Thread: Losing/Burning oil like no mans business

Ok......I FINALLY got this little CT70 started, and it can *almost* idle for 5 minutes or so. The problems remaining are:

1.) It leaks oil like CRAZY. I mean, just dropiing out of the bottom constantly. Think new gaskets all around would help?
2.) Once I turn the choke all the way off and close the throttle, it dies.....Adjust idle screw? Which screw is it????
3.) After running for more than a minute or so, the whole thing smokes I'm assuming this is all the oil burning......

So what are the proper troubleshooting steps for these issues?

Thanks.

this info is based on my experience with a KO- so it may not be exact but the bikes seem to be fairly similar so work with it a little.

1. determine more precisely where the oil is leaking, you may have to much oil in the bike check its level with the bike upright in the driving position, not on the kickstand.

2. idle screw is what i would check first, it is the one that on my KO is to the left of the fuel/air screw (this screw is more inset than the idle screw) the idle screw is also closely located to where the throttle cable enters the carb. Also double check your fuel/air screw, in the manual the language is such that you screw that one in all the way until it seats lightly, then back it out a certain number of turns. On my KO that is 1 3/4 turns, this value is depended on either the type of carb or type of bike if it has a stock carb. check the manual for sure though. In my manual ta majority are all somewhere around 1 3/8 - 1 3/4.

3. the smoking is probably oil, if i remember right, if the smoke is dark then it seems to line up with your oil problem.

The common oil leaks are the drain plug, cam tensioner plug, shift shaft seal and kickstart shaft seal. Less common would be the case gaskets, stator and/or crank seal and lastly a cracked case. The seals are pretty easy to replace, but removing the stator is a royal pain. Even in the unlikely event of a cracked case, they can be TIGed easily enough.

If the idle air bleed adjustment doesn't improve things, then the pilot circuit is probably clogged and you'll need carb cleaner and a couple of jet files to get the crud out from those tiny fuel passages.

Oil smoke is cottony, bluish-white in appearance and has an acrid smell. Black smoke would indicate overrich carburetion. Problems with valve seals or ring sealing would not be a surprise on a bike of this age, especially if it's been sitting for years.

Thanks. The smoke is white-ish, so it's probably oil. Also, I may have gone overboard when I put oil it yesterday, I filled it until it almost over flowed out, DOH!

The engine holds .8 quarts, that's near the lower 1/3 of the dipstick. Overfilling would definitely cause smoking and leaking. Maybe that'll be it...easiest fix of all.

Well, I put about 1 1/4 quarts in. Should I just see if the leaks stop after running it for a while? Or drain it completely and refill to .8 quarts?

You can just drain some of the oil, there is a dipstick on the filler cap. I don't think you want to run it as-is, for obvious reasons.