Bike has been a major lain in the @$$ lately

[Syphious]

So, I bought my '89 Ninja EX250 a few months ago, ran o.k. when I bought it, needed an air filter since the old one was in pieces, needed the airbox lid, carb was so ****ed up from **** work done to it that I just bought a new one off a 2011, ran perfect after that but always heated up real fast, now I blew a seal or gasket somewhere, oil leaks out the bottom where the oil screen cap is, not sure if its leaking there or from where, my clutcj cover gasket is leaking now too, and even before I leaked oil, oil would go missing randomly. I wouldnt burn it from what my buddies could tell, no smoke when they were around me, but id randomly one day just be out of oil, one day I even checked the oil before riding to find I needed to add another half quart at least

Now I also cleaned and shimmed my carb needles with two washers as generally recommeneded, and I got a very noticable power gain (for this bike at least) and my idle is sparratic now and I overheat more than ever when its idling normal even.

Im ready to rebuild the engine because im getting pissed, ive already put about 250-320$ into this bike and it ran perfect and mostly held fluids less than a month ago and now I go through tons of oil, adding almost a quart every two days or so

Any ideas tips or pointers before I tear it apart? Id rather not and dont have the money to but cant afford gas for my car either so I need it running good again real soon

[Motofool]

What recent work made the oil leak start?

If you did not touch those covers, then, leak may have been caused by vibrations loosening the bolts that anchor those covers against the gaskets and crankcase.
If so, you should loosen all the bolts and tighten those in a crossing pattern.

Another possible reason is a clogged or plugged crankcase ventilation (hose between air box and engine) that could induce high pressure inside the crankcase.

[Syphious]

Just realized how horrid my grammer was, sorry about that, got home and was extremely tired while typing it out, I havent touched any bolts on the engine, ill retighten them then

[Syphious]

Also, what about my missing oil? Randomly just start burning it or something or other before I had a oil leak to find my oil is low.. I could go before for a week then find im out and sometimes would only last a day

[dcj13]

When you check the oil level, is the bike consistently in the same spot and the same orientation?

How many miles do you ride per day?

[Syphious]

Bike is in the same location every day when oil level is checked, I know how to work on them but this has me just stumped.. Recent work has only been on the carb, no engine work at all yet, its been running very very hot lately, overheats now in a matter of minutes

[Syphious]

Oh and I ride about 16 miles to and from work every day, highway miles

[EMSRacer07]

Originally Posted by Syphious

Oh and I ride about 16 miles to and from work every day, highway miles

older engines do burn oil from time to time but not that much. My old 90' used to burn a 1/4 of a quart after a few months but yours seems excessive.

If you really wanted to update everything you could go with a newer motor etc. If you tear it down, especially without a torque wrench or the proper tools, you could mess something up and be out money. Especially if you find out you need parts machined that can be more money.

Try to fix the engine with minor work. Tighten bolts. Look for oil leaks etc before you decide to do any big money things.

[Syphious]

Yeah thats what im seeing about doing, just wanting more opinions. Rebuilding these engines isnt hard a nd torque wrenches dont cost that much and it doesnt cost a lot to get the stuff for a rebuild but id rather save the heartache and pain of it all..

[Syphious]

Well.. Oil leak was caused by a previous owner not screwing in the bolt next to the oil filter and drain plug all the way in so the oil filter wasnt even friggin sealed. Tightened it in more and lined up a notch the oil filter cap had in it for some reason with the bolt and no leaks. Also cleaned my mesh filter thats behind the oil filter, had a few small metal chunks and some other normal gunk, and I reseated and tightened my clutch back up since its on its way out, runs much better now and I dont have to worry about leaking oil anymore

[Ghostt]

Sounds like the bike needs a good and meticulous going over.

As far as the overheating goes, fluid level? Stuck thermostat? Worn impeller? Radiator checked out? Etc.....

When ever buying anything used, especially a bike, you should always Gove it the once over, especially the brakes, regardless of what the previous owner says..

[Syphious]

Well, like I said earlier ive fixed the problem, it runs great now, runs and drives better and is faster accelerating than my friends 2003 ninja ex250 he had just two weeks ago, brakes are ok, front one could probably use a new pad, rear brake didnt work when I got it because the brake wasnt bled so it had no pressure, works fine since I fixed on the ride home when I first got it, and well I got it for only 750$ so going through it wasnt totally needed, it ran and drove and most its problems before I got it were carb related, and repairing it isnt a problem for me, ive rebuilt a first gen zx600 engine and it was a a bit of a pain so rebuilding this engine would be easy compared to that. I checked out what i should have for what the price was. Im thinking the impellar is bad, under about 3k rev with the radiator cap off there isnt much water flow and going higher rpms it just flows less, thermostat works fine and the radiator is ok it seems and ive flushed the system twice now.