[Beavskis]

So yesterday i opened up my KRX full throttle for the first time at 147 miles (to include the 100 mile break in and service). The engines bogged puffed out white smoke and stalled. It would start but not stay running so I towed it back to camp. Today I noticed the drain tube at the bottom of the air box has oil in it? Anyone have this happen?

 

[Supertramp]

Well..that's prob not a good sign. You didn't put it on its lid did you(roll over) could be a loaded up plug that took a shit when you finally hammered down and it let loose but hard to say from just a pic. How did the motor sound after you started it back up?

 

[Bama Vince]

So the break in period broke it? For oil to get there, it seems some rollover occurred.

 

[Brent]

Edit: Nevermind. I misread your OP and just now realized you've got oil in the drain line. I thought it might be similar to my oil leak but it doesn't seem so.

 

[FJ80MAN]

open the gas cap then put it back on.... see if it runs any different.

 

[Supertramp]

Check your piston return springs

 

[Atcdan13]

Check your piston return springs

😂

 

[Beavskis]

So, thanks for the replies. Buggy was never rolled and have the fuel tank vent upgrade, and how do you check your piston return spring?
I was hammering down a whooped out trial, dealer seems to think either too much oil was installed (which is not the case, level was in between the lines of the sight glass). Had another person tell me to change my oil viscosity to a 15w 40, as the 10w 30 is too thin at the temps these run at.

 

[Supertramp]

If it's still not running correctly take it to the dealer. I would not go against recommended oil the manufacturer suggests either.

 

[FJ80MAN]

If it's still not running correctly take it to the dealer. I would not go against recommended oil the manufacturer suggests either.

this is good advice right here.....

 

[FJ80MAN]

So, thanks for the replies. Buggy was never rolled and have the fuel tank vent upgrade, and how do you check your piston return spring?
I was hammering down a whooped out trial, dealer seems to think either too much oil was installed (which is not the case, level was in between the lines of the sight glass). Had another person tell me to change my oil viscosity to a 15w 40, as the 10w 30 is too thin at the temps these run at.

i will adamantly tell you do not follow that other persons advice... the engineers at Kawasaki spent untold hundreds if not thousands of hours testing this engine to it's extremes with that oil viscosity. considering that most newer engines run 0w-20, the advice to switch to a thicker oil is old school thinking that doesn't apply to todays engines. there's a reason that this 1000cc engine can make 120HP while my 1000cc riding mower struggles to put out 20hp. everything from the design and materials in the piston rings, internal engine components, etc. all are designed to work with a certain weight oil. the dealer may be correct as if the oil level was at the top or slightly over when the engine was cold, and then as everything expanded the oil level could have been too high. start up the engine cold, let it run about 10 seconds the shut it off. it should be in the middle of the sight glass cold

edit: just checked mine and that same vent tube is dry.... check your air filter. if it's plugged it could be causing crankcase vent issues pulling oil into the intake chamber.

i would still re-check the tank venting. it's a simple check, and if the tank venting is not working the way it should then you will get the exact conditions you describe. take it out and hammer down, confirm it still runs like crap, if you then unscrew the gas cap and take it out and hammer down and the engine runs way better, then i'd be looking at a tank vent problem. not to doubt anyone, but a recheck of how the new rollover vent valve got installed may be in order. if it's upside down it won't allow the tank to vent.

the only other thing i can suggest to check that doesn't require any special tools is to pull the muffler/catalytic converter and see how it runs. if the exhaust is plugged then the engine will not be able to breathe at high throttle openings.

from here on out every thing else i can suggest to check requires special tools to do so. fuel pressure, ignition computer data stream and such. if you find anything let us know what you find. it may help someone else in the future.

FWIW: i installed a Dynojet Power Vision 3 on my KRX.... being able to check/display the data stream in real time (and record if necessary) is a great diagnostic tool.

 

[Beavskis]

There was no fuel tank pressure, that was the first thing I checked when it stalled. I have an EVO slip on so CAT is gone. The air filter is brand new. The water temp was 186. The fuel was new. The air intake box is saturated with oil inside. Taking the rest of it apart tonight. For some reason the air intake sucked a bunch of oil in when i was running wide open down the bumpy trail. I think my spark plugs are fouled, should have them out tonight also. The buggy ran perfect all day (ever since i have had it) until i cracked it open on that section of the trail.

 

[Supertramp]

There was no fuel tank pressure, that was the first thing I checked when it stalled. I have an EVO slip on so CAT is gone. The air filter is brand new. The water temp was 186. The fuel was new. The air intake box is saturated with oil inside. Taking the rest of it apart tonight. For some reason the air intake sucked a bunch of oil in when i was running wide open down the bumpy trail. I think my spark plugs are fouled, should have them out tonight also. The buggy ran perfect all day (ever since i have had it) until i cracked it open on that section of the trail.

If there is a bunch of oil in the air intake...it does not suck oil into it rather it is blowby .. meaning your engine is blowing oil out of it. If you didn't roll it over you have a serious problem...you need to get it to the dealer and not take anything more apart..use the warranty

 

[samo]

Yea I would not touch a thing if it's still under warranty. Too many variables for the stealer to try and wiggle around when you start disassembling on your own.

 

[FJ80MAN]

There was no fuel tank pressure, that was the first thing I checked when it stalled. I have an EVO slip on so CAT is gone. The air filter is brand new. The water temp was 186. The fuel was new. The air intake box is saturated with oil inside. Taking the rest of it apart tonight. For some reason the air intake sucked a bunch of oil in when i was running wide open down the bumpy trail. I think my spark plugs are fouled, should have them out tonight also. The buggy ran perfect all day (ever since i have had it) until i cracked it open on that section of the trail.

if you've verified proper oil level then there is a chance that the engine was assembled incorrectly, and that the pcv system is filling the intake with oil. i would return the whole vehicle to stock form, put the cat back on, put everything back on that it came with stock. take it back asap after that to have them check it under warranty. it is normal to have a little oil in the intake manifold on some engines, but if the pcv system is messed up somehow it can put alot more in there than was supposed to be and under WOT conditions it can suck it up and into the combustion side of the engine.
things i can think of that cause excessive oil from the pcv to the intake are: missing or bent baffles inside the engine that normally deflect oil away from the pcv valve or pcv vent hose. when an engine is running even at low rpm the oil splash and spray inside of the crankcase and transmission it's an absolute spray everywhere. without proper baffling the oil spray will migrate elsewhere; next a stuck open pcv valve can pull oil into the intake. also if that drain back hose/vent hose has a problem where it can't drain back that could also cause a problem.

normally Kawasaki is top notch when it comes to their engines. i've owned alot of motorcycles/jet ski's and such over the years and my Kawi's and Yamaha's have always been the most reliable (others, not so much). but we have to get real, production numbers this year have been extroardinary, and humans do make mistakes. if someone missed a step during engine assembly it might not show up right away, but like in your case it shows up after time.

 

[FJ80MAN]

so i just checked: my engine running oil level is just above half way in the window when at idle.
1) that hose in your picture is a water drain for the intake, it has a check valve on the end to allow liquids out but not allow anything back in. the hose should be dry.
2) your pcv system vent side is the two hoses that are on top of the valve cover that go up to a plastic box (usually known as an oil separator), the bigger hose that comes off the top of that and comes back down to the air intake box is a pcv vent hose, it allows filtered air into the crankcase to allow the engine to breathe. if there is liquid oil in that system then there's a problem. there might be a little oil in the hoses that run from the valve cover up to the oil separator, but that's the job of the oil separator, to allow the oil mist from the engine that made it into the pcv vent to re-condense and drip back into the engine. if the baffle in the valve cover is messed up and allowing liquid oil up into the separator then it may be more than it can handle, filling the separator up, then traveling up and over into the intake manifold filling it with oil.

 

[Supertramp]

Oil level Half way at idle? Mines half way shut off and disappears when running.. according to everyone on the forum that's how it should be.

 

[Supertramp]

Also that's more than a little oil in the line...take it to the dealer. No reason to self diagnose if you have a warranty.

 

[mtl111]

so i just checked: my engine running oil level is just above half way in the window when at idle.
1) that hose in your picture is a water drain for the intake, it has a check valve on the end to allow liquids out but not allow anything back in. the hose should be dry.
2) your pcv system vent side is the two hoses that are on top of the valve cover that go up to a plastic box (usually known as an oil separator), the bigger hose that comes off the top of that and comes back down to the air intake box is a pcv vent hose, it allows filtered air into the crankcase to allow the engine to breathe. if there is liquid oil in that system then there's a problem. there might be a little oil in the hoses that run from the valve cover up to the oil separator, but that's the job of the oil separator, to allow the oil mist from the engine that made it into the pcv vent to re-condense and drip back into the engine. if the baffle in the valve cover is messed up and allowing liquid oil up into the separator then it may be more than it can handle, filling the separator up, then traveling up and over into the intake manifold filling it with oil.

Under #1 it states that the tube is a drain and allows fluid to escape but not come back in via a check valve. Clearly there's oil in the tube so I'm wondering if the check valve failed or is clogged up and causing a type of "vacuum" and pulling excessive oil through the system and into the tube especially at WOT ?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[FJ80MAN]

Under #1 it states that the tube is a drain and allows fluid to escape but not come back in via a check valve. Clearly there's oil in the tube so I'm wondering if the check valve failed or is clogged up and causing a type of "vacuum" and pulling excessive oil through the system and into the tube especially at WOT ?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

no, it's the non-vacuum side of the air intake system so there should be little to no vacuum on that side of the throttle plates (the area between the air filter to the throttle plates). that is why the crankcase vent system pulls air from that area... it is filtered air that has little to no restriction other than what it takes to draw air across the air filter.

the same drain on my KRX has never had oil in it, the tube is clean and dry inside. the OP possibly has an internal engine problem causing the issue. the drain is located below the point where the crankcase breather hose connects to the engine air intake system, so if there is a problem in that system it's showing by the oil in that hose. the OP's best bet is to return it to the dealer to have them check it out. if they start to say it's normal, the should reply "no, it's not" from the information provided here.