Oil change
 

Hello all,

I have an xt600e year 2000 and I changed the oil filter and oil, here is what I did.

1. Got the bike warm.
2. Took out oil filler cap.
3. Drained frame....left it draining.
4. Drained sump....left it draining.
5. Removed oil filter....left it draining.
6. Left it an hour.
7. Poured oil into filter and fitted it.
8. Sump plug in.
9. Frame plug in.
10. Measured out 2.5 litres of oil and poured it in.
11. Turned it a few times with kill switch off to circulate the oil.
12.Choke on, started it up and let it idle for 4-5 minutes while I checked for any leaks.
13.Checked level and added more oil with a measuring jug until it was at the correct level.

My owners manual and a workshop manual both say the capacity with oil filter replacement is 2.8 litres.

To my surprise I added another 1.3 litres (in .25L increments) so the total was 3.8 litres. Luckily I had bought 4 litres of oil.

But I am concerned that I did some damage to my engine by running it for 4-5 minutes with only 2.5 litres of oil inside.

Welcome to Horizons
1- as you ran the bike with the text book amount- no damage was done-
BUT
If your handbook states that the oil inc. filter change is 2.8 litres then that is the correct amount to put in- It will vary a tiny bit from engine to engine but you say that you added almost 50% more oil :eek3:and that, IMHO, you should check back with your dealer as it doesn't sound right at all and could cause a problem.

Thanks for the welcome.

When the dealer was showing me around the bike I told him I was going to change the oil and filter and he suggested I pour oil into the filter before fitting. I should have asked why.
It apparenlt holds about 0.06 of a litre.

The manuals say the oil capacity is 2.8 litres but reading the workshop manual I see it says 3.3 litres for a dry engine.

The funny thing is I kept the old oil that I drained out in an old oil container and just now I poured it into a measuring jug and it measured 3.8 litres.
So I have put back exactly the same amount of oil into the bike.

It is at the correct level on the dipstick now too.

If it is at the correct level now I am worried I did some damage the 4-5 minutes it only had 2.8 litres in.

I'm not familiar with your bike, does it use the frame as a dry sump? If so it will make a difference to what you see at the dip stick between the engine being hot or cold! Just because you took 3.8l out that does mean it's correct, it could of been overfilled when you purchased it. If the manual says 2.8 and you have 3.8 in it I would be worried.Was the oil light on when you ran it with 2.8? If not I would ask why not if "in theory" it was a litre short of what it should be.
HTH
Pete

You need to run these engines for at least 20 minutes before measuring the level.

If I were you I'd drain the oil out, put back in the right amount (2.8 litres) and run the bike for a good 20 mins, then dip the oil and check your level.

Personally, being lazy I would ride the bike for 20 minutes and check the oil level. It does not really hurt the engine of a DRY SUMP bike to have the oil tank over full. Assuming it is which I doubt. If It REALLY is overfull, just drain out a little. Dont risk contaminating your oil by emptying it out and putting it back, may all be in vain anyway. Manufacturing tolerances of things like tanks are huge. My 22 litre BMW tank would never take more than 18 litres. My current Enfield tank is quoted at 14 1/2 lires +- 1 litre, I did several miles on reserve and even then could only get 11,8 litres in the tank (reserve is quoted at 1 litre). So the book figures are really guesstimates. Don't stress over it. You have lots of clean fresh oil in your bike and a new filter. It will really like that.

One theory is too much oil in a dry sump is still bad as it pressurizes the tank and then causes problems elsewhere, I would suggest getting the right info on levels/quantity and on when to check it i.e. hot or cold and go with that. Just saying it's got plenty of new oil isn't the best way forward IMO.

Pete

I have just taken it for a good ride (got soaked because I am still waiting for my ixon waterproofs to arrive) parked in on the side stand with a block of wood underneath to make it sit level, let it rest a couple of minutes like it says in the manual and checked the oil level.

It is right on the top/full mark on the frame dipstick.
So it appears to be the right amount of oil in there, exactly the same as the amount I took out.

I was riding it everyday for the last 2 weeks before I changed the oil and checked the oil level many times in that period, it was filthy black but the level was correct by the dipstick.

Mcgiggle, I do not have an oil light on my bike, just a neutral, directional indicator and high beam light.

The oil system on my TTR600RE is basically a right royal pain in the butt to check & change !!!! :stormy:

Its a right mess about to drain, via the tank connection pipe thats sited just in front of the gear lever, with poor access due to the bash plate. The filter is easy enuff, but all the associated bolts are rather "light-weight" and all of them are easily stripped (not knackered any yet tho!).

Then once all done and its time to check the level - thats a real laff.. :(

Warm the bike up then turn it off. Check via dip-stick and/or sight glass. You can perform this every day and get a different reading - hi/lo/ok.... Its not ideal.....

Rant over :rolleyes2:

had a xt600e 2003 model should be the same as youre,i always change my own oil and put 3 litres with changing the filter no more no less ,if you over fill it will probably give out some big puffs of whitesmoke at start up for some time unless i think but not sure that the excess oil ends up going the the air filter box or may be threw the breather ,anyone else to confirm this so maybe give it a good clean out ,on my first change very slighty over filled and smoked badly .

The only thing that springs to mind is that you're misreading your measuring jug, or the measurements on it are wrong? Sounds unlikely but I can't think of any other explanation.

If the oil tank is in the frame then there's not really anyway someone could have increased the tank capacity. Does the bike have an oilcooler? Are you checking the level with a dipstick, and if so could you measure it and get someone with the same model bike to check the length of theirs?

If I were you I'd be eager to get to the bottom of this. But to put your mind at rest, even if the correct capacity was 3.8l, then running with only 2.5l for five minutes would not be enough to cause any damage.

It is a 2 litre measuring jug.
I tested it yesterday with a measuing jug I had in the kitchen and poured 2 litres of water in both. They are the same.
Like I said I measured the oil that I drained out and it also was 3.8L.

This morning the oil is about 10mm below the top mark of the dipstick.
It is the standard dipstick comparing to another XT600 although his bike was 2 years newer than mine.

For an experiment I drained .3 of a litre from the Frame drain plug this morning and the level was right at the bottom of the dipstick.

The bike has not been modified.
I do not know if the XT600 has an oil cooler. I don't think so.

Anyway I am satisfied that I have the correct amount of oil in the bike and it is not overfilled.

I also feel al bit better now with regards to any damage I might have done but letting it idle for 4-5 mins with 2.5 litres of oil.

Someone kindly sent me a diagram of the XT600e lubrication system taken from page 42 of the workshop manual.

I can clearly see that 2.5 litres would have filled the upright frame tube down to the oil pump and would have partly filled the oil tank so would have been enough to circulate.

did you ask this question in the XRV forum?