250-500cc Wow! Is this oil color right?!

[Terrence R]

Oh please tell me this is right: went to drain the oil on my 04 wr250 to find that it looks exactly like Pepto bismol ( very light pink). I hear that it's recommended to use 50/50 motor oil and ATF tranny fluid. Is it supposed to look "milky pink", or more oily clear pink? If not, I must have a serious coolant leak. Please help.

 

[justintendo]

i would say to top it off with cheap atf and run it a bit and see what it looks like. altho its sounding like you have a leak. but who knows what was put in there

 

[Terrence R]

i would say to top it off with cheap atf and run it a bit and see what it looks like. altho its sounding like you have a leak. but who knows what was put in there

I'm guessing coolant leak also. When I bought the bike a few days ago, it was down a little on coolant. I didn't think too much of it, but now I know where it's been going. Would it be the water pump seal? Would this also be why I have some clutch drag while in gear?

 

[justintendo]

would pretty much have to be the waterpump seal..probably why they sold it, perhaps?

 

[Terrence R]

The previous owner only drove it a couple times a year. He never drove it enough to justify owning it ( so he says). Can u believe that I checked everything else over on the bike except the oil? LOL.

Do u think that the milky oil could've caused any other damage? I'm ganna put a new wp seal in and flush the old stuff out. Any thing else that I should look into with this situation?

I also plan on freshening up the top end, putting a recluse clutch on, and ordering an intake boot as mine has some cracks in it ( but isn't air leaking, yet).

Thanx for the quick reply.

 

[Motosportz]

replace oil with motor oil and run it. Is the water dropping a lot? Only fill it to the top of the fins inside.

 

[gwynfryn]

I thought the water pump seal had gone on mine but I never lost coolant?. Tracked it down to the gearbox vent, siliconed it in and extended the hose up under the tank and down with the coolant overflow hose.

 

[Terrence R]

replace oil with motor oil and run it. Is the water dropping a lot? Only fill it to the top of the fins inside.

Ok. I filled it up and only been on a couple small rides. The level didn't go down, so it must not be too bad. I'm just wondering how long the PO was riding it like that . The clutch basket doesn't look to be notched, so I'm guessing that this is why there's been some clutch drag in first gear. It would be nice to get a few good rides out of the husky before I do my complete tear down check up. Thanx

 

[Motosportz]

Ok. I filled it up and only been on a couple small rides. The level didn't go down, so it must not be too bad. I'm just wondering how long the PO was riding it like that . The clutch basket doesn't look to be notched, so I'm guessing that this is why there's been some clutch drag in first gear. It would be nice to get a few good rides out of the husky before I do my complete tear down check up. Thanx

Ride it. change the oil a few times and see if it is getting milky. Just motor oil not ATF. Not going to hurt it. Might have just had some condensation from sitting. Clutch drag is typical on these bikes.

 

[lankydoug]

My wr250 did the same thing. It turned out to be that when I rode through low water crossings the water would rapidly cool the trans and the vent hose would suck/siphon water which would contaminate the trans oil. I put JASO rated Synthetic Rotella T6 in the gearbox and and drilled a small pin hole in the upper part of the vent hose so it could not siphon water anymore... Problem solved.

 

[Terrence R]

Ride it. change the oil a few times and see if it is getting milky. Just motor oil not ATF. Not going to hurt it. Might have just had some condensation from sitting. Clutch drag is typical on these bikes.

Ok. Good to know. Although I do think that it drank some coolant because the level was down originally, but I agree that condensation and/or water siphonage could also be a big factor.

Thanx everybody for your help. I'll keep you's posted on the outcome.

 

[Motosportz]

Although I do think that it drank some coolant because the level was down originally

Not uncommon. I check mine all the time. Might have got hot and spit some, might have just evaporated from sitting. Cap might not be holding 100%. Lots of things can lead to water loss. These hold very little and a tiny amount looks like you lost a lot.

 

[lankydoug]

Ok. I filled it up and only been on a couple small rides. The level didn't go down, so it must not be too bad. I'm just wondering how long the PO was riding it like that . The clutch basket doesn't look to be notched, so I'm guessing that this is why there's been some clutch drag in first gear. It would be nice to get a few good rides out of the husky before I do my complete tear down check up. Thanx

If you fill the coolant level full to the cap it will lose/puke more coolant than if you fill it just even with the cooling core. Only fill it to just cover the core and the level will stay there for a long time, you have to give the coolant some room to expand or it just pukes it out the overflow. One advantage of the 2 stroke Husky is that compared to the orange bikes they are almost impossible to overheat.

 

[Tinken]

Don't mix ATF with motor oil to thin it, just run thinner oil. You can use 0W40 or 5W40 synthetic and your transmission will last the life of the bike. If you are still having coolant issues but cannot seem to find the source, try running XF. It operates at only 1-2 psi, so hoses and seals tend to hold up a lot better.

 

[justintendo]

was just recommending it to clean it out a bit with detergents, not really to run long term. its cheap and if it ran a bit and came back out milkshake again you dont waste 10 dollar a quart oil most of us run..i also run a motor oil, 10w30 amsoil mc oil in the swedes and 10w40 amsoil mc in the italian.