Lost the Oil drain plug doing 80!

[a.droid]

Ok, I'm not an *****.

Still, everything has its purpose. Sometimes to warn others.

I am cheap, and instead of buying a new crush gasket for the drain plug I flipped it over.

DO NOT EVER DO THAT.

The oil pressure light was triggered 15 miles into a wet morning commute. I pulled to the next exit (my selection being an AE I couldn't put in neutral and coast). No smoke or overheating. New plug and gasket w nearly a gallon of Yamalube and I'm on the road again. 5 miles triggers the oil light again, this time the sight glass has milky fluid in it..... Trailered it 20 miles home.

2 days later:

pulled plugs - all as should be. Coolant is full (HEY, I found the radiator cap) and green. reservoir is low. Drain the oil and no sign of water.. What Gives?

 

[Ignacio]

What Gives?

You may have put on 20,000 miles of wear in one commute. But, you could have gotten lucky. Monitor and cross your fingers you just had a lucky learning experience.

 

[kaitsdad]

Yep. That could have had a very different outcome.

 

[JamesK]

Why not use a copper or aluminum washer, they are totally reusable.

Oh, and go out and buy some Lotto tickets while you're on a lucky streak

 

[C&C]

Reusing the original crush washer is okay too (flipping the old one over; not so much). Running with the drained oil (all over the road), you may have also drained part of the (fifth) quart that doesn't drain during a normal oil change. Maybe when you put the fresh four quarts in, you were still a quart short, and the remaining four, foamed (being at low level); it's a theory anyway. Hopefully there was enough residual on the wear surfaces that you will completely 'get away' with your with you little adventure; best of luck.

 

[RossKean]

Your oil light is oil level, not oil pressure. You could be getting sufficient pressure and circulation with the oil light on although it is doubtful in your case because there was essentially no oil left in the engine. You may have dodged a bullet here but I would still be concerned about the milky appearance of the oil in the sight glass.

You said you drained the oil and no sign of water?? If you saved any of the oil from the intentional drain, it would be worth having it checked for the presence of glycol. If none, you are OK although you may have shortened the life of the engine as Ignacio mentioned. If there is glycol present, you have a more serious issue. If you didn't save any of the oil, run it for a week or two with the new oil and then take a sample of the oil for testing. Head gasket change won't be cheap (if that's whats wrong) but a whole lot better than killing the engine the rest of the way.

Edit: By the way, I'm a cheap (lazy) ******* too. I still have the original crush washer on my '07 with 87,000 miles. Never leaked a drop and hasn't managed to unscrew itself (yet). I think I'll try a new one when I hit 100,000 miles later this season.

 

[lnewlf]

Most crush washers have a flat side and a curved side..flat side always goes against the casting..curved side against the plug..

 

[900gc]

Why not use a copper or aluminum washer, they are totally reusable.
Oh, and go out and buy some Lotto tickets while you're on a lucky streak

Yes. One washer for the life of the bike.

Hope the engine is OK and no further problems.

You did torque the plug right? Or do you "snug" it up to what feels right. The factory spec is somewhat excessive so I use 22-23 lbs.

If it will make you feel better, you could always safety wire it.

 

[Fred W]

This didn't happen because you reused a crush washer. It happened because you didn't adequately tighten the drain plug. Same thing could/would have happened with a brand new crush washer if you under-tighten it.

Big problem here is that the OE torque spec (31 ft-lb) is too high for an oiled thread into an alloy casting, so people tend to just hand tighten and guess. Sometimes they guess wrong. If you should decide to use a torque wrench in the future, you should be safe with torquing it to ~ 20-24 ft-lbs. with a new or old crush washer.

 

[Canadian FJR]

An easy soultion is to drill and safety wire your drain plug. Peace of mind.

Canadian FJR

 

[jcyuhn]

Reconfirming the oil light is based on oil level, not oil pressure.

Do you have the ability to perform a compression or leakdown test? One theory is that worn rings are allowing excess water vapor (a combustion byproduct) into the crankcase. Excess blowby can cause high pressure in the crankcase, which might be causing some problems. On an automobile it can pump oil out the dipstick tube. I think the FJR vents crankcase vapor into the airbox - I'd look for signs of excess pressure, such as oil carried along with the vapors.

Good luck, hope this turns out OK for you.

 

[TomInPA]

No one else will say it, but from the emulsified oil, I'd guess you're screwed. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Geezer]

Yeah, milky fluid in the oil indicates that you probably have antifreeze mixed with the oil. Could be a head gasket or worse. I guess you could change the oil again and see if it milks up a second time just to do an inexpensive test.

You are still lucky because a gallon of oil leaked out and did not get all over your tire and send you sliding down the road.

Once the light came on the thing to do is immediately shut off the engine and move to the shoulder. I don't know what an AE does if you hit the kill switch while in gear so you may not have had that option.

 

[mcatrophy]

...Once the light came on the thing to do is immediately shut off the engine and move to the shoulder. I don't know what an AE does if you hit the kill switch while in gear so you may not have had that option.

AE stays clutch engaged until revs drop below release speed (1300 RPM). Even with ignition switched off.

 

[Fred W]

I wouldn't jump the gun on the milky appearance in the sight glass. New oil often has some very small amount of water in it and it takes a few heat cycles to get it all driven out. I've seen what appears as a light haze of milkiness right after an oil change./ Nothing to worry about.

The fact that the oil that you drained from it is not milky tells me that the sky is not falling.

 

[RossKean]

As I mentioned above, get an oil sample and have it tested for the presence of glycol.

 

[Chuck35]

I think lack of lubrication would cause many failures before it influenced temp enough to cause cooling system damage. Milkiness would not be a concern to me.

In automotive inline 4 cylls, every time I have seen one loose oil psi at highway speed the main bearings have taken the brunt of the damage. A very deep knocking sound was evident. If your is quiet, you have been blessed!

 

[JamesK]

...Once the light came on the thing to do is immediately shut off the engine and move to the shoulder. I don't know what an AE does if you hit the kill switch while in gear so you may not have had that option.

AE stays clutch engaged until revs drop below release speed (1300 RPM). Even with ignition switched off.

Damn, that sounds freaky and even dangerous depending on the situation, surely there has to be a way to rig up some way to be able to manually override the AE clutch engagement?

 

[RaYzerman19]

Don't panic on the milky..... it is moisture, and since it went away (with heat), you're good. No proof of glycol. You mentioned it was a wet morning, right?