| Author | Message | ||
     Tankhead |
This is the third time I have had to put oil in my 09 Uly since I bought it. I measure it every other ride after warm up. When I took it in to HD for new tires and replacement of front muffler strap. The bike has only 6700 miles (I thought it had 8000 but I haven't checked since the 5000 mile oil change. Been using amsoil since 1000 miles. When I was pulling in to the shop (60 miles away) the oil light went on. They had to put a quart in. WTF where is it going. Not on wheels, no drips around the engine, nothing. Help. | ||
| Mnviking |
What weight Amsoil are you using? | ||
| Etennuly |
I had the same experience with my City-X one time. I ran dino oil from HD sticking to the chart for temperature. I had left over 20W50 on one change in mid summer where the temps were 80F to 98F for weeks on end. Pulling into my driveway about 400 miles into the oil change, the light came on. It took nearly two quarts to get it back to the full mark. I switched back to the 50W that should have been in it for the temperatures per the book and all was well from there. It never lost anymore again. | ||
| Invisible_monster |
Mine has used oil since day 1. Have to add a couple of oz every 300 miles or so. Dealer ran a bunch of tests, never did figure out anything. Engines must be using more than 1qt every 1000 miles (I think) to qualify for warranty replacement/rebuild. Mine was using about half that much. I've used 3 different kinds of oil, all with the same result. I noticed a fair number of people at Homecoming last year carrying oil with them on their Ulys. I figure that most of them use oil to some extent. | ||
| Andymnelson |
Mobil 1 Syn 20 50 weight in my bikes ('06 XB12X and '03 XB9S), and I don't add any oil between 5,000 mile oil changes- every time I check the oil it's full. | ||
| Mnviking |
Trying changing your oil filter brand. I run K & N ones on mine cuz I love the nut welded on the end. The wrong filter can back up the oil on the return line and then it gets blown out your breather into the motor. Not all oil filters are created equal. | ||
| Tankhead |
That was how my City-X was. Never added a drop between oil changes. I use Amsoil 20w/50. Well HD called. They charged me a half an hour to add a quart of oil and ride it around. Are they not required to take rides after they install tires and muffler straps anyway? They are not going to warranty the muffler either and I just don 't give enough about it to fight. You don't want to know what gauge pipe the used to rape me with for changing the tires and the half hour of labor for checking the oil..... (Message edited by tankhead on April 15, 2011) | ||
| Mnviking |
Have you inspected your spark plugs? Do they look fouled/oily? | ||
| Froggy |
Be sure to check your air filter and airbox | ||
| Mnviking |
Be sure to check your air filter and airbox I second that. | ||
| Jhallgren |
"The wrong filter can back up the oil on the return line and then it gets blown out your breather into the motor" What oil filter are you using? Are you using the stock buell oil filter or are you using a automotive filter. Like froggy said, check your airbox because its a possibility that an inproper filter would cause that.} | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
A note on the automotive filters.. WIX is the only brand I know of that is safe to use on motorcycles. I've always used a WIX filter and Valvoline VR1 dino oil in my Uly.. 9500 miles and she doesn't burn enough oil to require attention between changes. | ||
| Mnviking |
K & N makes specific filters for motorcycles, Buell's included. I've had major issues with WIX filters on my harley. More than once they've been labeled wrong by the manufacturer. | ||
| Tankhead |
I have checked the airbox and K/N filter. All is good. It hasn't coughed it up so where the hell is it going. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
If you suspect the breather then you need to catch it to quantify the amount. Instead of the filter you'd need a catch-can. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/627359.html?1302957800 | ||
| Whitj |
Catch can will fix. Your sucking oil into the intake. But what do i know. It fixed mine. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Whitj, What you are saying is that the vacuum of the throttle body is over-doing it's intended purpose in regards to the crankcase oil and that the catch-can has no such vacuum so the oil use will go way way way down. Makes sense to me unless his rings never seated properly and that is the culprit. I personally broke my ULY engine in using the Moto-man method and have had no real oil burning issues. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Copied from Motoman site There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !! If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again. | ||
| Tootal |
Tankhead, mine did the same thing and I switched to Amsoil after 1000 miles. I was talking to my friend that builds pro stock engines for a living and dabbles with harley's too. He told me that his engine did the same thing so he went back to dyno juice until he hit 5000 miles. It wasn't using the dyno juice so he switched back to Amsoil and no more problem. After hearing that I switched to Castrol GTX 20-50 until I hit 5000 miles and then switched back to Amsoil. Now I don't add between 5000 mile changes. I also check my oil hot with the engine at idle. | ||
| Portero72 |
FWIW, my 06 Uly developed a case of bad rings and crap valve guides after 10k miles. Suddenly started using oil at the rate of almost a qt every 1000 miles. Was a warranty fix, but they had to ask me to bring it in every 500 miles to check usage, then finally do a leakdown test. | ||
| Hughlysses |
You can always use the Bon Ami treatment. You dump a spoonful of Bon Ami kitchen cleanser into the intake with the engine running. Bon Ami is basically a fine polishing compound, which "laps" the rings and cylinder walls "in situ". Caterpillar recommended this back in the old days for seating rings on low hour engines that used lots of oil, and I recently saw a show about the early Chevy 265 V-8's which said the factory issued the same instructions on the early models of those engines to cure the same problem. I'd look at this as a "measure of last resort". If your bike's still under warranty, I wouldn't even consider it. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
And then change the oil after the Bon Ami treatment. I've heard of that Bon Ami before. Also heard from my late father-in-law that dripping water into the intake whilst the engine's running will steam clean the carbon out of the combustion chamber. Probably riding in a good downpour would accomplish the same thing. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on April 17, 2011) | ||
| Nobuell |
I also used the motoman break in method. I only add about 3 or 4 ounces during 5K miles. I used a similar break in on my racing engines for many years. No time for long break ins on racing engines. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You're actually suggesting to dump a spoonfull of abrasive into this guy's intake?! Really? | ||
| Uly_man |
Tell me if I am wrong but I thought the oil light was pressure and not level. Use logic. Engine oil loss is either by leaking or burning. The dry sump system needs little, so can seem worse than a normal bike, stored oil and these engines do use some oil on run in. The air filter would have a lot of oil on it if it was blowing a seal. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Don't blow seals on this website. |
