just removed 4.2 L of oil from my engine....

Hello again,
This question is aimed at the redliners wizards and gurus. I recently had a thhread up about oil in my airbox.. It flatlined, because I was told i was way over filled....and was it ever.WTF I just managed to get out 4.2 L , and the window still reads full. I can see the oil stirring about threw the glass. It looks like a moka coffee. Probably a mix of old oil , new and air bubbles.

Now the real question is why isnt the oil draining all at once?

I started the bike for 5 min , waited 10 for it to cool a little, opened up the filter housing and it seems to drain 500ml then stops, I closed the housing then started it again only for a second, torqued it open and about 200 more ml came out. Finally pulled the filler hole , pulled the housing and started the bike for all of 3 seconds and man did it piss out.

And secondly How much damage could this have done on a 10km ride ?(thinking I changed my oil and all was well)

 

WHICH BIKE? There are two in your sig you could be asking about.

Oil that looks like "mocha coffee" is oil that has combined with WATER under heat and pressure. Believe me I've blown enough head gaskets on water-cooled motors to know that one.

If your oil looks like "mocha" it has water in it. Those are both air-cooled Yamahas, so we need to ask:

Which bike?

Does it "live" outside?

"Pod" equipped? (This question and the one preceeding are in regard to the possibility of collecting rainwater...)

Are you doing all of this on the CENTERstand?

Why didn't you pull the filter and open the drain plug (and "crack loose" the filler) ALL AT THE SAME TIME? That's generally how it's done.

Regardless, it sounds like you've somehow gotten water in your oil...

 

EDITED

Sorry, Jonny. I got you confused with another member's post.

My advice was NOT for the 400.

Please accept my sincere apologies.

 

If it's the 400, and you have the stock airbox, the air 'snorkel' intake should be up under the left side of the seat, near where the tank meets. If it's sat outside on it's sidestand, water will drain into it.
There IS a teany-tiny hole to drain but it is easily plugged. This lets water collect and then poor into the crankcase the the PCV return pipe, leaving you with alot of chocolate milk instead of the right amount of oil.
... that's bad.
And both the filter housing and the drain bolt should be opened, along with the oil filler cap aswell, to ensure none of the oil gets 'stuck' inside due to vacuum.

 

Its the 400. Has been stored in the garage from the previous owner, and its always in my garage with its buddies.
I almost always put it on the centerstand and level.
factory air box.
And i will correct myself, The filler hole is off to allow air to circulate when I drain the oil ..or try to that is.

Im aware of the drain hole located at the base of the airbox as a shite load of oil came dripping out on the first cruise after my "oil change".

How did the bike run fine with over 4 liters of oil in it? no idle problems.
could the "water"be gasoline?

Why is there no more oil coming out, and the oil gauge window still read overfull?

If I put a liter of the drained oil in a clear container and let sit is there a way to see what has contaminated it ?

Did I f%*k my gaskets? valves? pistons?

the engine is coming off eventually I was hoping to do it this winter.

soo many questions, soo little riding season.

 

Wow!
Did the PO maybe have some younger broncs running
around and get an "idea"?

I mean that seriously. My daughter and a neighbor kiddo decided
since her kart didn't have enough gas... I know, I know - Put some
water in there and make some more gas. 8O

Might have to unbutton everything and let that badboy drain real
good. When you collected the fluid, Was there any separation?
Whew..! That's gonna be a job to get it lined back out bro. Lotza
10-15 minute run/oil changes on tap. Pan pullin' - oil changin'
buncha ohhh he__ , Ya' know it. :wink: .02

Be anxious to hear how you come out on it.

 

Oh, it'll run "ok" as it fills the airbox (and filter) up with oil. When I got my '83 550, I drained exactly one gallon of oil out of it, and it wasn't gas-diluted. Apparently PO thought it took a full jug.

You might put some of the oil that came out into a clear container and see what happens; take and post a pic of it. Once oil and water have combined, the water won't come back out but the color and appearance of the mix are unmistakable.

Did it smell heavily of gasoline?

If the window still appears "overfilled" likely the sight glass is fouled on the inside. It will probably clear up once you get new oil in it and get it hot a couple of times.

One last item: Are you aware that after you change the oil on a DOHC 400, you need to "prime" the oiling system? You need to remove the oil gallery plug from the right-hand side of the head just under the half-moon part of the intake cam cover gasket; run the engine at idle until oil "oozes" out (Yamaha's term, not mine) then shut off the engine and reinstall the plug/bolt.

 

Just to add to Fitz's post. The service manual says this can take up to a minute. So far on my oil changes it has been around the 30 second mark oil starts to come out. If after 1 minute nothing happens shut it down and check everything. I don't have the manual handy right now for the torque spec but be sure you don't tighten that bolt too tight. If you need the spec send me a PM.

Also you don't need to remove the plug only loosen it according to the manual. Once you see oil around the head of the screw shut it off and tighten. Although I guess if you removed it you wouldn't have to wait so long.

Mike

 

Like Bigfitz says. It sounds like you are trying to drain the oil by removing the filter. This will not work. Just under the filter housing is a drain plug that will drain the sump. Open that and all the oil comes out at once.

 

My manual says to pull the filter housing to drain the oil ...I see nothing about sump bolt .

I cant miss it on my 650 .

This would be the bolt closest to the front of the pan torque spec 43Nm... right?

Fn PDF manual . I'm such a retard. lol

 

That bolt on the 400's isn't so much a "primer" bolt as it is just a "check" bolt to make sure oil is actually getting to the top end.

 

When the manual says remove the filter housing to drain the oil, they are refering to draining the oil from the filter. The bolt will be around a 17mm head and in the center and to the front of the pan. I'm assuming that the 400 is similar to the 550.

 

Don't. The 400 is way different; the oil filter is recessed into the bottom of the motor.

KrS14 That's good to know. Not being an XS400 owner, my oil-changing experience has been somewhat limited, so I was only following the book.

 

Yes that big nut on the bottom near the filter housing at 43nm is your drain bolt. Stock bolt has a little screw in it the middle of the bolt. If you have to order a new drain bolt and use the parts page on the Yamaha site only order the bolt not the screw that goes in it as the new bolt that now has that part number doesn't have a spot for the little screw. You should remove the drain bolt first then the filter cover.

 

Finally all oil is out...a wapping 5.7L came out in total! Ive added 2.5L 10W40 mobil 1 . Its at just the right level now.
The old oil is scrapped as it was mixed up with PO oil. I don't think different viscosity's mix well.

There is a little screw in the factory bolt.
I undid the screw under the cams and a little oil oozed out(then torqued it closed at 7nm) so , for now all is well. Im going to do a 60km run with it tonight and keep my wife on standby and the trailer attached to my pickup just in case.
I put my compressor to the air filter blowing from in to out, hopefully it isnt scrapped and most probably order a new one in any case.

thanks for the help Xj ers . Its crazy how fast one can panic eh? And thats one more lesson learned.