Burning Oil

[TragicImage]

Bike's been burning oil like crazy lately... about 1qt ever 1k miles...


nothing is obviously acting up to cause this, power isn't down, isn't running very hot....


Any ideas?

[Cal Price]

That seems a lot of oil, i suppose you have checked for anything obvious like a small leak around the filter and or drain plug ? it might be worth a look but avoid the temptation to tighten the nuts on the oil filter as the studs snap real easy, unless you discover a problem that is. If you do tighten by only an eigth or max a quarter turn, when I once asked one of the regular gurus said a torque of five-foot-pounds max.

If it is not a slow leak, are you getting blue exhaust smoke with athat sort of two stroke smell about it? if so it could be rings but your description makes it unlikely, before getting in too technical look for the obvious first. How do your plugs look, check and come back with a description or a pic if possible.

[TragicImage]

no leaks... it was my first thought.....  I've cleaned everything, ran it real hard... and nothing.


The only thing is it smells of burnt oil when I bring it into the garage.   I'll get that picture of the plugs up in a minute or two.

[trumpetguy]

How about your valve cover gasket?  If you're leaking oil there, it could be getting on the jugs and smoking off.  I just replaced mine and it seems to have helped mine (mine was not using that much oil, however).

[The Buddha]

Oil burning on a GS smells a wee bit different depending on where its burning.
At the valve seals, mine used to smell like dust ... dry and dusty. None of the oil smell ...
Rings etc will make oil like smell and smoke blue.
Cool.
Srinath.

[TragicImage]

well, regardless... I dropped it off at the dealer and told them to fix it, and not to touch it if it wasn't covered under the warranty.  I've got another 2 days left on it, so... might as well use it.


There's nothing leaking past the seals, that'd be a very apparent fix and 1qt of oil would be rediculous amount to lose that way.

[The Buddha]

well, regardless... I dropped it off at the dealer and told them to fix it, and not to touch it if it wasn't covered under the warranty.  I've got another 2 days left on it, so... might as well use it.


There's nothing leaking past the seals, that'd be a very apparent fix and 1qt of oil would be rediculous amount to lose that way.

Valve seals are buried in the head, you'd never see it. And I was using 1 qt in 300 miles with that method alone. 1 qt in 1000 miles is nothing.
Cool.
Srinath.

[TragicImage]

ahhhhh, well... interesting.

[ducati_nolan]

How many miles do you have? Of course you have to take advantage of the waranty while you've got it. Ask them to check the compression and if you're lucky, you could get a new engine 

A quart of oil in every 1,000 miles isn't too bad, but it shouldn't be happening untill you have some miles on the clock. If you're running 10w40 I'd go ahead and switch over to 20w50 and you should notice a drop in oil consumption. The Suzuki manual says that 20w50 is fine above 14 degrees Farenheight and 15w50 is good down to 10. If you're riding it hard in warm weather, the thicker oil will protect you better.

[TragicImage]

I think I'm somewhere around 14k on the clock....


I'm running Motul 10w40....  And I run the shaZam! out of it in warm weather.

[Hawkster]

How do the plugs look? 

If you fill the oil to the top it increases the chance that you'll burn some off due to normal crankcase overpressure.  It goes into the airbox and through the carbs.  The plugs should tell the story.

Glad that you got it in under warranty.  If you need, I can honestly testify that I've never seen that bike ridden hard.  Except for maybe one teeny weenie burnout...

Luck,

H~

[TragicImage]

How do the plugs look? 

If you fill the oil to the top it increases the chance that you'll burn some off due to normal crankcase overpressure.  It goes into the airbox and through the carbs.  The plugs should tell the story.

Glad that you got it in under warranty.  If you need, I can honestly testify that I've never seen that bike ridden hard.  Except for maybe one teeny weenie burnout...

Luck,

H~

Jeff, don't be jealous because the NSR can't smoke em like the big ol' GS500....

The plugs looked like they had about 13k miles on them... so... not fabulous.... but not oil fouled.... it was actually about a quart low after the St. Patty's Day ACH ride that I went on with the guys from SCS.... and I ran it about as hard as I could. 

It was fine when I checked it at the Shell in the Pre-Ride Inspection, but the next day when I went to go out in Boquet Canyon it was flashing the oil pressure light when at Idle.... I always go with the 2900ml as (ok ok, I call it 3qts but whatever) reccomended by Suzuki in the owners manual so overfill isn't a high probability. 

[ducati_nolan]

The oil pressure light goes off as soon as there is ANY oil pressure (at least on my bike). When I turn off the bike with the kill switch it'll take my bike about two or three seconds before the light illuminates, even longer when the oil hasn't warmed all the way up. I'd think that if this light were coming on while the bike is running, damage could easily occur.

Running hard in the hot weather and the low oil pressure light mean that I would VERY STRONGLY suggest that you step up to a thicker oil. 20w50 should help with your low pressure and your burning. Hopefully you'll get a new engine.

[TragicImage]

yea, I'd like a new engine...


I just got off the phone with Suzuki's corporate office and filed a complaint against my dealership for not handling this thing.  They've had the bike since tuesday and haven't even filed any paperwork as far as a warranty claim, nor have they even touched the bike.  Next step is going to be the BBB if its not getting better.

[Egaeus]

I hope you figure it out.  My oil disappears too.  Can't see a leak, plugs don't show oil, but it is consistently low....

[ducati_nolan]

I hope your bike dosn't end up being tied up forever while you fight with Suzuki. I'd recomend trying a couple more times semi-politly but with the mention of a possible complaint with the big guys, this would be better than getting mad right avay. If a dealer wants to fight you, they can probally drag it out for a while.

Most likely they'll tell you that your engine is fine (even if it's only so so) and it probally will be okay for a while longer with some thicker oil, and maybe not beating on it quite as often.

The oil pressure light coming on worries me much more than the oil burning. Generally a quart every 1k is at the upper limit of the "normal" range. Beating on it, the fact that it's Air cooled, and you're running in hot weather all increase the rate of consumption. Of course the idiot lights are notoriously inacurate and unreliable.

The only things that the shop can really check are your oil pressure and your compression, and they'll probally be above the minimum limits.

If you do go to the BBB do you have all your documentation and a reciept of when you dropped your bike off for the waranty work?

Good luck 

[TragicImage]

for as big of a dumbass as I am sometimes, I tend to keep meticulous records of things... so I think I'm in pretty good.

I even got the Suzuki tech guy I was talking with to admit that 1qt every 1k miles was an unacceptable ratio on this bike.  They also tried to tell me to run a thicker oil, to which I responded that I will only run the weight that is stated on the filler-cap, and if it was designed to run with something different then they should of started it off with something different (even though I do understand the cross compatibility, I don't want them thinking they have an easy way out).


According to the service manager at the shop, it should be out sometime today or tuesday (they're closed easter and monday)

[u4ea]

I seem to be using a bit of oil too.Only go for 200 km rides normally and have to top her up before most rides.seems a lot to me. .am using 10/40 synthetic and was told it would be due to the new oil filter that was replaced.....seems to run really well tho.Aside from the fact I dont have a reserve tap(was missing when I bought second hand)Had to replace fuel lines to a smaller hose and it stopped the surging.Running pirrelli sport demons and an xring chain.....will be interesting to follow this thread and see if this oil consumption thing is just a quirk of these bikes.....

[TragicImage]

I hate my dealer.... they basically insulted me when I picked the bike up....


I had told them it had almost no oil in it because it had burned so much, and I wanted them to look at it.



So, right on the paperwork, where a post-it note had been, and some one had written on there "Does this guy even know how to change his oil? its pitch black"....  How do I know this?  Carbon Copy behind it picked up everything that was written.


If a bike burns a quart of oil in 1k miles, OF COURSE THE OIL IS GOING TO BE BLACK!