550 - Stator cover leaking badly

Wow if you're getting a cup of oil after 30 miles you do have a problem that will need correcting. I get a cup out of mine, but that's after lots of miles.

Got a 550 never leaked into startor cover. A cups preaty bad. Id imagin that after a while all that oils going to affect your alternator.

Jayar I took this pic of a 650 I have with the rotor removed. Your 550 will look pretty much the same. Hope this helps.

Have no experience with 550's, but here's a blind swing. :lol:

Any possibility of a crankcase vent being clogged and allowing excessive pressure to build up inside the crankcase?

wow. thanks for the pic!

The longer i own this bike the more it seems like a flawed purchase.

I'll check the crankcase vent if i can find it.

Right now, I have to find out why raw gas is dumping out of my carbs onto the street. I don't want to be a human fireball.

About to search that problem now, but expect some questions!

I just ordered my manual today, plan on reading it cover to cover.

In the meantime, thanks for you patience. much appreciated.

JR

Jayar wrote:

...The longer i own this bike the more it seems like a flawed purchase.

I'll check the crankcase vent if i can find it.

Right now, I have to find out why raw gas is dumping out of my carbs onto the street... ordered my manual today, plan on reading it cover to cover....

Am guessing KZ550 oil breather concerns are similar to those on large fours, as follows:

If the breather hose or the parts inside the breather become clogged, pressure may build up in the crankcase and cause oil leaks. [quoted from FSM]

The gas dumping from the carbs prompts suspicion of whether the crankcase oil may be contaminated by gas intrusion thinning and ruining the oil (a serious condition). Which might also explain presence of oil in the stator area. Am thinking hot thin gas-contaminated oil could more readily bypass seals (such as the crankshaft seal).

Would sniff-test crankcase oil to detect any gasoline odor evidencing fuel intrusion into crankcase. And also physically examine the oil to see if it feels thin and diluted. The oil level may even look too high. If in doubt, should change the oil and filter, and of course identify and correct the problem.

Gas from the carb overflows could be due to any of several causes, such as leaky float needle (a likely suspect), leaking or sticking float, cracked overflow tube, and probably others.

Have also heard that a faulty vacuum petcock diaphram can allow fuel to pass down through the vacuum tube into the carb, on into the combustion chamber, then down around the pistons into the crankcase.

Meanwhile, it's too soon imo to view the bike as a flawed purchase.

Good Luck!

And here's the diagram from Kawasaki.com showing location of the oil breather:

Awesome. As soon as my manual gets here, I'll start investigating (Monday) anything I need to dissassemble.

The oil definitely has a gas hint to it, and doesn't look like pure oil.

And the petcock is suspect, as well. Might have been my imagination, but I feel like the amount of gas dripping from the tubes was affected by slight variations in position of the petcock lever...straight down seemed to leak more than when biased toward "reserve". Not sure.

The only thing i changed in the time the leak was more of a drip, to a gush, was to change the angle of my handlebars (and controls).

If I look at the carb and push the throttle FORWARD I see a little part of the linkage move fairly significantly. I'm going to mess with the position and see if it makes a difference in the gas problem.

Flawed purchase I only mean that it's my first bike, and the seller did not represent it as needing major mechanical work. He said things like, "Just so you know, these mirrors aren't original to the bike...and there's a tiny scratch on the rear fender." He left out the fact that it pukes oil all over my foot and back tire after about 30 miles.

Oh well, I like the bike enough to want to figure it out.

Thanks again.

JR