Need advise on doing first oil change..

[DARK AGE 53]

I'll be doing the first oil change this week, going to synthetic oil also. I have really two questions, maybe more to follow.

1. The owners manual doesn't say how much oil should be added when doing a complete oil change.

2. What's the best way to remove the oil from the oil cooler, also, do you fill the cooler by removing the top fitting and pour oil  into the opening?

Any worries of air bubbles when doing a complete oil change?

Thanks,
Al

[justfreaky]

Al,
 Call your local motorcycle dealer for a starting point on how much oil. Remember that you will have to add  some for your oil cooler.
 As far as draining the oil cooler; remove the lower hose, or the hose down line from the cooler to drain. Filling from the top fitting works.
 I've never experienced air bubbles in my other race cars.
 
 Best of Luck this season,
 Steve

[DARK AGE 53]

Steve,
Thanks for the reply, called the local Yamaha dealer but they were of no help. Your reply is what I was thinking to do anyways, again, thanks.

Regards,
Al

[justfreaky]

Hi Al,
 Posed your question to a legends driver I met recently. I'll let you know what he suggests.

 Regards,
 Steve

[DARK AGE 53]

Hey Steve,

 I don't see it being a big deal but I just want to make sure, thanks.

Later,
Al

[justfreaky]

Hi Al,
 Here is what I found out:
 About 3 1/2 quarts. He fills his until it's good in the sight window, starts it up to fill the filter and cooler; refills to the lower side of good on the sight window. He suggests the lower side because when the oil gets hot his tends to be slightly over-full at racing temp. Oil filter and cooler size could differ from his also. Mike has been a pretty reliable source of info and parts for me. I trust his judgement.
 I have always filled the filter and put some into the oil cooler before I fired the engine. Don't know if it makes a difference, but has always been my preference.
 Hope that gives you some ideas.
 
 Best of luck to you
 Steve

[DARK AGE 53]

I have always filled the filter and put some into the oil cooler before I fired the engine. Don't know if it makes a difference, but has always been my preference.

Same here, I've been doing my own mainteance since 1967....it's somewhat embarrassing to have to ask how to change the oil on these cars but better safe then sorry. Thanks for all the info, have a good weekend.

Later,
Al

[Tom Cole]

mine takes a gallon, or my low oil light comes on in the turns.  but I have 2 oil coolers.  1 Setrab and 1 fluidine. 

[T48]

Question - I've been told today by a guy at 600racing that if you don't "prime the oil system" after changing the oil you can get bubbles which will cause you to sling a rod and blow your engine. He says there's a set procedure to do this.   According to him, it will happen 1 out of 100 times approximately if the system is not "primed".  Do ya'll agree with this?  And how do ya'll "prime" your system?

Thanks!

[Tom Cole]

Yes and no.

It is obviously bad to run an engine "dry," but as long as you change your oil after running the engine, there will be enough residual oil all over the inside of the engine to keep things ok until the pump can get the new, fresh oil into the whole system.  I would make certain I put in enough to deal with the drop in crankcase volume as all the lines and coolers get filled, and pre-filling  the cooler may be a good idea too, but only when you drain it.  Not when you are just doing a routine oil change.

As long as the engine is run regularly, and the oil is changed regularly, this should not be a problem.


Those little kart engines you saw this weekend don't even have an oil pump.  They have a little dipper that sticks down off the bottom of the rod that whips up every last drop of oil into a fog.  There are major bubbles in there and they turn those engines just as hard as we do.

It is about getting the oil where it needs to be, and that has to do with the oil's viscosity or thickness.  Imagine this.  If you poured honey through a screen, it would be slow to pass through, but would leave a good coat stuck to the screen.  Now pour water through the same screen.  You can flow a lot more volume in the same time, but it doesn't leave a good coat on the screen.  The right oil is a compromise between the two.  Thin enough to flow through the tight places in enough volume to keep things cool, but thich enough to keep metal parts from touching each other. 

[T48]

Tom, Being a screen printer by trade you picked the perfect example to make me understand, and I do now, thanks. 

I couldn't imagine the scenerio he laid out simply because we had run the car all week in practice and it seemed if that was the case it would have happened much sooner.

[legends13]

usually 3.5 to 4 qrts. I don't typically drain the oil cooler, but if you do, just like the post above said, I will fill it from the top. Also, if you are doing that much, it IS good practice to prime the lines. To do this, remove all spark plugs to make it easy on the starter, and then follow the flow of the oil. Go from the output of the engine (the puck in the back) to the filter and remove the line from the input side of the filter adapter. crank the starter over until oil flows out the end of the line. (if more then 15 seconds cranking, stop and wait a few seconds so that you don't burn up the starter). reconnect the line to the input of the filter. follow the output line of the filter either back to the engine or to the oil cooler, depending on how your system is plumbed and do the same thing.  Keep following the flow until you have primed all lines. remove the valve cover bolt from the exaust side of cyl. 1 and crank over until oil bubbles out of the hole. Put everything back together and check your oil level. If needed top it back off and you should be good to go.

After running the engine for a few seconds, recheck the oil level and top off again if needed. Oil should be about 2/3 up in the glass when not running and about 1/3 up when running.

Good luck!

[qweedqwag]

If you worried about no prime after changing the oil, crank the engine over with the ignition turned off  and wait till you see pressure on the guage, if you have one installed, I have found that about 30 seconds of cranking gets all my oil into the system without a problem.