gear oil in Kawasaki crank case what kind of damage can happen ?

[honda4h]

i recently bought a Kawasaki 220 bayou with no spark i found that the pulsar coil was bad i opened the engine only to find out the coil had melted badly. and it had gear oil in it my question is do you guys think the engine is nfg i have no idea how long it was run like that. i did not find metal parts or metal flake looking oil. the motor has good compression. i just do not want to spend $$ on this if the motor is nfg

[New2Tri-Z]

I have no idea, but that just looks crazy bro! What a mess! Good Luck.

[barnett468]

Hello Honda4h;

As long as it has good compression the gear oil did not hurt it. Your tranny is full of gears. Your clutch discs might be be to happy with it but they may still be ok.

If you get it running and it has trans probs, they were not caused by the gear oil. In fact, it's a possibility as to why the gear oil was used.

I would run some 10w-30 non synthetic motorcycle oil with around 8 oz of Rislone oil in it for around 15 minutes and just ride it slow and shift the gears, then change the oil, run it with no Rislone for 30 minutes and change it again and if the clutch has probs fix it then.

Rislone claims it will not harm the clutches in a motorcycle.

[honda4h]

ok thanks for the tip i will try that rislone stuff to clean it up. i did get it running and i tried the first 3 gears it shifts clutches seem good no slipping starts well no smoke i backed off a oil line the pump is working. it must have got very hot to melt down the pickup that was my biggest worry on the condition of the engine but it seems ok for now. i did not run it long 10-15 min and parked it.

[barnett468]

ok thanks for the tip

Hi honda4h;

No prob, you're very welcome. I can't believe you only got one reply to this in 5 days. Now I see what happens [or doesn't] when I'm not around.

i will try that rislone stuff to clean it up.

You can buy it at most auto parts stores. It used to come in a red qt size oil can.

i did get it running and i tried the first 3 gears it shifts clutches seem good no slipping starts well no smoke

Great, sounds like you might have a good engine there. I actually did a lot of development work on these when I worked at Kawi and I can assure you that they are pretty indestructible, lol.

i backed off a oil line the pump is working.

Xlnt job checking the oil pressure. Just watch that fitting for weeping now. You can get another copper washer at any motorcycle shop or some hardware stores.

it must have got very hot to melt down the pickup that was my biggest worry on the condition of the engine but it seems ok for now. i did not run it long 10-15 min and parked it.

It might have melted from a short also.

[DohcBikes]

Well you know what they say glamy,

Every ass needs a hat.......


Hey, you forgot your bouncy guy. Here he is.

[honda4h]

i thought there would be more interest or input on the gear oil issue. i'm sure other people have bought trikes and quads with some strange oil/chemical in them. this was a first for me with gear oil. and to see the pick up in such a state. that i have never seen before has anyone else? any ways thanks for the info. much appreciated.

[barnett468]

i thought there would be more interest or input on the gear oil issue. i'm sure other people have bought trikes and quads with some strange oil/chemical in them. this was a first for me with gear oil. and to see the pick up in such a state. that i have never seen before has anyone else? any ways thanks for the info. much appreciated.

Hello honda4h;

Yeah, again, the lack of replies seemed strange to me too. It didn't seem like a very difficult question to answer imo. Maybe I just like oil related topics more than most others.

[El Camexican]

Sorry for the delay, rumor had it that Barnett was coming back soon, so we all backed off so that he could take a swing at the slow moving softball. Gotta say I’m a little surprised that he didn’t take the opportunity to say that he was sponsored by gear oil and Rislone. Guess he wanted to warm up a little first and bunt rather than try and knock it out of the park on his first swing. Still, pretty impressive answer right off the bench. I half expected him to suggest filling the cases with kitty litter to soak it up, but he was on his game.

[DohcBikes]

i thought there would be more interest or input on the gear oil issue. i'm sure other people have bought trikes and quads with some strange oil/chemical in them. this was a first for me with gear oil. and to see the pick up in such a state. that i have never seen before has anyone else? any ways thanks for the info. much appreciated.

The most common thing i see is overfilling.

Just drained 4 quarts from a 200x a couple weeks ago.


There was at least some sort of oil in it, regardless of zddp level, no metal, it has compression.

You're disaster has been averted my friend, the interest is now in the humor!!

[atc300r]

When you say gear oil are you refering to 80/90 weight gear oil .Or the motor/tranny oil. The 200x and 230 quadsport have a wet stator in them the flywheel and stator actualy run in the oil that lubes the motor and tranny . This may be the case with the 220 Bayue. Just my 2 cents.

[BOB MARLIN]

I am still wondering how he knew it was gear oil and not just thick motor oil ?. Is there a way to tell other than smell?.

[3Razors]

Depending on how long it was run the gear oil could have done damage to the top end (piston,cam,valves) of the motor. Gear oil has a VERY heavy thicker viscosity than a standard 10w30 oil and has a hard time being pumped through the oil pump to the smaller oil passages that are designed for low viscosity oil flow to the top end.

[honda4h]

oh ya 80/90 you can smell it. same in my 78 gmc 4x4 diffs. is seems Kawasaki has allot of oil lines. and the owner did this in the winter so the oil would be slow and thick. but the engine sounds good running no weird noises. i'm not good with Kawasaki. i'm a honda guy but i will give the Kawasaki a chance i'm sure my young lady will like it atc/atving with dad no matter what brand. of coarse my ride is a 250 big red. thanks guys for all the help

[El Camexican]

Gear oil is not as "thick" as the numbers would indicate. I think 80W gear oil is about the same viscosity as 40W motor oil. I don't think any harm was done to your engine and keep in mind that there are clutches in diffs as well.