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2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 6:52 pm
by JG2
Buddy sucked water in the engine via the breather tube and bike quit. Drained oil and found muddy water in it; the oil screen was caked with clay.

1. Anyone done this before and how did you rectify?

2. Would cases need to be split to clean it out?

3. Is this something you would attempt at home if you were reasonably mechanically capable?

4. Can you recommend any qualified, reputable 4-stroke engine guys that would take this project on and not charge an exorbitant amount? (Dealer wants $3,000 for a rebuild!)

Thanks in advance!

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:41 pm
by ttwest
Fill the crankcase full of diesel ,kick it over a few times and let it sit ,repeat then dump. Put the recommended amount of 5w 20 oil in ,with the filters out, drive it to the end of the street using all gears and back. dump and repeat once. Install recommended oil with filters. good to go, you may have to put a new plug-in to get the bike to start.

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:39 pm
by dirtyboy
Sounds logical

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:13 am
by AJRJ
JG2 wrote:Buddy sucked water in the engine via the breather tube and bike quit. Drained oil and found muddy water in it; the oil screen was caked with clay. Thanks in advance!
This is a real sludge shoot IMO. How long did it sit with water in it? I assume this is a 250/350 by the breather tube? The cams ride in plain journals in the head a really don't like to have any type of oiling issues. You can do the diesel thing, although I prefer to just use 10/30 engine oil. I would likely clean the screens and change the filters, run it for a few secs, drop the oil, clean the screens, new 10/30 run till warm, drop the oil. Then add Rotella ( :D ) run till hot, drop the oil. Add oil and run it up and down the alley. One more oil, filter and a screen cleaning and it's as good as it'll get. If there's damage it may not necessarily affect how it runs in the short term, but definitely it will affect how long it lasts. Pull a cam and have a look for some piece of mind. If there's anything to worry about that's where it'll be. I personally would not run it without the screens and filters in place.

The breathers on these bikes will suck in water, even if shut off, if they're submerged.

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:18 am
by cedric
If the water was muddy, tear it down, many of the bearings inside are toast. Likely needs a rod too. Been there, done this before. If it sucked clean water from a creek, a series of flushes will clean it out.

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:12 pm
by Brass
The big warning sign here is the oil screen. "Caked with clay" ... "and then it quit" were your words. Remember all 4t oil systems are partial filter systems. Meaning less than 50 % of the oil is filtered after it goes through the pumps. The rest goes through the motor to lub things and is eventually filtered after serveral passes. In the mean time it carries all that nasty junk with it to all the bearings. So what made it quit!

I would strip it to the cases. The head does not like junk on the bearing surfaces at all. Flushing with diesel and then fresh oil will only help to push the sh*t deeper.

Buy a service manual, a flywheel puller and a case splitter tool and learn to do the work yourself. It really isn't that hard.

I regularly strip my motors down to a pile of parts just for inspection, if I can do it so can anyone else. Once the cams are out, it isn't much different than tearing down a 2t.

Best of luck with it.

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 9:47 pm
by Wangchung
I agree with Brass, its not that hard if you buy the manual and 100-200 in extra tools.
KTM gasket kit is ~200 and it includes every gasket and seal.
I split my 2014 450 sxf when new to make it a six speed. Total tear down and rebuild was 9-10 hours (I'm not a mechanic)
Toughest thing during the install was installing the wrist pin clip.

If you don't want to do the tear down try Rhyno Tuned 403-607-1044, top notch guy and top notch mechanic.

Re: 2015 KTM XC-F Mud in Crankcase - Engine Rebuilders?

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:01 pm
by dirtyboy
This all makes a lot of sense!