Water Vapor In Oil?

Hi there folks!!

Well as some of you may be aware, I recently swapped out the OEM stator for Tightwad's aftermarket one due the original having literally fried on me. It was BBQ charred!! While I was at it, I also finally swapped out the RHS crankcase cover, the original being serriously rashed up in the accident I had this time last year.

Seeing as I don't have a garage, the job was done in the (paved) garden area in front of my block of flats. I did most of the work alone and over the course of two days. I guess all in all the crankcase was left without each cover (left for the stator, right for the rashed cover) for several hours a side. On the first day I did the stator swap and on the following day I swapped out the RHS cover.

It's winter here and my area is famous for its high level of humidity. Since doing the work, I noticed when checking the oil level, that there seemed to be water vapour forming in the viewing glass with the bike running. This would mix with the oil and create a milky white substance. Very small quantity but surely not recommendable... I figured it was due to the time the motor spent open to the elements (the bike was under an overhanging roof but in the open air so to speak).

I changed the filter and the oil and it's now less but still there. I had opened up the air-filter housing and on the rear RHS corner there's a vapur return pipe which runs into the housing below the filter itself. There was a small amount of the milky white substance built up there.

I'm assuming the motor has no fissures from the accident as I would have noticed this in the 5,000 km I've done since repairing the bike after the accident. So can I assume that it's just a matter of having to change the oil and filter a few times and maybe removing the air-filter housing tube and cleaning it out with diesel fuel or similar (suggestions welcome as to what fluid to use so as to not ruin the rubber pipe). Or should I suspect that either of the covers weren't replaced correctly (fauty seal or failure to seal correctly). If so, surely I would be more likely to notice loss of oil rather than humidity getting in... or maybe not... I am unaware of whether the joins would tend to blow outward or suck inward according to the factors in play... such as pressure (which I imagine would be greater inside the crankcase due to the higher temps...)

I can currently observe the vapours shortly after starting up the bike, as it warms up. Once it's up to running temp it looks clean as a whistle. It's definitely improved with the oil and filter change.

Opinions???

Totally normal as far as I know. I've had that happen to many of my bikes, and I've seen it written many places that it's normal. It's just condensation.

The best I can say, is put some miles on it, and keep the oil fresh, and keep an eye on how it runs, and all of your fluid levels. Sorry. Not much help.

Normal... well I am led to believe that the production of such condensation is normal, but the VTEC (and I imagine most modern bikes) has a closed return circuit for such vapours which redirects them up into the air-filter housing to be burnt in the combustion process...

After a few more days' usage at least it's not getting worse, which is a good sign, as if the aforementioned circuit was blocked, it would obviously worsen... yesterday I took off the LHS fairing panel and checked the coolant level... hasn't dropped, so I can safely assume that there's no fissure in the engine between the coolant circuit and the oil passages resultant from the accident, as if there were, the level would surely drop.

I figure it's just the remains of the humidity which got in while I had the crankcase open and with a few oil changes it will all be back to normal...

Touch wood!!

Back from my auto mechanics days in school...

If we saw milky white crap in the oil it meant that the oil level was too high and the crank webs were actually "dipping" into the oil reservoir in the crankcase as they spun around. This action was more or less aerating the oil causing the milky white stuff. Check your oil level to see if it's too high.

[image: View Post]Lobster, on Jan 6 2009, 02:38 PM, said:

Back from my auto mechanics days in school...

If we saw milky white crap in the oil it meant that the oil level was too high and the crank webs were actually "dipping" into the oil reservoir in the crankcase as they spun around. This action was more or less aerating the oil causing the milky white stuff. Check your oil level to see if it's too high.

Thanks for chipping in Lobster... funny you should mention that... I am guilty of tending to overfill when changing the oil... this time I underfilled on purpose to later bring the level up to the correct height. So this time it is definitely not overfull!!

Back to the drawing board... I'm not overly concerned about the oil losing its lubricating properties and the engine seizing as the old oil I drained out looked perfectly normal... there was just a small amount of milky stuff on the surface, a statistically insignificant amount really... I should have gone the whole hog and cleaned out the tubes and airbox 100% the first time round as it would have been a more thorough trial...

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on Jan 6 2009, 06:32 AM, said:

... well I am led to believe that the production of such condensation is normal
Yes, normal. This can happen without taking the engine apart as well.
Run it, it will burn off.

I have some experience with this on another bike. I had a major coolant leak into the crankcase. After two drains/flushes/filter changes with cheap oil and an engine flush (Berryman's chem-tool), I ran the bike with the fan fuse pulled to get the temps up to 240-245f, stopped it, and let it sit with oil cap off. No more milk after that. Changed back to Mobil one.

Motors that don't get run enough in cool weather can turn milky too.

[image: View Post]MachineBuilder, on Jan 6 2009, 04:01 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on Jan 6 2009, 06:32 AM, said:

... well I am led to believe that the production of such condensation is normal
Yes, normal. This can happen without taking the engine apart as well.
Run it, it will burn off.

[image: View Post]FotoMoto, on Jan 6 2009, 04:04 PM, said:

I have some experience with this on another bike. I had a major coolant leak into the crankcase. After two drains/flushes/filter changes with cheap oil and an engine flush (Berryman's chem-tool), I ran the bike with the fan fuse pulled to get the temps up to 240-245f, stopped it, and let it sit with oil cap off. No more milk after that. Changed back to Mobil one.

Motors that don't get run enough in cool weather can turn milky too.

Thanks guys, perhaps I should quit worrying... as I stated, once the bike's up to temp you can see perfectly into the visor. I had a similar idea to yours FotoMoto, in that, I let it get up to temp (without disactivating the fan) and just let it get into that repetitive cycle of temp rising, triggering fan, temp dropping, temp rising, triggering fan... ad libitum, with the idea of the higher temps sorting things out, and then opened the filler plug to try and facilitate the vapour's exit... there certainly is way less "milk" in there since doing so (and since changing the oil and filter).

I have been reluctant to change oils yet again until I see whether or not a few real hard runs on the bike sorts it out... as the Bel-Ray Synergy I use is worth a mint... I hadn't thought of doing so with cheap oils... and thengoing back to my preferred Bel-Ray.

I do feel somewhat less concerned thanks to your comments, cheers lads!!