01 600 has oil in the gas

[ismatts]

Hello,

I changed the oil in my Katana just before storage and put about 500 miles on it before I put it away for the winter. In early march I got the bike back out I noticed that it ran ROUGH and I was missing about 1/4 tank of gas over the winter. odd I thought, but I changed the oil, new plugs and did a valve adjustment on it in April. While doing an oil change there was almost 5 quarts that came out and it smelled of gas badly. I have put not even 100 miles on this oil change and the other day (the first ride of the season) the clutch was slipping REALLY bad. Tonight I wanted to change the oil again to make sure I did not have oil for a car in it and again about 4 quarts came out and I am back down in gas and the oil is very thin and watery and smells of gas.

I have never had the carbs out of the motorcycle and the bike always ran great untill now.

any suggestions on what I should try?

[Cheriff]

Some advice:
1- Let the drain plug out overnight. You want to get as much out as possible.
2- Take off the oil cooler and drain it. Again, as much out as possible.
3- Find some cheap but still acceptable oil for it and fill it up again. Let it run a little and let it drain out again. Repeat steps 1-3 a couple times.

The most important part is to fix the problem. First thing (easiest) to check is your petcock setting. It should be set to 'on' and not 'prime'. If it is on 'on' then you will need to rebuild the petcock. The next thing that has to be wrong for this to happen is with your carb floats. The floats are designed to turn the flow of gas off when it reaches a certain amount in the carb bowl. You have one or more floats that are stuck in an up position. You will need to take the carbs out to address this problem.

I think I covered the most of it, but lets have a few more people chime in to correct/add anything.

----------------

Also, maybe the clutch will come back.. maybe not.

[katana bob]

cheriff nailed it except to tell you not to run the engine anymore until you fix the carb issue. I would bet on stuck floats. if they are working properly it won't matter what position the petcock is in.

[Cheriff]

cheriff nailed it except to tell you not to run the engine anymore until you fix the carb issue. I would bet on stuck floats. if they are working properly it won't matter what position the petcock is in.

+1 Good call on fixing the floats before running again because like you said, the only way this can happen is if floats are stuck.

[ismatts]

should I buy a carb rebuild kit? Also since I will be tearing into it, is there a write up on how to sync the carbs anywhere?

thank you for the help!!!!

[katana bob]

lots of info on rebuilding and synching the carbs. try searching. if you've never done carb rebuilds before, try to find someone who has unless you have decent mechanical aptitude.

[ismatts]

I have rebuilt carbs on snowmobiles and lawn mowers, but never 4 at a time I did purchase a sync tool specifically for 4 carbs tho.

[etskatana]

a small engine guy told me when you flood a small engine in water the best way to clear it is to drain the oil and put diesel in and let idle for a min and then drain and then you put oil in and it should be fine..... just flushing with oil wasnt doin any thing good

[HexKrak]

a small engine guy told me when you flood a small engine in water the best way to clear it is to drain the oil and put diesel in and let idle for a min and then drain and then you put oil in and it should be fine..... just flushing with oil wasnt doin any thing good

Sounds like a fast way to break something to me.

[ismatts]

Sounds like a fast way to break something to me.

Yeah i dont think ima try that. I dont even know if it would run that way. IDK

[scottynoface]

a small engine guy told me when you flood a small engine in water the best way to clear it is to drain the oil and put diesel in and let idle for a min and then drain and then you put oil in and it should be fine..... just flushing with oil wasnt doin any thing good

Yeah, don't do that...

[The CyberPoet]

should I buy a carb rebuild kit?

For your Kat, there is no such thing as a "carb rebuild kit" -- the parts are sold separately as individual pieces. I have everything you'd need for pilot jet troubles, but not for float problems, which is what you have.

Also since I will be tearing into it, is there a write up on how to sync the carbs anywhere?

Yup, on my website here:

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/Katana/index.html

a small engine guy told me when you flood a small engine in water the best way to clear it is to drain the oil and put diesel in and let idle for a min and then drain and then you put oil in and it should be fine..... just flushing with oil wasnt doin any thing good

That's supposedly fine if you have a 125 2-stroke that got submerged in a lake or river (although I'd suggest turning it by hand instead of running it) -- you're trying to get the water out. The oil in the diesel will help protect the metal-on-metal contact, while pushing the water to the bottom... It's a whole different solution for a leaking set of carb floats and fuel in the oil.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[H-2 CHARLIE]

could be fixed by a good carb bowl cleaning most likely because of sitting for a while or just change the float valves,,and i sure wont ever use deisel but do use trans fluid type-f in the bottom end to clean it then let drain over nite

[ismatts]

Thank you all for the help. I will be tearing into it this weekend and I will post up the results!!!!

I cant wait to get this bike back on the road.

[ismatts]

Hello everyone.

Just an update. I followed the carb 101 and got the carbs all cleaned. I did not change the float valves. I also did a fresh oil change and WOW the bike came to life and was snappy and happy for about 15 minutes. Then it started hesitating and flooding out all over again.

Popped off the oil cap and sure enough, there is gas int he crankcase again.

If the bike sits, it will run, but if it runs for over 10 minutes it will flood out and not run again. there is spark on all 4 sparkplugs too.

any ideas? I am at a loss, and since I have lost so much riding time this year I am about to either sell it or take it to the shop and get reamed.

Oh yeah, instead of wasting so much expense in oil, is there a really cheap brand I can use till I get it running right? I hate to keep changing it and wasting 25-30 bucks.


thanks for the help.