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The inside of the clutch, when the engine is idling, acts like a fan drawing air around the drum to keep the shoes or discs cool. Any excess
oil on the chain is going to be sucked into the clutch. It will get on the shoes and will have to be burned off before the clutch will work consistently again. Check your blow-by line off the engine to make sure you
have a good seal. It is very important to have the line hooked up properly because of where that oil can go and the problems it can cause. Using your blow-by line to lube your chain is not a very good idea and will
cause more problems than it is worth.
The oils that can give you problems if they happen to get on your brake disc or in the drum of your clutch are: Slick 50, Dynamite, or
Energy Release. These are excellent internal engine oils but will give you "fits" if they get inside the clutch or on the brake disc. They do just what they are intended to do which is to prevent friction -- steel to steel contact. On a clutch you need friction to have it engage and the same goes for a brake system. We know this because after impregnating 25,000 bushings with one of these oils for our fun kart clutches, all had to be tossed. Why?? Because the oil comes out in very minute amounts and gets on the inside of the clutch drum. The clutch would only slip, it would not and could not lock up. The worst news is the oil impregnates the steel. Sanding, cleaning with a solvent or gas will not help. Once it is in the metal, it is in there forever because the heat will bring these lubricants back to the surface.
Now back to the chain and what to do to get it race ready. We only use a continuous link chain because master links always break at the
worst time. Any chain manufacturer will tell you the weakest link on the chain is the master link. To oil our chain, we take it off and clean it with solvent. We then put our chain in a old coffee can with 2"
of 30 weight automotive oil and put it on the stove at 140 to 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Why? -- because that is how they impregnate a bushing, the only difference is they do it under a vacuum which sucks out all
the air. Do not bring the oil to a boil because we don't want to break down the oil, we just want it to get the maximum penetration. The heat will cause the air to come to the surface of the oil. The void around the
pin and roller link will be replaced by oil. We leave the chain in the oil until the day before we need it. We then hang the chain up to drip the excess oil off 24 hours before the race.
When I see people spraying their chain the day of the race, very little of the lubrication is getting where it is needed. They are only
surface coating the chain and it will quickly be thrown off and what is left attracts dirt. More oil goes on your clothes than stays on the chain.
If you have to oil the chain at the track, wait until you have warmed up the chain by driving around for a few minutes. Some may penetrate
around the roller but it will be minimal. Wipe the excess oil off because it doesn't do anything except foul up the clutch, your clothes and your kart.
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