Oil change disaster!

rearro · Post by **rearro** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:20 am

Well I decided to do my own oil change! and I thought it would be no Problem!! boy was I wrong. so... I prepped the bike and put it on it's center stand, I had gone to the auto parts store an purchases a oil drain pan, the kind that you could screw a top on so you can take the oil to the recycle place, so I placed it under the bike and put an old comforter down so I could lay down and do the work. then I layed down and looked under the bike and found the drain plug,.................. there was only 1 thing wrong at this point... I DIDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT F$%*ING ALLYN WRENCH, so I had to wait till my neighbor came home to borrow one from him. so now I was ready

I started to remove the drain plug an when it finally came undone it was like NIAGRA FALLS boy what a MESS so then I waited for the oil to drain and cleand up the mess on my garage floor. then I put everything back together and started to fill it with oil when I realized that I had put too much oil in

so I figured I would ride it and burn some off. I rode for about 15 miles and when I came back home it still was too full so, I decided to take some of the oil out and I did . So now I have a question do you guys think that i might have damaged my bike in riding it for 15 miles with almost 1qt of oil too much?

Post by **DJ Downunder** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:30 am

I say..don't worry..be happy..

...I don't think you've done any harm..good on you for doing it yourself....btw..did you have the oil filler plug undone when you undid the oil drain plug...if yes...next time leave the oil filler plug in and the oil will not drain out with so much force.

DJ

riceburner · Post by **riceburner** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:26 am

nah - 15 miles is nothing.

Even it it was overfilled all you'll have done is blown some oil up the pressure relief system.

JakeThePimp · Post by **JakeThePimp** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 9:56 am

Yep, you should be alright. The trouble with having too much oil is it will hit the crank and cause the oil to foam (aeration sp?) thus the oil looses it lube properties. 15 miles most likely did nothing. Did you really think you'd burn a quart of oil in 15miles? if you did, your bike has far greater problems.

Anyways, congrats on your first lube job, don't worry we all make a mess sometimes. You'll do better next time, I'm sure of it.

-JTP

rearro · Post by **rearro** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:50 pm

jake , I actually couldn't see how much oil I had over filled it with I just thought that I had gone a bit over the the max on the window and if I could burn a bit off to bring it just at max I would be alright! I didn't realized that I had almost a full qt. till I drained some out and I put it in an empty oil container!

So I ended up going with CASTROL GTX 20-50 is that ok??

Post by **DJ Downunder** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:00 pm

ended up going with CASTROL GTX 20-50 is that ok??

DJ

rearro · Post by **rearro** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:03 am

Dj, the oil filler plug was screwed in,.. it's just that my drain pan that I bought was too shallow and tha oil plattered off of the pan and onto the floor!! prior to draining into the the recovery area!

rockster.ch · Post by **rockster.ch** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:20 am

does the toolkit not have the right item? I found it to be very useful when I've tinkered

rearro · Post by **rearro** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 8:52 am

do you mean the tool kit under the rear seat? if thats the one you are talking about no it did not have the right wrench, but I had bought a oil filter wrench from one of our members, so I did have that!

drevil · Post by **drevil** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:04 am

seems to me when i did it, 4 quarts was just a touch too much. maybe a quarter of a cup or so? i would use 3 3/4 quarts then add a little bit more of needed.

Post by **Boxer** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:33 am

Next time wear those tight rubber gloves and don't worry about the hot oil hitting your hands...some will, but it won't hurt too much with the rubber gloves. As the oil flows out quickly try to hold onto the plug with your hex key wrench. After a moment the flow subsides and you can easily clean it all up with rags.
Sounds like your drain pan did not adequately allow the flow to go on down into the pan. Did you have the little air release cap opened on the side? I've forgotten to open that before and the oil would just fill up the top part of the pan without going down the hole.

It can be a messy job for anyone. Just clean up the mess and next time it'll be easier.

Oh and the tool kit should have that hex key. Mine does.

drevil · Post by **drevil** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:12 pm

kind of weird side note. i am fairly certain on my 2004 rockster the drain plug is a 17 nut, not a hex key!

rearro · Post by **rearro** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:11 pm

Boxer, I think I'll try the rubber gloves next time and I looked for a air valve or something of that nature and I could not find one. and yes the oil just flipped up like it was boiling just prior to going into the recovery area,
Drevil, Mine too is an 2004 but my drain plug is an allyn fitting and not a nut, wish it was a nut so I didn't have to go out and buy one.
If everyone has that tool in thier tool kit than mine must have gotten pillaged prior to me getting my bike! and I bought mine from Roman Cycle shop in Ohio, New! but It had been sitting in the store for some time prior to me buying it! someone must have borrowed it and never put it back!?