Just performed my first "Oil Flush" on my 2014 ES!

dmulk

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Since the bike has been sitting for the better part of a year (since my last big mile 3 week summer trip last year) and I have a multi-thousand mile trip coming up in a couple weeks (that I may turn into a B2B/BBG IBA ride) I figured I would get this done so I don't feel rushed and can take my time packing my bike, etc for the trip.

So...What exactly is an "oil flush" and how do you know you need one, you ask?

These are usually performed at the very end of an oil change. After draining the old oil, changing the filter and refilling with fresh oil, what you basically do is you start your engine briefly in order to fill the new filter. You then let your bike rest for 5 mins so the oil has time to drain into the bottom of the engine to allow you to get an accurate oil level reading. When you check your oil level you will notice one or both of two things:

1) The new oil level is much higher than it should be.
2) The new oil is oddly dirty.

Around this time it slowly dawns on you that the bike has been on the side stand during the oil change and fill at which point you (flush down the) drain about $15 - $20 of oil out of the engine in order to get the level and the rest of the dirty oil out so you can fill again with fresh oil...

I'm calling this an "oil flush". Go ahead...change my mind. :cool:

Screen Shot 2019-06-10 at 3.55.19 PM.png

<D>
 
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Mak10

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Could always be worse. You could have forgotten to put oil in and went for a ride. Or tightened your drain plug too tight and stripped the hole. $20 in oil? School tuition.
 

HeliMark

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Or fired her up with the fill plug out (aka: "oiling the ceiling")
Or not tighten the plug like you thought you did, and get the red low light 50 miles from home as the cap departed the bike at some point in the ride. Luckily daughter was home and went to the local dealer who happen to have an oil cap in stock.
 

EricV

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Well, since you asked.... Some observations:

1. You buy cheap oil.
2. You're not correctly checking your oil level.
3. You're way over thinking this whole thing.

Dry sump engine. Briefly starting the engine and letting it sit for 5 minutes is not the correct procedure and your sight glass is useless at that point. All it's doing is showing that yes, you have oil. Not a correct indication of how much. Read the owner's manual, it tells you how to do it.

The old oil wasn't bad. It was dark from contamination of exhaust waste particles, not broken down to the point where it could not lubricate the various parts needing lubrication. The vastly larger quantity of clean oil Vs dirty remnants was just fine. The amount you may have "over filled" was insignificant. Dry Sump! The amount of oil in the engine was the same, regardless of how little or how much oil the total system has. The new filter makes it even more negligible of an impact. The old filter was not clogged and was catching the particles that had any significant impact on engine wear. The new filter is, well, new, and going to catch particles in the entire oil system too, just like the old filter did, in a more efficient manner at the beginning of it's life. This making the insignificant amount of dirty oil even more insignificant.

If you're going to let the bike sit for months, change the oil before you put it up. That gets the acids out of the bike and minimizes any potential for etching while it just sits there.

Going to the checkpoint in Tri-Cities? I'm not, but will be doing the start/finish, (staff). A good excuse for a B2B or BBG ride. Have a great time and enjoy the ride. Check border flow at Sumas & Lynden/Aldergrove as well as Peace Arch. Lynden/Aldergrove is usually much less wait time, but is not a 24 Hr crossing.
 

tntmo

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I wouldn't worry about that tiny bit of oil that was remaining in the bike "contaminating" the new oil. You will always have a residual amount of old oil left in the engine. But if it helps you sleep at night and you aren't starving due to spending the money, go for it!

Good luck on your IBA attempt. The Tenere is the only bike I've done 1000 mile days on.
 

dmulk

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Well, since you asked.... Some observations:

1. You buy cheap oil.
2. You're not correctly checking your oil level.
3. You're way over thinking this whole thing.

Dry sump engine. Briefly starting the engine and letting it sit for 5 minutes is not the correct procedure and your sight glass is useless at that point. All it's doing is showing that yes, you have oil. Not a correct indication of how much. Read the owner's manual, it tells you how to do it.

The old oil wasn't bad. It was dark from contamination of exhaust waste particles, not broken down to the point where it could not lubricate the various parts needing lubrication. The vastly larger quantity of clean oil Vs dirty remnants was just fine. The amount you may have "over filled" was insignificant. Dry Sump! The amount of oil in the engine was the same, regardless of how little or how much oil the total system has. The new filter makes it even more negligible of an impact. The old filter was not clogged and was catching the particles that had any significant impact on engine wear. The new filter is, well, new, and going to catch particles in the entire oil system too, just like the old filter did, in a more efficient manner at the beginning of it's life. This making the insignificant amount of dirty oil even more insignificant.

If you're going to let the bike sit for months, change the oil before you put it up. That gets the acids out of the bike and minimizes any potential for etching while it just sits there.

Going to the checkpoint in Tri-Cities? I'm not, but will be doing the start/finish, (staff). A good excuse for a B2B or BBG ride. Have a great time and enjoy the ride. Check border flow at Sumas & Lynden/Aldergrove as well as Peace Arch. Lynden/Aldergrove is usually much less wait time, but is not a 24 Hr crossing.

This main intention of this post was tongue in cheek and about having senior moments...but it *is* technically an oil thread (and we know how these things usually go...:)...).

I've read all the dry sump and oil checking procedures related to our bikes. That said, you bring up a good point. I didn't read my owners manual but I have the older v1 service manual (which I read and followed - with the exception of the obvious which is why I overfilled quite a bit) and I'm curious as to whether the new manual has changed it's procedure to reflect your comments about checking the oil level. The version I have looks like this:

Screen Shot 2019-06-11 at 2.32.39 PM.png

I suppose "few mins" could be anything...

In any case, we know how YES likes to deny warranty claims, so I don't want to give them an easy excuse to do that because they claim the level of the oil in the engine is too high therefore they won't warranty the rear shock or something ridiculous... :)

IBA checkpoint isn't on my planned route. At this point I'm basically going to be in Calgary for WeSTOC and since I live about 8 miles from the southern Otay Mesa border I'm thinking I'll take a shot at it. If I can do a BBG to my house, then I think I might be able to sleep for a while in my own bed and take my time crossing to Otay for the B2B for Lunch/Dinner. We'll see how I feel when I get to Mesquite, which is the point I'll plan to get a cheap hotel if I'm just going to make it a B2B or BB.

After all the years of doing "unofficial" SS and BB's I finally took the time to document and certify one of them last year. Either way it should be fun! Thanks for the sentiments! :)
 

MonkeyBut

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Thread of 'Oil Change Awesomeness!!!' Makes me feel better inside and sometimes worse, depending which post I'm reading on this thread. But, my ST hasn't blown up or blown anything out yet, so i must be doing something right. Carry on.
 

EricV

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Satire is hard to balance on the internet. Context can help, but not always. Just saying.

The procedure is the same. But what you did, Vs what you described, are different things. The rest still applies. ;)

Actually, I've had quite a few YES claims on three different Yamaha bikes. Only one was denied, but it was a ring wear issue, which is specifically called out as not covered by the YES. (I wasn't happy that it related directly to a tech's error while performing a valve check, but too long between the work and when the problem showed up to document it.)

If the dealer is going to bat for you, most YES claims seem to go thru, from what little I've seen. I did have one go thru, that took 4 months. In large part because the dealer did a very poor job of writing the claim and the YES manager I got stuck with in MT left boxes on his office floor for weeks at a time.
 

dmulk

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Thread of 'Oil Change Awesomeness!!!' Makes me feel better inside and sometimes worse, depending which post I'm reading on this thread. But, my ST hasn't blown up or blown anything out yet, so i must be doing something right. Carry on.
My sentiments exactly. Luckily the S10 platform (as confirmed by EricV) is a forgiving and durable platform which is especially good for those of us predisposed to senior moments... what were we talking about again?
 

MonkeyBut

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My wordsmithing isn't always the best but unless noted, i try an be positive and maybe a little funny. That being said, I did something similar to the OP but not on purpose but because I'm an idiot sometimes and read to many oil thread posts on the internet. At my last oil change, I accidentally put to much Yamalube in the crankcase. I started with that last bottle from the previous oil change that has that little bit left in. Dumped it in and then proceeded to put 4 full quarts in. Ooops. Lost track. Never started the engine. So I asked my daughter to keep an eye on the sight glass while I held the loose drain plug up against the hole and ler some oil drain out. Well, this being my first bike with a sump, the oil in the glass did not lower. Im thinking to myself, 'there is a lot coming out?' Anyway, I stopped doing what i was doing, tightened the drain plug and started the engine. Oil light goes off, then back on. Immediately turn off engine, let sit for a minute or 2 and check glass. No oil. Oil needs to be circulated before the glass is useful. Ah Ha moment. Figured i was a quart low and needed to add oil. No more Yamalube and i wanted to ride early the next morning. Its 8pm and motorcycle shops are closed but auto parts stores are open. Get the only stuff they had on the shelf, Mobil 1 synthetic except the weights were different, by a factor of 5 on each end. 'What difference can that make with one quart?' I ask myself. 'Mixing different brands. What difference does that make? I ask myself again. Go home, dump it in, but i didnt start the bike. Check the internet. Call a friend. Contemplate some more in my head. Paranoia sets in. Nooooo!!!!. I did the right thing? Dumped all the oil. Slept. Waited until motorcycle shop opens and buy the Yamalube. Fill with the right amount and off i go. Did i overthink it? Will one quart of a different brands sythetic with different wieghts really make a difference? Ill never know but I waited and now have piece of mind that did the right thing. At least for me. So, Im sorry to bore everyone to death if you actually read this and i wanted to explain my feeling better or not, when i go through oil change threads. Enjoy the road everyone.
 
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