Oil Problems on my 01 GFS600S

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drewg9 · #1 Unread post by **drewg9** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:42 am

I just switched to a Synthetic Motor Oil Mobil One 4T to be exact, its a 10W-40 racing synthetic oil. I did a fuel filter and oil change in one.

Usually my bike requires 3300ml for an oil change and around 3800ml when I do a filter and oil change. Since switching to this synthetic oil I have so far placed 5L of oil in and I keep getting an check oil light.

I originally only put in the 3300ml and the level at first looked fine but after a 5 minute ride it was becoming slugish so I checked the level and added some oil. It was fine for 10 miles but then again was running low. I let it sit overnight to make sure the oil was cold and the level reading would be right.

Once again it was low so I added more oil until it was just above the low marking, at this point it was up to 4600ml. This afternoon it did the same thing and showed low on oil. I finished off last of the 5th quart and now the level looks in the middle but it still is giving me a check oil light after about 3 minutes of riding.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that the synthetic oil seems to be making a gel coating, white colored. I am starting to get really frustrated and cannot decide how to proceed. Please any advice would be very much appreciated.

Drew

crazypj · #2 Unread post by **crazypj** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:01 am

it really sounds like you have water in the oil or some other contaminant (bike wasn't run on Castor oil?)
You probably want to drain oil into a clean container and flush system before you do serious damage. Bike is geting hot enough to boil off water?

crazypj · #3 Unread post by **crazypj** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:01 am

it really sounds like you have water in the oil or some other contaminant (bike wasn't run on Castor oil?)
You probably want to drain oil into a clean container and flush system before you do serious damage. Bike is getting hot enough to boil off water?

jonnythan · #4 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:11 am

crazypj wrote:it really sounds like you have water in the oil or some other contaminant (bike wasn't run on Castor oil?)
You probably want to drain oil into a clean container and flush system before you do serious damage. Bike is getting hot enough to boil off water?

I can't imagine that the fresh oil he put in had 2+ quarts of water in it.

The oil is going somewhere. Look on the underside of the bike and in your parking spot for oil leaks.

It could be something as simple as forgetting to make sure the old oil filter gasket wasn't still on the bike when you installed the new oil filter. I did this on my car once and lost oil very quickly.

mydlyfkryzis · Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:29 am

I was thinking head gasket, but I realized it's an air-cooled motor.

You are either leaking oil or burning it.

At the rate your are losing it, if you are burning, I am sure you would notice the smoke.

CArzyPJ is right, look for the leak....

#6 Unread post by **Skier** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:00 pm

Is it a "check oil" light or a "low/no pressure" oil light? Huge difference. I hope for your wallet's sake it's a newfangled "check oil" light.

#7 Unread post by **Sev** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:16 pm

If you've been running it with low oil pressure for more then a couple of minutes you're in for a very expensive bill.

I find it hard to believe you could burn 2 liters worth of oil... do you have the correct oil filter on there? That might cause your oil pressure to read lower then it is.

drewg9 · #8 Unread post by **drewg9** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:26 pm

The light is just a red oil issue light, probably covers pressure, and engine overheating. My bike does have a radiator but according to the Owner's Manual its a air/oil cooled engine. So I figured that the radiator was for oil cooling and the oil is just cycled through it.

Some other buddies believe it could be a head gasket or fractured head cover. I was having a little trouble with sluggishness before I made the change but I attributed that to a leak (the old filter kept loosening from vib).

With regular motor oil it only had power issues before it warmed up. I am wondering if there might be a seal or other problem that has become more apparent due to the synthetic oil being thinner.

I did a thorough check over and the bike has not been leaking at all and the exhaust does not give off strange odors or visible smoke. I have been real careful with it during these issues so as not to overheat it. In context the bike hasn't been hotter while these issues have been occurring then I have had it in the past due to hard accelerations and high speeds.

Oil filter was the suggested Fram filter for my year and model.

78XS400 · #9 Unread post by **78XS400** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:09 pm

have u always been using fram? cuz... fram=crap, try a higher quality filter?

drewg9 · #10 Unread post by **drewg9** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:14 pm

So I have been thinking about this white oil I seem to have now. Friends told me it is a classic water oil mixture result. Thinking back to when I changed to the synthetic oil I remember that the first 2 quarts seemed to be low, the side marking showed that they only had about 700ml in them. So when I opened them they were full. I looked at the other 2 quarts and they showed full by the marking. I shook up the 2 "seeming low" quarts and then saw that they were showing full.

I mistook this as a settling condition of the synthetic brand and made little thought of it. I proceeded to do the oil change and now remember that one of the low ones bottle cap had a white bubbly residue. Never having any experience with water and motor oil mixtures and issues it didn't set off an alarm.

Long story short, someone bought the oil and removed the lids without breaking the cap seal, took some oil and replaced what they took with water.
Since I have never experienced or heard of any issues like this happening, water mixing in with your motor oil, I do not know exactly what to do now. I expect I should drain the oil and some how flush the system but I have yet to find anything of aid on the internet as to what I should use and what is the best method of performing this without causing more damage or prolonging the issue into the next clean oil change. Any advice? Thanks for your patience, help, and not minding the long winded posts.

Thanks for the early post crazypj, sorry it took me so long to get to that point myself.