i have a 2004 vinson with 1300 miles, changed oil like i should and the quad smokes bad. i went riding today for a 30 mile ride and burned 2 quarts up in smoke. i guess i need a valve job. anyone else had bad luck like this. i am going to do a compression test, anyone know how pounds i should have? does anybody know where i can download a shop manual?

Most average internal combustion engines run between 110 and 145 psi normally. Higher compression race engines run higher, but normally that is a ballpark figure. I'm sure most dealers service department would tell you what you should have as it really isn't anyones trade secret. Did the oil consumption begin suddenly or was it gradual? Was there some event that occurred that was the start of the oil burning? If there was, you may have damaged or have a ring stuck. Have you ran it where dirt was allowed in the intake track? If this happened, a lot of bad consequences could have happened. The first thing is to get the compression test done and go from there.

P.S. Mine always smoke, but they're supposed to and they don't use two quarts that fast!

the oil burning happened all of a sudden, and its not dusty where we ride. thanks for the tip.

I know this might sound stupid but almost sounds like you over filled the oil.

I was thinking that sounded like a lot of oil. I did a little research and since we have easy access to Polaris Manuals, I looked at normal oil capacities of most of their machines. It looks like most only hold 2 quarts total so does yours hold a larger quantity than that? If not are you adding oil during a ride to add 2 quarts or was it ran extremely low at some point. Running it low on oil could do damage to cause increased oil comsumption in the future.

Rockbanger, I could be wrong (don't have my service manual here, I'm at work) but my Vinson holds 3 quarts of oil.

Yes that’s wright, we carried oil with us. I would ride 2 hours and check it and it would be a quart low/ride another 2 hours and check it again, low again.

The engine oil capacity, with filter change, is 3.8 quarts according to the owners manual for my '06 Vinson.