Trapped oil.again?

[OU812]

Rode the bike to work and back, oil level spot on. later (2 hours) washed the bike, took for a short spin, and no oil in the sight glass. Now 12 hours later still no oil. I have read here that it gets trapped in the coolers, but 12 hours?

[Ves]

If it was a really short ride maybe the bike never warmed up enough for the coolers to open up (thermostatically controlled, right?). I say that, but honestly that whole thing still doesn't make any sense to me.

I've taken to always parking my bike on the sidestand after I come back from a trip. When I think of it I put it on the centerstand. I haven't had any mysterious oil disappearances since I started doing that.

[DJ Downunder]

I've had the same thing happen.

Just below the cranks in the center of the engine there is a wormhole that goes to a parallel universe.

IMO that's where it goes.

DJ

[GTR350cc]

And the oil returns from there as soon as you add more....

[ProductUser]

I love these threads.

Do not add any more oil. The oil is trapped in the oil coolers until the temperature controlled thermostat opens.

Here's what I do:
Ride the bike until it's fully warmed and go through the normal oil checking dance. Add oil if needed. Wait until the bike is completely cold and check the oil level again. It should be lower as the oil will condense. Now you have two oil level reference points: one hot and one cold.

ProductUser

[mnnden]

Iexperence the same thing, leave for a ride the oil is spot on, come back, do the "dance" (side stand, center stand) wait several hours, NO OIL in the site glass, (I do not add oil) go for another ride, come back, do the dance, OIL IS SPOT ON!! I have given up, now before a ride, I put the bike on the side stand, and check the site glass, if it is full, (and it always is) off I go, several of my friends ride BMW's and mine is the only one that reacts this way, I have 30k on an "02" "R" and am still waiting the day I can check my oil the way everyone else does. I use to add oil before leaving on a ride if no oil could be seen in the glass, now I wait until it is warmed up to re-check, it is then that I add if needed. Good Luck
Den

[OU812]

20 hours later, and it showed it's feet or head Just enough to show it's in there.

[iowabeakster]

When the oil is trapped in the cooler, it won't return to the case, no matter how long you wait. It will take riding it until it reaches full operating temp before that thermostat will open back up.

I had this problem in the first months of getting the bike (before discovering this board). My solution is CHECK IT EVERYDAY, after riding. You will learn to know when the bike did not get hot enough, and oil is in the coolers.

You will have an ongoing knowledge of your oil level. On the times where you ride the bike a short disatance or in cold weather, and the oil is trapped in the cooler, you won't freak out.

A couple years later, I am used to the bike, it's oil consumption, now I only check every 5th ride or so, after getting it HOT and doing the dance.

1.I look at the glass
2.I say "plenty of oil in there" (I talk to myself, this step may be omitted)
3.I forget about it for a while

[OU812]

I have over filled before, but I have never waited this long. My 02 never held it up like this.(04)

[mcollect]

I've never done the dance. When done a ride I put it on the center stand and leave it til the next ride. Before each ride I do a preflight check, oil air, clutch and brake fluids. Oil is always there. When I left it on the side stand every once in a while it smoked the garage completely. At 24k it uses almost no oil, mobil 1.

[bransan]

WOW! You guys are beating a dead horse. Check the oil when cold if possible. I check mine every day before I start the engine. Ride until Your done for the day, park on center stand, and don't look at the sight glass. Next morning check glass. Mine uses very little oil, after 25,000 mi I never add between changes.

[DJ Downunder]

WOW! You guys are beating a dead horse.

I don't think the horse is quite dead yet..

DJ

[mnnden]

WOW! You guys are beating a dead horse. Check the oil when cold if possible. I check mine every day before I start the engine. Ride until Your done for the day, park on center stand, and don't look at the sight glass. Next morning check glass. Mine uses very little oil, after 25,000 mi I never add between changes.

They do not all work that way, Example. I left yesterday morning, oil in the site glass was right on, rode about 120 miles, got home, parked the bike on the center stand. The next morning (today) I checked the site glass and no oil, I did not add any oil, left for a ride of about 70 miles, returned home, did the dance, and "Wala" the oil was spot on, I think
the Iowabeakster has it figured out!!! DJ, you are right on, I have read a lot about checking the oil on a "Beemer" and this horse is far from DEAD.

[def38]

Rode the bike to work and back, oil level spot on. later (2 hours) washed the bike, took for a short spin, and no oil in the sight glass. Now 12 hours later still no oil. I have read here that it gets trapped in the coolers, but 12 hours?

Do not attempt to read oil level in the boxer engine unless you have come back from at least a 30 minute ride. This insures a thorough warmup of the oil in the cooler circuit insuring that the thermostat is opened partially after engine shutdown.

If the thermostat doesn't open and thereby allow oil to drain back from the cooler circuit, oil is trapped up in the engine and the sight glass will register low or no oil.

Remember, the boxer sump holds about 4 quarts of oil. You would have to be about 3 quarts low on oil to loose pressure and risk damage. You can safely operate a boxer 1.5 quarts low on oil.

Watch your oil light as you shut down the engine (use the kill switch not the ignition key to shut down). You'll see the oil pressure light come on shortly after the engine is at rest indicating proper oil pressure was present prior to shutdown.

If your sight glass shows low or no oil, ride and thoroughly warm the engine to 5 bars, return and park on the side stand for 20-30 minutes. Move the bike onto the center stand and then read the oil level. You'll get accurate oil level this way.

Finally fill the oil only to the red dot in the sight glass. Overfilling is worse than underfilling.

[def38]

I love these threads.

It should be lower as the oil will condense.
ProductUser

The oil doesn't condense..it does expand and contract somewhat however. Synthetics will exhibit this phenomena to a much greater extent.

The synthetic oil molecule uncoils and exhibits higher viscosity as the temperature rises...a strong reason to use synthetic oils.

[CycleRob]

Let me hit this dead horse a couple times and give you a sure fire way to get an accurate oil level reading every time.

Two things. The engine has to be HOT enough -and- the bike has to be on level ground on the centerstand, preferably overnite. OK, that was 4 things but I'll break it down to easy to comprehend parts.

First the HOT engine. Hot enough is at least 190F (87.8C) so the oil cooler thermostat remains open at least 5 minutes. That allows the oil to siphon drain out of the coolers thru the thermostat's bypass drain into the oil sump. The bike being on the sidestand for the first 5 minutes aids and hastens that draining. Getting the engine hot enough, specifically to obtain an accurate oil level is real easy. When you are about 3 miles (4.8km) from home use the transmission to keep the RPM's over 4,500 revs. If the weather is cold enough for heated clothing, start the sustained elevated RPM's at 5 miles (8km) from home. If it's really hot out, cut the rev distance down to a mile (1.6km) from home. My oil cooler thermostat opens at 172F (77.8C) and tries to maintain that temp. I cold weather, heated vest riding, that's as hot as the engine gets at normal RPM's going the speed limit.

2nd, you need to find level ground for overnite parking.

3rd, as soon as you get off the bike put it on the sidestand for at least 5 minutes to drain the coolers.

4th, you need to put it on the centerstand so the oil puddled on the backside of the left cylinder's piston -and- the oil trapped in the left valve cover can drain back into the sump. This is where the overnite drain before reading the window level helps.

It's kind of a statement of the obvious, but if your oil was mid window in the morning and after a ride doesn't show in the window - - - you have trapped oil, NOT massive oil consumption. Even when the oil barely shows in the window there is still 3 quarts (2.8L) of oil in the engine. That's no worries mate. There's no need to keep adding oil to keep it at your desired or some arbitrary level either. I wait until it hits Lower Red Ring before adding 1/4 qt (8oz). With over 54,700 miles (88,000km), I have to add oil only once during the 6,000 mile interval, mainly because of hitting many near overheating engine temps here in Georgia.

Here's another little oil gem. At oil change time I add 3.75 quarts (3.5L) cap it and ride away. Hint: Add the 4th quart until 8 oz remains in the bottle, that's 3.75 qt. Adding 4 qts seems to increase oil consumption UNTIL it gets to Center Red Dot. I don't waste my time looking at the oil window then and for the next couple weeks, UNTIL the engine was hot enough when I put it away. Then I bend down and . . . . . . . lookee-there! Center Red Dot!

[GypsyRR]

And if what CycleRob says doesn't work for you, then here is how you do the BMW OIL CHECK DANCE

[DJ Downunder]

Jeeez..GypsyRR..Now you tell me.. .....I thought the oil dance went like this.. ...I've been doing it all wrong..

DJ

[gregor]

It's all right for you guys in the warm USA.
What about us in the UK where the thermostat often seems to stay shut in the low ambient temperatures?

Been caught out a few times but have never grossly over-filled the sump.

Anyone actually had to use the air box drain to get rid of surplus oil?

[MIXR]

Agree with Cycle Rob - But then mine's not an oil burner, so it doesn't matter to me.

Hey Gypsy - Those must be the jeans with the really hot knee armour - Look what happened!