Rockster 2004 - Oil Preassure Light on

[chechomir]

I was rinding the other night on heavy traffic (stop and go) and the engine started to everheat. The RPMs went to 2500 and I started to smell burned oil for about 10 min. I pulled over and let it rest for about 2 hours. When I came back the oil preassure light was on (red). I rode the motorcycle back home which was about 10 min away without going over 2500 rpm. The next morning the oil light is still on and I just want to know if I caused a major issue by overheating the bike. There is no strange sounds coming from the engine or anything like that. I did notice there was a little bit of oil coming from the oil window indicator though but not much. I was wondering if somebody could tell me what I should do other than taking it to the BMW shop and how much money it will cost me. Thanks

[ldeijkva]

First of all when you see the oil pressure light go on just stop what you're doing & first figure out what's causing the sensor to go off.
It's a warning light, continuing driving is not a good idea if you don't know the cause. If the engine overheats the oil becomes so thin that it loses it's function as a lubricant. Letting the engine run for a longer period could potentially do damage.

If you see oil around the indicator glass that's also not a good thing. It's basicly a closed circuit around those regions, so it should be perfectly dry.
Excessive oil can be discarded in the airbox, but that's about it...

Things to do:
- Check for leaks.
- Clean the engine, fill up the oil to the recommend level.
- Go out for a spin, and again checks for leaks.
- If there is a leak, see if you can fix it yourself (the indicator glass is far easier to replace that it looks) or post your diagnosis here with a few pictures.

[chechomir]

Thank you very much for your reply.

I haven't seen any licks since then but I haven't taken it out yet since the incident. I am planning on changing the oil and the filter and see what happens. If the light doesn't go off then I will probably have to check the oil sensor.

[timl]

There are several posts in the R1150R forum which indicate shorts in the wiring near the oil pressure switch can lead to this. The R1150R forum is far more active than this one and is a good place to check.

Also, you should consider replacing the oil level sight glass if there are any signs of leaking. There are instructions on how to do this here as well.

[chechomir]

Thanks for your reply. I actually changed the oil and the filter and all the issues went away. Even the oil preassure light. Now I notice there are some minor explossions and some iddliing issue so I guess it's time to change the spark plugs as well.