Help... burning oil / running rich
 

Hi all.
Had the tenere for about 2 months. Gave it a full service after a few weeks.
Noticed the oil Was a bit low. Did the changend (filter included) and put the specified 2.6 liters in. 600 miles later I check the oil ( preparing for trip to Portugal ) can't get a reading... drain the oil and 1.5 lites comes out. ( the 600 miles in approx 3 weeks.

I have also fitted some Leo vince cans and the bike is running very rich!!
Have also blocked the AIS pipe with the blanking plate from off the road.

Any ideas? Riding to the algarve a week tomorrow so very worried!

Any help much , much appreciated

Andy

When I say running rich, the exhaust has a fair bit of soot. Old this be the burning oil?

Losing 1.1L of oil in 600 miles is a LOT! That’s 2-stroke levels of oil consumption. If it was burning it at that rate you would easily be noticing a plume of blue smoke in your mirrors, and if it was a leak, you would definitely notice a serious pooling of oil under a parked up bike.

Now, the following is just an assumption, but it could explain your missing 1.1L of oil…

You say you changed the oil and added 2.6 litres. When you drained it, did you also drain the sump? If you didn’t then 2.6L would have been too much oil by about 0.6 litres (which is approximately the sump capacity). This excess oil would then have been blown out through the crankcase breather into the airbox, some will be inhaled by the engine and the rest (in fact most of it) will collect in the bottom of the airbox and its drain tube.

When you drained the oil (after 600 miles) 0.6L would have disappeared in the airbox (as above) making your original 2.6L now approximately 2.0L. Then, if you didn’t drain the sump the second time either, there would be an additional 0.6L in there too, bringing your original 2.6L down to roughly the 1.5L you ended up with.

Is your airbox full of oil? Did you drain the sump? Did you follow the add 1.9L, start and rev the engine a few of times, then top up with the remaining 0.7L rule?

Also, are you measuring your oil level on the dipstick after the engine has been running or a few minutes or after a ride, or are you doing it on a cold engine? If it’s the latter, you won’t see anything on the dipstick at all as a quarter of the total oil volume will be sitting in the sump waiting to be scavenged back up to the tank.

Very interesting reply there. Thanks for the input however the air box is bone dry. oil Im using is 10w 40 fully synthetic by the way.
Did the oil change exactly to the manual.
Original oil check again was done shortly after purchasing the bike. Did it to the manual..... Leave bike on tick over for 10 minutes on flat level ground before checking the dipstick. Could not work out why I wasn't getting any level on the stick. Then did the oil & filter change so I could then be certain how much oil I had in the bike (again following the manual)
600 miles later followed the procedure for checking the level and got nothing like before. Then worried I drained it all again (except for the filter which I believe holds approx 0.1L ) as I was so confused as to why there appeared to be very little oil.
Was then I measured only 1.5 liters that came out of both drain plugs.

The spark plug is very clean and shows no sign of burning excess oil.

The only thing that seems logical is I monumentally screwed up the quantity when refilling the oil after the change. I'm convinced I did the correct quantities. 1.9 liters in.. start the bike, blip the throttle a few times then fill the remaining 0.7 liters or so.

Also would the very sooty exhaust be any tail tail ( Doesn't agree with the spark plug) As far as I'm aware, allowing the engine to breath better with after market exhausts should allow the engine to run leaner. Could this build up of soot be from the AIS before I blocked it off with the blanking plate? The Kev fuel mod makes the bike run even richer (I don't have the fuel mod installed)

Appreciate the reply. This is all a big learning curve but just come at a bad time just before a trip!

I don't think the soot in the exhaust is anything other than normal? Got a photo? Like I mentioned, with oil consumption as you describe, you'd expect the exhaust to look like that of a 2-stroke with an oily residue evident.

If the plug clean, the airbox is dry, there are no visible oil leaks and you're not leaving a trail of blue smoke, then I can't think that it can possibly be using that much oil. The only other place it could go is into the coolant, but you would have definitely noticed it! Also there would be other obvious running/cooling problems.

I guess the above does sound the most likely given the lack of other symptoms of heavy oil use? The only way to find out is to change/refill the oil again, make sure it's reading on the top mark of the dipstick (after a few minutes running) and then ride the bike whilst keeping a close eye on it. With a bit of luck, the level won't drop and you'll be to go on your trip?

Extremely easy to get the amount wrong if you used a measuring jug with various litre/quart etc markings on. And most Teneres I have seen have sooty tail pipes!. Enjoy your trip...lucky you!. Steve

Thanks for the help guys.

Bit of an update. Drained oil again this morning. Exactly as per handbook. Bike now has 2.6 litres in.
Checked the level after short ride (15 mins) and was showing a little under MAX so topped it up so it was just over MAX.

Went on a decent 80 mile ride today. Dad rode behind me at 80, no oil burning smells coming out and exhausts same as they have been.
Did a compression test this morning. Reads 100psi which is manufacturers guide for max reading. Spark plug still looks good. No oil in coolant for sure. No oil in airbox for sure.


From what we can see there is DEFINITLEY no visible sign of excess burning oil.

When I got home from ride I stayed on the bike and waited about 5 minutes for oil to settle. Took a reading and it read a bit below the max line. (less than this morning but I guess its going to be hard to get such an accurate reading.

Going to ride the rest of this week every evening. DO same 10 minute trip, check oil. Ride for half an hour - hour then check again. Will do this as many times as possible before I go away just to prove if it consistently drops or not.

I think I have my self a mystery. Possibly over complicating things worrying about having the issue for the 2500 mile trip :/

Is it worth taking it to a Yamaha dealer to confirm its ok?
I'm sure this will be stupid money!!!

I'l keep you updated.

Cheers again

Cheers steve. Looking forward to the trip just concerned I may have a rare/ strange / Unexplainable problem causing damage. Im sure its fine but who wouldnt be worried!

Just going on what you've written, I'd say it was an oil measuring/recording error and it'll be absolutely fine... but I am sitting at a PC hundreds of miles away! ;)

I think the most important thing here is to satisfy yourself that it's OK. The best way to do that is going to be to get as many miles in as possible, closely monitor things and make your own call. A dealer may well say it's OK, but how many miles would they ride it for to verify this? Perhaps two, three, maybe a half dozen... which isn't exactly going to prove anything.

Valid point. Thanks for your advice! Appreciate all the help!

burning oil
 

I always check my oil as soon as i switch of the engine after a ride. As soon as the engine stops it starts to drain into the sump. the longer you leave it the lower it will be.

You can get a false "over-reading" if you check too soon after a ride, particularly after a hard or twisty/bumpy ride, as the oil foams in the tank making it "appear" higher on the dipstick. The factory recommendation is to "let it settle for a few minutes" for the bubbles to disperse.

There's a careful balancing act to be had between waiting too long and being too hasty.

i think the handbook says wait for few minutes.

if you use semi or mineral oil, there will be quite a bit of foaming after a ride

I prefer to keep the level mid way. if you overfill, you waste/ burn the extra oil and do the engine no favor