99 700 (sks)

[cwbybnkr]

Couple of issues:

1. The sled drinks oil like crazy. I fixed the leaks, but the oil light comes on before I use a tank of gas. I don't think that's right. The oil pump is set correctly. Any ideas? I do NOT use synthetic oil.

2. The sled gets poor gas mileage, which doesn't bother me all that much, but when I went to fog the motor and clean the sled up for summer storage, there is a lot of gas splatter outside the air box side. The air box is always wet and the gas drains out the bottom of it. The foam on the top of the air box is soaked with gas.

Any thoughts would be helpful. Any thoughts on how to clean the gas out of the foam are helpful too. (Maybe I don't need the foam at all?)

I really like this sled and I've got it set up the way I like it but these engine issues are really bothering me.

 

[poorider]

cowboy boinker??
uhm, well anyway....
You need a new oil pump, they over oil when they are worn out. Also the keihin carbs on your sled were notorious fuel slurpers, a set of mik flatslides would be a good investment (2000 and up)

 

[Lake Cle Elum]

At this age, you could be leaking oil around the seals coming out of your tank and /or into the oil pump.

All sleds came jetted way to rich from the factory back then.....Do some research and jet for your elevation/temp.....Check your float level settings.

 

[cwbybnkr]

I did have a leak coming out of the tank, and i thought that was the problem. So I put in a new grommet, and it does not leak anymore. It just uses a lot of oil.

My sled has just under 5,000 miles on it. Can an oil pump go bad in that amount of time?

On the gas side, I'm not sure why it spits gas back toward the air box. I had the floats adjusted already because they were set wrong and I kept flooding the engine when it sat for a long time. It wasn't the needle and seats like everyone told me. The sled starts up very well now that I had that fixed.

I do not have a boost bottle on it. I drained out the crank case. I'm just at a loss for what else could be happening to it.

CoWBoY BaNKeR

 

[ivar]

Done anything with the stock jetting? Around here, the 99 SKS700 were known for their terrible fuel mileage when stock.

Some spitback in the air box is normal, but running pig rich sure don't help

 

[cwbybnkr]

Everything is pretty much stock, with stock settings. I really don't want to lean it out much. It doesn't run rich. In fact, it runs just about perfect.

Some one questioned if my reeds might have collapsed somehow to get the back splatter. I'll have to take it apart farther to investigate this.

 

[ivar]

When I got my 99 XC700SP, basically the same sled as the SKS with a shorter track, I got around 7 for gas mileage. After some tweaking I got it up to 9-10 riding trails.

This tweaking consisted of clutching, down from stock 190/185 mains to 185/180, different needles/slides. Also put in SLP power pack carb dividers, these gave a great low/midrange response.
Later also put in boyesen reed petals to replace the stock tired reeds, noticed that it ran richer in the midrange afterwards.

One recommended update for the 99's were to put in R1371G needles from a 98 RMK.
And for reeds, reed cages from a 01-05 6-800 twin will bolt right in and flow slightly better than stock.

As for oil usage, it should use around 1:40.

 

[retiredpop]

You may have some broken reed valve petals so that is why it is spitting back so much. On the oil issue I think your oil pump has gone bad in order to use that much oil. I have backed off the pump quite a way on our 99 RMK600's because of higher than normal oil usage but they were never as bad as yours. They now are providing about 40:1 gas/oil ratio and I use synthetic oil.

 

[hipockets]

Change the needles to R1371G middle clip from a 98 700 RMK. Air screws to 1-1.5 turns. Check that the primer is not allowing fuel to seep past it while the engine is running. If you see any air bubbles in the line to the engine moving towards the engine as it is running it is allowing extra fuel to the engine. The primer inlet tee should be installed in the main fuel line just after the fuel shut off valve, not in the MAG side carb feed line. This was an update. Change the float pins to ones from a 00 700 XCSP, they are knurled and fit tighter in the casting. The float adjustment for the Keihins is very critical, and they are not set to the same spec as any mikuni carb. You need a special tool to do it. Finaly check the reeds. Often the rubber overmlding would come off, and hold the petals open. Change to complete cages from a 6/7/800 ves engine. Your oil pump is adjusted properly when the line scribed on the pump arm and the body line up NOT at idle, but when all slack is taken out of the throttle, but before the carbs start to open.

 

[cwbybnkr]

Change the needles to R1371G middle clip from a 98 700 RMK. Air screws to 1-1.5 turns. Check that the primer is not allowing fuel to seep past it while the engine is running. If you see any air bubbles in the line to the engine moving towards the engine as it is running it is allowing extra fuel to the engine. The primer inlet tee should be installed in the main fuel line just after the fuel shut off valve, not in the MAG side carb feed line. This was an update. Change the float pins to ones from a 00 700 XCSP, they are knurled and fit tighter in the casting. The float adjustment for the Keihins is very critical, and they are not set to the same spec as any mikuni carb. You need a special tool to do it. Finaly check the reeds. Often the rubber overmlding would come off, and hold the petals open. Change to complete cages from a 6/7/800 ves engine. Your oil pump is adjusted properly when the line scribed on the pump arm and the body line up NOT at idle, but when all slack is taken out of the throttle, but before the carbs start to open.

Is there an easy way to tell if my Carbs already have the 98 700 RMK needles?

 

[BCDan]

The number of the needle is stamped on the side of the needle...

 

[cwbybnkr]

Thanks!