Oil in HOT weather

[ballast]

On my ride from Precott, AZ to Vegas I rode through what must have been Hell (Bullhead City, AZ). When I got to Vegas and was fueling the oil light came on for a brief time. From Vegas to Reno I noticed a kind of clicking sound that increased and decrease with RPMs. A quart of oil made the noise go away.
Can riding through that hot of weather burn up your oil?
Would synthetic oil have held up better?

[cactusjack]

I ride in those temps all the time and I don't think I have ever experienced oil loss. Are you sure the noise you heard wasn't pinging? I have experienced severe pinging under those conditions. That doesn't explain being a quart low, however.

[blowndodge]

Charlie, next time that happens shut you bike off and let it cool for about 10 minutes then check the oil level. 10 minutes will allow the oil from the top end to drain back down to the bottom so you get a more realistic reading through the glass.

Too thin an oil can "blow by" the rings but I doubt thats the problem. If I lived in extreme weather like Scott living in Hell does, I'd always run synthetics and in the summer time. At least a mult-grade to the 50wt range. Synthetics withstand extreme heat conditions measurable better than conventional oil.

Be careful about overfilling your oil because too much can cause all sorts of issues from foaming to oil being sucked out through the breather hose to your injectors making one heck of a mess.

[ballast]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I ride in those temps all the time and I don't think I have ever experienced oil loss. Are you sure the noise you heard wasn't pinging? I have experienced severe pinging under those conditions. That doesn't explain being a quart low, however.

It was definetly a clicking and went up and down with the rpms. Although, as much as y'all talk about pinging I'm not sure I know exactly what that sounds like. But I know I need to figure this all out as my summer road trips are getting longer each year.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by ballast

It was definetly a clicking and went up and down with the rpms. Although, as much as y'all talk about pinging I'm not sure I know exactly what that sounds like. But I know I need to figure this all out as my summer road trips are getting longer each year.

I know...it was the new seat. Send it to me and I'll send you my stock seat and your bike will be good as new again.

[dogdoc]

probably wasnt a qt low at all, highly not likely.

[Cajunrider]

I worked mine pretty hard pulling the trailer and riding 2 up for most of the 3,843 miles. My crankcase oil level didn't change but my gear oil dropped a little with the leak. Dealer called me today and said the parts came in today and the bike "should" be ready Friday. Tuesday at the latest. I told him I wasn't very happy that a 3 hour job is taking 2 weeks. Warranty service sucks at my dealership. I get the feeling that I was put on the back burner.

[bfancett]

My thoughts exactly, you probably weren't a quart low. The time you took to get the oil and fill it, etc., was probably just enough time for the engine to cool and oil to transfer back downward.

For the cost of a quart of synthetic ($4.00), why would you not use it all the time just keep the engine clearner....if for nothing else. IMO.

Brian

[trosco]

Ballast, it's more likely that you oil was breaking down (visible symptom is loss of viscosity) than that you actually burnt it off. At extreme temps and in severe service (like riding though hell) if there was already some miles on your organic oil, your typical 10w40 can loose enough viscosity that the hydralic properties change. Basically it becomes like water and doesn't coat/cushion parts as well. The first place you would see that, if we had oil pressure and temp gauges, would be hi temps and low pressures, but the first place you'd hear the effect is in the valve train. Valve tapet ticking is a real good sign that your oil has reached the end of it's usefull life. The second good indicator is as you pulled in for gas the engine temp would spike further reducing viscosity and presto no oil presure at idle. Adding that quart was sort of like a booster shot for your oil. But as other's point out, overfilling can damage the motor as severly as running worn out oil or a quart low. Today's oils (organic and synthetic) are vastly superior to 15-20 years ago. My personal opinion is under normal conditions a good organic oil change interval is every 3,000-4,000 miles and full syn would be 4,000-6000 miles. Where you risk things is under sever conditions the organic stuff can buy the farm in just a few hundered miles.
I run Mobile 15w50 full syn in my 07. Not the motorcycle oil, it's just the silver cap stuff that has no added friction reducers. I ran it for 158,000 miles in my 86 goldwing which had a wet clutch so I figure it's fine for the Nad. I buy it at Wallmart in 5 qt bottles for $22 and I get fram oil filters from Wally at $6 each. I try to keep a 4-5 K interval on the changes. My round trip to Custer was 4600 miles though and I was almost to 6K on the oil when I got home. My last two days coming home were in 102-104 temps and running 80+ on interstates and I didn't experience any of your symptoms. Though the oil was dirty when I changed it (combustion by- products create most of the black we see in used oil) it still smelled and felt like oil. If you envision 4-5-6,000 mile trips consider switching to a good synthetic and if you plan longer than that change your oil durring the trip.
One final comment. Our bikes only hold 3 qts of oil and we run a wet sump with no external echange tank for cooling. Horrible design for a big V-twin, thank goodness we are water cooled! A external oil cooler would be of significan value to our bikes longevity and also it would probably extend the life of organic oils into the range I suggest for synthetics. I have not been able to find anyone who has successfully fit a cooler to a nomad. Any one here know of anyone?

[ballast]

Thanks Trosco. That is the answer I was looking for. I will definetly move to synth and will start doing my own changes. I can save enough to pay for the jack within 2 changes.

[wiz]

You don't really need a jack to do oil changes. At least I don't use mine for oil changes. ;)

[macmac]

Don't need any jack to change engine oil. I do this on the side stand with a 2x4 under it.

Don't really need the 2x4 either but I do the rear gears and fill with the 2x4 under the side stand, for the gear oil level.

The engine oil level I count parts of qts, and stand the bike up after starting it once to add the 0.3/0.? qts so the filter is filled.. I run longer filters by a inch I guess since the cat is dead.

If you forget the so-called real drain plug and drain from the screen plug instead you will find there is 4 holes in that plug and so you can controll how fast the draining occures which is nice to stay a bit cleaner.

No more dropped wrenches into the drain pan either.

I don't see much high temps riding, and at this point I am none to sure there is even any Sun anymore, but I think your oil broke down and you suffered a collapsed lifter or more.

Ping is a irregular clatter best heard rolling on some throttle hard, when lugging in too low of a gear. The timing is irregular since the fuel is exploding at irregular times.

For sure no one wants that to happen! If allowed to occur over enough time it will eat the edges off pistons and burn holes right thru the tops of them.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Blowndodge "Darksider"

Charlie, next time that happens shut you bike off and let it cool for about 10 minutes then check the oil level. 10 minutes will allow the oil from the top end to drain back down to the bottom so you get a more realistic reading through the glass.

Be careful about overfilling your oil because too much can cause all sorts of issues from foaming to oil being sucked out through the breather hose to your injectors making one heck of a mess.

\


+1...let it sit for a little while before you check it....I am thinking that if you burned an entire quart you, or the person riding behind would have smelled burning oil...that's a bunch for that mileage.

You may have been asked, but are you SURE it was full when you started.....I use the longer filter so have to put a little more than the book says.

Also, yes, I agree with spending the few extra bucks for the synthetic just for longer times between changes.

[Top Cat]

Originally Posted by trosco

One final comment. Our bikes only hold 3 qts of oil and we run a wet sump with no external echange tank for cooling.

Thje book says my 07 hold 3.7 qts. when filter is changed. Is that correct?

[ponch]

Tom:
I used to use the Mobil 1 15w-50, but I heard the new/latest oil service rating isn't good for bikes. is this true? I have to change my oil, and I have synthetic rotella in it, but I want to go to something heavier for the summer.