Varadero oil smells of petrol

dgo1212 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Karma :

Came to change oil on my 125 Varadero today and when I removed the oil cap I got a wiff of fuel, stuck my nose over the hole and had a sniff and sure enough, it stinks of the stuff. If this was the cage I'd be concerned as there would clearly be a major problem, however not sure about the bike, should it smell of petrol, or is there a problem developing? Had no reason to think there was a problem with the engine, there's no oil leaks, no drop in power and no unusual noises if anything it runs perfectly, but the petrol smell has me a little concerned, Karma

for any help Thumbs Up

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

No it shouldn't - almost certainly you have a leaking float valve in your carb and the particular geometry of the bike means it's either overflowing into the inlet manifold and then past the piston rings or into the airbox and down the crankcase breather.

If you want to find out quickly disconnect the fuel pipe at the tank and use a syringe/funnel or similar full of petrol (make sure you don't create a vacuum) instead as a mini-tank and see if the level drops overnight, it's probably a very slow leak that only happens when the bike is stood.

f.

dgo1212 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Karma :

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

Pretty much that, then! the fuel won't have mixed into the oil well until the engine churned it up, and I expect the bike started pretty well after it's lay up because you'll have been pumping fuel up the crankcase breather into the airbox and out through the carb making it run somewhat rich until enough got displaced.

You should fix it really - the thinned oil won't be as good a lubricant and will eventually knacker the bore and the bearings.

f.

Ingah · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Karma :

It may be a simple case of cleaning the carb and/or fuel tap diaphragm (if it has one).
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-- Ingah

dgo1212 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Karma :

Yeah started pretty well considering the long lay off and the extremely low temperatures.

Thanks for the advice and will get onto having it repaired asap, don't wanna fix it myself as I'm not a fan of carbs. (in short I'm shit with them and whenever I "fix" them I end up with leaks or bigger problems than I started with Sad

)