Oil blowing out of filler tube at idle /compression?

[demarcor]

Kawasaki FE400 engine... KEY START (in a club car / bobcat UTV)

1) Pulling the oil dipstick at idle will blow oil everywhere under pressure. I read in an old thread that there is some normalcy to this. Can anyone confirm that this is normal?
I was thinking ring problems...

So I will do a compression test.

2) What compression should I look for? I see different things online for key vs. pedal start and compression release valves...


Thanks!

[Fairtax4me]

Yeah it’s normal. No problem with rings unless you’re burning oil.

[demarcor]

It did suddenly start burning oil, but only after a 15 second run at wide open throttle under a load. I thought maybe I had too much oil in it after a recent oil/filter change. It was not overfilled.
When I started poking around, I pulled the dipstick while it was idling, and oil blew everywhere under lots of pressure. I didn’t think that was normal to have so much pressure in the bottom end of the engine unless combustion was getting by the rings?
I figured if the rings were bad, it would smoke consistently. Not a short burst like that.

The oil burn has stopped now. I did take the valve cover off to look for a breather valve issue, everything seemed fine, though I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. When I put it back together, there was no longer any smoking.

Confused.

My buddy has a compression tester kit, will check it just for the heck of it. I have seen that it should either be 52 psi or 150 psi! So I have no idea what I’m supposed to be looking for after researching.

[Fairtax4me]

Typically a Key start engine will have ACR , Automatic Compression release, in which case you'll see around 50-70 PSI during cranking. It hardly tells you anything about the condition of the rings.
It may be marked with a sticker on the shroud cover that says "W/ACR", or something to that effect.
Engines without ACR may have a sticker that says "W/O ACR".

Did you notice the smoke right after an oil change? What kind of oil do you have in it?

The usual culprit for smoking after running that hard is ring wear, or overheating from a lean A/F mixture. How fast was the cart going? Over-revving the FE400 will result in major failure and totally trash the engine.

[demarcor]

Thank you for helping!
A compression test won’t tell me anything?
It is always been stock speed at stock RPMs. Never over revved. It only has 750 hours on it. The air breather tube was replaced during my last oil change because it had a crack in it. I replaced it with a flexible radiator hose because I didn’t have the correct part yet. It doesn’t fit correctly but did allow the cart to run again. The correct air intake tube will be arriving in the next few days. That could be part of the issue? I am running synthetic Mobil One 10W-30, always have since I purchased it with 400 hours on it.

[Fairtax4me]

Oil should be fine. If this just started right after you changed the intake hose, then I’d change that out for a better replacement. If the hose is restricting air going in it can create a higher than normal vacuum into the crankcase through the breather hose and suck oil into the carb from the valve cover. Even a small amount will give you a hell of a smoke screen if that happens.

The flexible hoses with the coil spring in them can be used but you have to make them longer than the original hose and make wide bends in the hose. Usually they don’t like to hold their shape either.

I have used radiator hose on a few of my carts and it works fine, you just need to find one with the right bends so it doesn’t kink. It takes a bit of looking around, but if you take the original intake hose to Napa ask if they can help you match one up. Think outside the box a bit, because a lot of hoses have multiple bends and some will match up perfect if you cut half of it off.

[demarcor]

Thanks again,
I am hopeful that this is my issue. The hose i bought to use for the new air intake is the radiator hose with coil spring-inside, but it IS curved too tight and pinches at both turning points.
I just figured if it ran, I was good. Which it does.... but what you say make sense!
I found the correct intake hose and it arrives soon... hoping that is all it could be!