Sudden (ish) oil usage..

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AArnie

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Sussex, England
Hi All,

I'd like to know if my oil my consumption is is high on an FRJ1300A 2003 UK. At the beginning of September I gave the bike a service, including new filter and oil. Today whilst riding to work the oil light came on. Luckily i was 5 minutes from home and when i was pointing downhill the light goes out, so I rolled home and filled it up again. I checked the oil - nothing in the glass! Now i usually check the oil level regularly, but for one reason and another I probably havn't checked it for a week or so. The milage on the service was 23756 and the mileage today was 26959. Diff of 3202 Miles.

I do a lot of motorway riding - 170 mls a day. Is this normal usage - in which case I need to make sure i definitely check regularly, or is it using more than might be expected? What might the cause be? Any suggestions? Would checking the plugs help identify any issues?

...and no, nothing is leaking, no puddles anywhere.

Many thanks

AArnie.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
My 2002 uses about 10-20ml over a 10 000km service interval.

How much oil did you put into it after the 3000 odd mile period?

Are you also sure it was full to begin with. I have read of afew people mentioning at they don't use the sight glass as an indicator but use oil quantity as the most accurate measure. I use oil quantity

 
I'm pretty sure it was full to begin with as I emptied a whole can of oil in for the service.

There's no oil at the exhausts that I can see, and never seen any smoke, but I'm not sure how much I put in this morning: it was about 5:30am and I was late so didn't measure anything, however the sight glass didn't show any oil at all and now it is back to max level. I'll keep an eye on it from now on and measure if it goes down again.

 
Any sign of oil on the end of the mufflers?
I believe that was Geezer's gentle way of hinting at the onset of a ticker :glare: Oil in the head pipes is an early symptom of valve stem seal failure, as it progresses oil will eventually migrate out the tail pipe.

A good mechanic will use a compression gauge to diagnose the problem. A great mechanic will perform a leak-down test and nail the problem.

 
Any sign of oil on the end of the mufflers?
I believe that was Geezer's gentle way of hinting at the onset of a ticker :glare: Oil in the head pipes is an early symptom of valve stem seal failure, as it progresses oil will eventually migrate out the tail pipe.

A good mechanic will use a compression gauge to diagnose the problem. A great mechanic will perform a leak-down test and nail the problem.
Excuse my ignorance but what form will the oil be in when it is visible in the exhausts? Will it be fluid when the engine is colder or visible as exhaust fumes when hot?

AArnie

 
Visible in liquid form. An --ahem-- finger test of the exhaust pipe tip will result in an oily finger, sometimes there are black oil streaks running down the ends of the cans. This pipe tip drip is only happens after very advanced guide wear. To diagnose a ticker (valve guide wear) Yamaha USA wants your dealer to drop the head pipes and look for oil. Typically you will know from the clattering that the guides are shot, the oil check is just a confirmation.

 
Certainly some possibility of oil usage and an maybe imminent "ticker" and all of the above is true.....BUT........ Before you panic, why not just make sure it is full of oil, visible in the sight glass when hot and on a level surface and ride and monitor it to get a true reading. Check it the same way in the same spot at the same temperature for repeatablity (which is missing so far.)

There have been past reports of oil level lights coming on after or shortly after an oil change so the fact that the oil level warning light might be a bit hair-trigger has some circumstantial data behind it. Maybe you were just a triffle low on the oil fill at change and the light came on. Cold oil drains down a bit slower so it stands to reason it might come on if the level is a trifle low, you were just starting out with a cold engine an possibly the gradient of the road had someting to do with it. In other words, it could have been like that for weeks and you just happened to trip it that morning.

I would recommend a dedicated oil usage observation over the ensuing miles before jumping to any conclustions. All the things brought up are "possible" and food for thought but it sounds like the "oil consumption" you are hinting at is pure speculation based on a variety of circumstances that cannot be verified therefore any conclusions can be worse than useless....they can be very misleading. Get a little data before proceding.

 
Mine is an 03 with 60k and since the tick was fixed it has used a little oil. If i am riding reasonably fast in warm weather it will use 2-3 ounces in 800-1000 miles. I have always used Delo 400 and change every 3 thousand. It seems to me that a little consumption tells me the oil is getting where it needs to be. still runs great and the tick hasn't returned since fixed at 24k.

 
I'm pretty sure it was full to begin with as I emptied a whole can of oil in for the service.
How big a can was it?

If you change the filter, the FJR takes 4 liters, 3.8 if you don't. I run the engine for a few minutes then check the oil in the normal way after a change and, when using the specified amount, it always ends up more or less in the middle of the sight glass. A sudden increase in consumption is a bad sign. My '04 has never used enough oil for me to notice between changes (normally every 3K), but I can't say it doesn't use any. Just not enough to make me think I should add any.

 
"I emptied a whole can of oil in for the service. "
Was that a liter can?
Well I drained the engine oil completely and added a new filter; so it was a ~4 litre jobbie.

Would the type of oil affect how much was used? I used Silkolene COMP 4 / PRO 4 (Cannot recall which one), as recommended on the Silkolene WS

 
Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm going to keep a daily check on the level and measure any top ups I make, perhaps after a month or two I'll have some more data to give a better indication of whats going on.

Cheers

AArnie.

 
My 04 started usung oil on a long trip last year. I added about a quart in 4,000 miles. Changed oil & filter when I got home no usage the last 15,000 miles. A friend suggested I didn't have the filter on tight enough. I just hand tighten rather than tourque-sounds like an idea. Also, it has been reported that WIX filters don't seal well. Ian, Iowa;

 
When the engine oil light comes on, does the oil low pressure swich kill the engine? Or is just to let you know it is getting low and should need check?

 
My 04 started usung oil on a long trip last year. I added about a quart in 4,000 miles. Changed oil & filter when I got home no usage the last 15,000 miles. A friend suggested I didn't have the filter on tight enough. I just hand tighten rather than tourque-sounds like an idea. Also, it has been reported that WIX filters don't seal well. Ian, Iowa;
may be worth checking as I only ever hand tighten the filters - but i haven't seen any oil laying around.

 
When the engine oil light comes on, does the oil low pressure swich kill the engine? Or is just to let you know it is getting low and should need check?
tbh I'm not sure what the light means, if it's low level or low pressure. The engine certainly didn't cut out though, so I'd guess there's not a kill switch on it or it wasn't low enough for it to trip.

 
When the engine oil light comes on, does the oil low pressure swich kill the engine? Or is just to let you know it is getting low and should need check?
tbh I'm not sure what the light means, if it's low level or low pressure. The engine certainly didn't cut out though, so I'd guess there's not a kill switch on it or it wasn't low enough for it to trip.
The light is solely a low pressure indicator - and no, it does not shut the engine off - that's for you to do before it seizes.

To have it shut down on you could be very dangerous to life and limb.

 
Top