HELP!! with oil

[SkooterG]

The mechanic asked me what oil I used, I told him, and he said to use motorcycle specific oil. 1,575$ later I'll be taking his advice. I understand many bikes use Rotella with no problem. I live in Redding, Ca, a very hot climate. Whether the temps here and the use of the non-syn Rotella contributed to the problem I don't know. There must be some reason my bike had this soot build up while others don't.

Weird. That's too bad what happened to your FJR. I don't agree with your mechanic however.

156,000 miles on my 04 FJR. Almost all of those using the Rotella T 15W-40 non-synthetic motor oil. No loss of performance or problems with my FJR. I also use Chevron gas 95% of the time.

 

[norcal]

There must be some reason my bike had this soot build up while others don't.

It could be related to another NEPRT favorite subject, i.e. gasoline. I've recommended Top Tier Gas as promoted by GM, Toyota, BMW, and a host of other auto manufacturers because those gasoline suppliers have formally committed to specific levels of detergent that are greater than the government minimums. When the government put specs on detergent, some of the formerly good guys took advantage of the wimpy standard and backed off.

Some Top Tier Gas suppliers are Shell, Chevron, Texaco...

check out the list for yourself. https://www.toptiergas.com/

TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is the premier standard for gasoline performance. Six of the world's top automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Audi recognize that the current EPA minimum detergent requirements do not go far enough to ensure optimal engine performance.

Although I've always recognized the importance of detergent, I was unaware of this specific list of suppliers until BMW shared it with me when I purchased one of their bikes.

The soot deposits on the airbox side of the butterflies are upstream of the fuel injectors, so that eliminates gas as a cause. I have no idea why I had the problem and others haven't.

 

[Constant Mesh]

It might be gas fumes causing a buildup on the throttle valves. If a lot of gas is getting into the oil during cold start, etc. the gas would evaporate from the oil and be scavenged back into the air box and pass through the throttle valves. Mix the gas vapor with a little fine dust and a deposit might form on the throttle valves. The diesel oil is fine oil and is not likely causing what you've found.

 

[dsmack]

I don't see where you have said what gas you are running in your bike... do you use mostly "Top Tier" gas, or are you generally buying from whichever station is the lowest price? I admit to using quite a bit of cut-rate gas in my vehicles, so I'm not necessarily knocking you!

I keep a couple of cans of SeaFoam additive around the garage, and make a habit of running 1 oz per gallon through the system about every 4th or 5th tank. It seems to keep the intake system clean in all the gas powered vehicles and tools I own. Might want to give it a try. To effect a clean up of something as loaded as your Feejer, you might want to increase the concentration to 1 1/2 to 2 oz per gallon for the first tank.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Don

 

[norcal]

Good advice Don, had I done that the new exhaust valves would have been unnecessary. It wouldn't have helped to remove the soot from the butterflies and throttle body tunnels.

After this experience I'll run some SeaFoam once in awhile. The mechanic showed me a can and said it was good stuff.

I usually use the least expensive gas, and Shell or Chevron about 30% of the time.

 

[spalkin]

I want to relate an experience I just had. I have an 05 with 29k mi. Have used Shell Rotella 20-40wt non-syn for 25k mi. At 24k mi. a low rpm bogging or lack of take off power developed, and a little later a stalling on warm up idle. Couldn't diagnose it myself, and one morning the bike wouldn't start, though it had gas and spark. Trailered it to the dealer, he found the compression was low, around 120 psi + or -. Took the engine out and found the exhaust valves had spots of carbon deposites on the seating lands-hence the bad compression. The throttle body tunnels and the intake air side of the butterflies were coated with soot. I scraped some off the butterflies with my fingernail, and it was about 1/32 inch thick. The only place the soot could come from, as the mechanic told me, was the crankcase breather hose, which enters the intake air between the filter and the throttle body.
The soot deposit material had caused carbon in the head and on the exhaust valves, and the problem. The mechanic asked me what oil I used, I told him, and he said to use motorcycle specific oil. 1,575$ later I'll be taking his advice. I understand many bikes use Rotella with no problem. I live in Redding, Ca, a very hot climate. Whether the temps here and the use of the non-syn Rotella contributed to the problem I don't know. There must be some reason my bike had this soot build up while others don't.

Adios, Jim

The mechanic asked me what oil I used, I told him, and he said to use motorcycle specific oil. 1,575$ later I'll be taking his advice. I understand many bikes use Rotella with no problem. I live in Redding, Ca, a very hot climate. Whether the temps here and the use of the non-syn Rotella contributed to the problem I don't know. There must be some reason my bike had this soot build up while others don't.

Weird. That's too bad what happened to your FJR. I don't agree with your mechanic however.

156,000 miles on my 04 FJR. Almost all of those using the Rotella T 15W-40 non-synthetic motor oil. No loss of performance or problems with my FJR. I also use Chevron gas 95% of the time.

I have to agree here, your choice of motor oil wouldn't contribute to the destruction of your engine. The deposits, however, can cause problems. This very thing has perplexed me for years; why in God's Universe would an engine maker feed oily, grungy, condensation evaporate right into the throttle body unfiltered!?

Every single engine has it this way. Every car and truck - the breather goes directly to the throttle body and isn't filtered. This makes the entire inside of your intake system from the butterflies to the combustion chambers covered thick with this excrement over time. On my car, I've cut the tube and put a simple, inexpensive inline fuel filter on it. Intake grunge has gone way, way down.

Back when our cars had carbs and big air cleaners, the breather was filtered right inside the air cleaner. Then the entire intake tract was sprayed with fresh fuel. When everything went to Fuel Injection, they lost the filter.

The problem is worse on engines that run hot. These days, in an effort to cut emissions, engines get hot almost immediately and stay that way.

How do you clean all that crap out? Now there's a topic for a google search. Try searching Sea Foam. CLICK

I've not tried it yet but there are also other ways. Our intake tracts are not that long, in fact their really short, just a few inches.

Sorry for such a long post about this, but if the intake only takes in air, then all of it should be filtered.

Don't get me started on the EGR Systems!

bets of luck Jim.