due to the rich mixture. Always use your senses when looking for problems.......sometimes reaching for a cold one will heighten those aforementioned senses!
Banned
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,706
Likes: 7
From: Woodstock, Ont , Can
Ron
Banned
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,706
Likes: 7
From: Woodstock, Ont , Can
Don't know about Harley Engines but I used to work on Radial Air Cooled Engines in the Military. When it was real cold we used to dilute the oil with gasoline to thin it out so we could get the engines started after the aircraft set over night. When the oil got hot the gas evaporated and passed out through the breathers. We used a W120 oil which was a 60 weight. We actually had a valve we could open that would introduce avgas into the oil. The amount of gas we introduced was based on the outside air temp. We did this with the engine running prior to shutdown for the night. The system was on all the big radial engines and was called OIL DILUTION.
Again, I don't know about Harley engines. They are different from any other reciprocating air cooled engine in the world. So I have been told. (smile)
Again, I don't know about Harley engines. They are different from any other reciprocating air cooled engine in the world. So I have been told. (smile)
Ron
Last edited by rbabos; Oct 16, 2009 at 08:42 PM.
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