Strange substance in oil(please help), long story

[HillTopper]

Strange substance in XR's oil(please help), long story

a while back, i went to adjust my valves on my 98XR400, when i noticed on the inside of the side cover cap(the big one in the middle) that is used to turn the crank to adjust the timing marks, that there was some strange brown substance on the back of the cap itself and around the bolt inside. this is the tough part: its very thin, brown and it when i touch it, its almost like a wax. its not grainy in any way, but it almost looks like the color of muddy water. it wasnt all laying at the bottom, it was stuck to everything.
i've changed the oil in it and put new stuff in, ran it, changed it again. did that about 2 or 3 times and checked it again. most of it was gone, but i could still see some of it.

a few weeks prior to all of this, i had fallen in a huge mud puddle and most of the bike went under. when i got out of the mud puddle, the bike started on like the 2nd kick after giving it a good number of primer kicks. to be safe thought after that ride, i drained the oil, and there werent any signs of water contamination at all and none of this crap was coming out of it. so i figured all was right.

here are a few of my ideas on what it could be:
1.wax from oil(i use bel-ray 10-40 4 stroke oil) or some sort of condesation from hosing it off right after riding.

2. clutch wear. just today though, i took the plates out and inspected all around the area and there was no signs at all of any foreign objects. even behind the basket, looking at the internals with a light, it all looked brand new. there was nothing on the clutch side of the bike and the plates looked excellent.

3. a mechanic told me that on the stator wiring, there could be a varnish coating over them which could have come off and thats what this could be since it does seem to be only on the flywheel side.

4. my worst fear. dirty water has got into the engine.

i'm sorry for the length of this post, but i'm hoping someone out there has experienced something like this and can ease my troubled mind. as of now, the bike runs perfect but does give a very little of black smoke when first started(no, it doesnt fill the driveway up, its just visible when revving it), when warm though its gone. thanks. i'm done writing now.

 

[helterskelter400]

i've heard of the stator coating breaking down before.

 

[Highbeam]

I've always had some coating on those plugs. The oil level is below this plug during normal operation so the plug is up in the misty, foamy, hot, and humid space inside your engine. The stuff is similar to what you would scrub off the inside of a valve cover on an auto engine because it's the same stuff. Pretty much a film of oil sludge.

Don't worry about it, there's probably a bunch of black soot inside your exhaust pipe. You did the right thing by changing your oil after a water ride.

 

[polyesterpig]

Try using a different brand of oil for the next few times. Try golden spectro, maxima etc. Had a similar problem with a car when I used penzoil, switched to valvoline and the problem was gone.

 

[DualSportr]

Don't switch oil. It's best to find something that works and stick with it. Especially with the modern dry-sump engines, it's almost impossible to get all the old oil out, and some brands don't like each other.

It's not a problem, just like highbeam says, it's really normal.

 

[Boozer]

Originally posted by DualSportr
Don't switch oil. It's best to find something that works and stick with it. Especially with the modern dry-sump engines, it's almost impossible to get all the old oil out, and some brands don't like each other.

It's not a problem, just like highbeam says, it's really normal.

most true in the olden days when different makes caused additive conflicts, but today it's quite acceptable to change the brand of oil you use. A good example of this is the practice of 'running' your machine in on a mineral base oil, and then switching to a synthetic of your choice. But if you feel better about staying with the one oil, why not? whatever gives you that piece of mind when you go to sleep at night. You should never mix different types of coolant though.

i seriously wouldn't worry about your situation Hill Topper, and i'm quite particular about every mechanical thing on my machine. If it was muddy water, you would see it when you drained your oil after your wet ride (good boy!). And like you said, it doesn't appear on the other side of the engine. Stator coating for sure, i'd say.
After reading you changed your oil three or four times after the incident, it's clear you take great care of you machine, and so you should. the lengthy post you have submitted gives me the impression that you are worried about engine damage, but i really think you have nothing to worry about. A friend of mine stalled his machine in a salty water crossing, and the breather tube sucked in a gut full of water! he didn't realise until two days later and a hundred miles had passed that his oil was milky (arrived home). He changed it once and surprisingly he has had no engine trouble at all after one year.

 

[DualSportr]

We've had troubles with clutch slippage/glazing fiber plates on the XR400 and 400EX after changing oil brands. I don't know why this is an issue with this model, but I've seen it dozens of times in the last few years.

We have found that you can change oil brands with the 400 as long as you remove ALL of the oil from the system prior to installing something new - but it's a major hassle.

All I'm saying is that switching oil brands for no reason (there's no oil-related problem here) would be unnecissary at best, and could cause problems.

 

[HillTopper]

i did switch oil from honda gn4 10-40 to the bel-ray 4stroke 10-40 four stroke just before i noticed this (but i really never looked before)oil because i was told that bel ray supplies for honda. honda just slaps their sticker on it. so maybe thats another possibility, and dirt never got in. btw, thanks for all your responses. makes me feel a lot better.