Dropping oil pan - any other tasks?

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I suspect a large portion of the retained oil is in the clutch. Operating the clutch while the bike is warming up may help with the flushing process.

 
I suspect a large portion of the retained oil is in the clutch. Operating the clutch while the bike is warming up may help with the flushing process.
The clutch just scantly gets splashed. There are lots of little 1-2 oz pockets of oil in the cylinder head and throughout the lower block and transmission that can't drain. First lay your FJR down on its side, then block the front wheel and lift the rear wheel almost vertical. Now, open the drain plug and drain *most* of the remaining oil out. Or, follow Yamaha's recommended oil change schedule and don't worry.

 
Agreed there are some places oil can hide.... I've never seen the top side of an FJR oil pan, so, in the interests of further edumacation, if somebody does end up pulling one, a couple of pictures would be nice. And I don't mean top side in the orientation Ionbeam suggests....... rubber side down please.. It would also be nice to see a photo of the oil pickup (size of screen, etc). The FSM has a picture of sorts, but a real photo tells a lot.

Another thing you can do is cut open your oil filter, to see if you can find any clutch particles..... that will tell you if they are reaching the sump or not.

 
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It would also be nice to see a photo of the oil pickup (size of screen, etc).
Oil pan removed during my teardown last year:

DSC_6141.jpg


This one shows the angle of the pickup going into the oil pump. The output of the pump is that "aorta" tube.

DSC_6142.jpg


 
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This one may not be any more help, but it's a 1:1 crop of the center of that image above. The screen is closer to the camera than the rest of the image so it's not in focus, but it's better than the tiny piece you see in the image in the previous post.

DSC_6141centercrop.jpg


 
Looks clean...I dropped the pan on my old Venture Royale years ago...70K miles and it was spotless on the inside...I was replacing the O-rings on the pickup tube. I am the OCD one though...oil changes at 2500...

 
I'm smelling what Fred is cooking. Throw $30 bucks at it and get 2 gallons of Rotella-T dino. Drain the pan with the oil very hot and on the side stand to get as much out as possible. As you are warming up the motor on the center stand, keep an eye on your oil pressure idiot light and of course listen to the motor. Use a spotless clean drain pan so you can try and identify how much crap is in the oil. Change the filter as well.

After two oil changes, refill it and ride for 300-500 miles and do it again.

I've still got the oil pump, pickup tube, oil pan, and block from Patriot's grenade motor. I could re-assemble and try to determine the distance from the sump screen to the bottom. But unlike metal particles that are generally heavy and magnetic, I think clutch material will just float around in the hurricane when the motor is running.

 
Unfortunately, the oil light is oil level; not pressure. It is possible to have low pressure or flow due to a blocked pickup and still have adequate oil level.

 
SOMETHING, no one knows what, blocked an oil passage in my wife's Expedition. The motor was well taken care of, and the service guys said it was very clean. However, the cams were scored due to oil starvation. Never found anything blocking any passages, but they said something small could have eventually gone through. Thank goodness for aftermarket warranties. The $7000 dollar motor replacement cost us exactly ZERO dollars.

I would be paranoid about stuff floating around that could block an oil passage. No idea how whatever it was that killed our Expo engine got past the filter, but something did. Seriously, I'd take the time to make sure all that **** is out of there, unless you have a warranty that will replace your FJR motor.

 
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Thx for all the thoughtful replies.

Got me to thinking more about various factors.

I did the clutch soak in mid May. My mistake in previous email. Bike had maybe 40k km (25k miles) at that time.

Who knows when the spring came loose and started chopping up the friction material?

Oil change end of July, 47k km (29k mi)

SS1000 and Three Flags, end of Aug.

Oil change @ 56k km (35k mi)

So 2 oil changes and some serious running since the (possible) start of the shredding. Never noticed anything in the drained oil, but could have missed small stuff.

While all this makes me feel better, and I like Freds position, I think I am still stuck on dropping the pan.

At least I have a few months to reach 'acceptance' before the work.

Happy holidays to all

-Steve

 
... I think I am still stuck on dropping the pan...
Do the initial oil drain through a fine strainer. Let us know what you find in the pan after draining the oil.
It would also be interesting to note just how much oil is 'held' in the pan with the drain plug removed............
If we could get Mr. Pants to take a pic of the oil pan, that would help (hint, hint).

 
Dropping oil pan to clean out bits of clutch material. 60k km, about 37k miles, are there any other bike maintenance items I should consider while do this?Thx

-Steve
Dropping oil pan...? Did all the screws fall out? Clutch material in the oil pan?? How would that get there? What kind of material? When you open the drain plug all (well, almost all) the oils runs out by itself! Nothing else to do, except replace the gasket and the plug.

 
Dropping oil pan to clean out bits of clutch material. 60k km, about 37k miles, are there any other bike maintenance items I should consider while do this?

Thx

-Steve
Dropping oil pan...? Did all the screws fall out? Clutch material in the oil pan?? How would that get there? What kind of material? When you open the drain plug all (well, almost all) the oils runs out by itself! Nothing else to do, except replace the gasket and the plug.
This post explains all, (or most, anyhow)

 
... I think I am still stuck on dropping the pan...
Do the initial oil drain through a fine strainer. Let us know what you find in the pan after draining the oil.
It would also be interesting to note just how much oil is 'held' in the pan with the drain plug removed............
If we could get Mr. Pants to take a pic of the oil pan, that would help (hint, hint).

Hmmmm - I missed this. I can get up in the attic this weekend and take a few pics of the oil pan. Hopefully I won't forget.
 
I forget where, but somewhere here I saw a photo of the inside of the oil pan. Yes indeed, no baffle, and all but a few drops of oil will drain..... so we can put that to bed. I would say now to the OP, if you didn't see junk in your drained oil, chances are there isn't any to worry about.

 

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