Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Technical topics related to machines powered by Kasasaki motors
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tmartin
Posts: 219
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:00 am
Location: Marathon, Wisconsin

Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by tmartin »

I have been battling a 1980 Liquifire that fills the crankcase with injection oil as it sits. I have check valves that are not holding pressure consistently. I have tried cleaning and soaking these with no luck. I have been through most of my parts motors and found a few that are okay so I installed these. I was unable to find NOS ones through Kawi or Deere. There is also a Polaris fitting but that is obsolete as well. I work at a Ski Doo dealership and found that they use a little inline check valve in their oil delivery on newer ETEC engines. These would fit right in the John Deere injection oil lines. They carry a 3 PSI pop off pressure so they should work perfect. If I continue to struggle with this issue I am going to install these and give it a shot. Part number is 404160200. Theyre about $20 each. Curious if anyone else has found a solution to this.
1973 John Deere 400-Fall 08-Ongoing project
1980 John Deere Trailfire 340 (RAT)- Spring 09- Daily rider
1982 John Deere Trailfire 340 - Spring 12- Daily rider
1980 John Deere Liquifire 440- Fall 12
1976 Arctic Cat Jag 2000 F/A Fall 10
1976 Arctic Cat Jag 3000F/A- Summer 10-Daily Rider
1980 Arctic Cat Jag 3000F/A-Summer 10
1988 & 1991 Polaris Indy 650s
"If You Don't Know Where To Start, Go Back To The Beginning"
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nick80lf
Posts: 1152
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:45 pm
Real Name: Nick
Location: The snow free zone of Ohio

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by nick80lf »

I have been struggling with the same issue. I assume you are installing these inline with the banjo fittings? I'd be interested to hear how this works.
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)
AirborneX4Special
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Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:54 am
Real Name: Pat
Location: N. IL

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by AirborneX4Special »

Never had this experience until yesterday on an '81. Reservoir was down to almost zilch and the muffler was full of oil. Guess there wasn't enough left in the tank to gravity feed the remaining 3 or 4 ounces? What a waste of Klotz....
Did get it started after what seemed like an eternity of recoil cycles and a broken rope incident. :bonk:
The resulting cloud of smoke sure kept the mosquitoes at bay but made it difficult to see where I was heading for a while.
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nick80lf
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Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:45 pm
Real Name: Nick
Location: The snow free zone of Ohio

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by nick80lf »

I've actually been wondering if Klotz is part of my issue. Part of the reason I made the switch to Klotz was how well it flows at lower temperatures. I've been wondering if that has a negative effect at higher temps. You're luck you got away with just a broken pull rope. Last fall I split a piston in half when the motor hydro locked (I'll post the photo if I find it). The thing that shocked me was how easy it started. It never pilled hard, or gave any warning, started on the second pull. I actually thought to myself "that's the best it's ever started after it's summer slumber", then about 3 seconds later "bang".

When I went through the motor I thought I did a pretty down to earth test. Basically put a short length of hose on the banjo fittings. Drooped them in a can of Kerosene and blew into the tube. If I saw bubbles it didn't go back on the motor. I also hooked up the Mityvac and made sure they all cracked at about 3 PSI. This fall when I started it there was quite a bit of oil coming out the muffler so I don't think I'm past this yet.
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)
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nick80lf
Posts: 1152
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:45 pm
Real Name: Nick
Location: The snow free zone of Ohio

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by nick80lf »

Here's a photo of the carnage
Attachments
20190914_174524.jpg
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)
AirborneX4Special
Posts: 1450
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:54 am
Real Name: Pat
Location: N. IL

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by AirborneX4Special »

Ouch
When I first saw the oil slick on the concrete under the sled I presumed there had to be a breach ahead of the pump but there was nothing in the belly pan other than some oil under the ball joint and the nearly empty oil tank. Once the sled started there was a river pouring out the exhaust and smoke everywhere. I think the biggest share of the transfer was recent because I'd have noticed it immediately since sleds are started and warmed on a regular in lieu of a fogging regimen. None of them saw snow last season since we had little or nothing after Halloween other than a thin ration of wet that quickly froze and melted soon thereafter. Out of 3 running Liquifires this is the only machine with the issue and they all have Klotz oil in the tank.
I'd hate to put a shut off valve in the oil supply line upstream from the pump but perhaps that's a possible solution if these check valves from BRP don't pan out. I've run it several times over the last 30 hours and it sat in a heated shop overnight with no leakage. Started on one pull this morning using half choke and ran like a champ. Guess I had a John Deere Guardian Angel because hydro lock never entered into my thought process.
AirborneX4Special
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Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:54 am
Real Name: Pat
Location: N. IL

Re: Possible Repair for leaking oil injection check valves

Post by AirborneX4Special »

So I've discovered the Liquifire hasn't been discharging oil after sitting a couple days but the crank full of oil has apparently blown a head gasket. Overflow bottle fills instantly upon startup!
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