Man u guys r showcasing the most beautiful qualities of the online forums u make me proud lol!!
Some thoughts....
The tests demonstrated show that Polaris cap flows enough oil when working properly... They also show that the cap can stick in both directions. If u monkey with the cap for 5 minutes in the garage, you'll be able to reproduce this "stick" quite often. How often? Doesn't matter. One in a million is too much for comfort. Ok, so now just say for sake of example, how long till u hit a bump hard enough to jarr the valve open? 1 second? 20 seconds? 1 minute? Groomed trail riding 5 minutes? Keeping in mind that every second that passes by, is going to require a harder/sharper hit to jarr that valve, cause its technically building vacuum. The tests have shown that it doesnt take "much" vacuum at all to seal it tight enough so that NO amount of jarring will break the seal (thread on hcs.com).
Now, how long does it take to empty the oil line at 26:1 ratio running WOT? I had mine running 26:1 measured over four tanks of fuel. Im saying if ur valve sticks right before or better yet WHILE WOT, how long before empty oil line=failure?
Now, a lot of people can pry get away with a cap that sticks intermittently b/c they never have it WOT. And by never I mean less than 1% of the time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the hardest riding guys show about 8-9% WOT on the digital wrench. Any PI mechanics here? Most guys are probably in the 2-3% range. Given the mellow riding, a lot of guys will hit the perfect bump to jar it loose before it builds too much vacuum.
LSS, having the cap stick for a few seconds at the wrong time will prove fatal IMHO.
OS, how does the fact that your happy with oil consumption say anything about whether the cap sticks or not? Consumption over one or ten tanks of gas, does not prove that ur cap valve has or has not stuck on you even if it was only a few seconds. Venting the tank may or may not change oil consumption, based on riding style among other things. My thinking is that yours (and almost everyones) probably is sticking multiple times (mildly) throughout any given day. Luckily, its been jarred open before it got too much vaccuum.
Another point of information. The "natural state" of the valve on polaris cap is closed correct? It is only open when the steel ball bumps the valve? So technically, u are always "creating vacuum" but banking on the fact that the steel ball will bump it... kinda russian roulette-ish imo.
Some of you may recall my last scorched motor. It occurred shortly after having had my sled stuck upside down for about half an hour. Oil drained back into the tank and was replaced by air in the oil line/pump. For whatever reason, the oil pump lost its prime, or the valve stuck, or both. Way I see it, if I woulda had one of the "free-flow-cap-mods" the oil wouldve re-primed itself just based on gravity; in time to save my motor. But no, the darn cap with its "marginal flow" design created just enough hesitation for the oil not to go anywhere. And shortly after I'm siezed up.
And here's why I know a free-flow-cap woulda saved me. We drug the sled back into the trailer so I could see WTF was wrong. Check compression get 0 on one side and 80 on the other. I say $h!+ and start pulling the sled apart with intentions of getting another motor in an going back riding. Ok I'm doing this in the enclosed trailer/shop which is ON the hill right after it happened. No funny business here. I unbolt and remove the hood. Look down and first thing I notice is the oil line is empty. I start thinking wtf right? Now I'm taking my time smokin a ciggy, analyzing real close cause I don't wanna miss anything. Take a minute to brainstorm wtf is going on here. Notice the oil bottle looks funny. The sides seem to be kinda wierd. Then it hits me. The effin oil bottle is vacuum locked, just like often happens to plastic gas cans. Sure nuff, loosen the oil cap and pfffffftttt a big hiss of air goes in. Oil drains down the line all the way to the pump and a couple bubbles head the other way back into the bottle. Couldnt believe it right?!?! Shoulda had a free-flow-oil-cap!!!!
So I bring the sled home and start monkeying with the cap. Blowing through it (or trying to) at different angles. A couple hours later, and the Polaris Oil Cap Theory was born!
And if that aint enough, this'll surely put you doubters over the edge. I just went out to monkey with my oil cap for a quick refresher course. Havent touched the sled since April so I'm a little rusty. Anyways, I had to use a doggone pipe wrench to get the Polaris cap off. What a pain. If that there isn't reason enough, then nothing is!
