To much oil is just as bad as to little... overfilled can cause oil seal to leak or blow out... If you know its over filled remove some....

 

Are you checking it with the bike level, and thus NOT on the side stand. No way could you put in four quarts and not be highly over-filled, regardless of filter. Using standard filter the bike holds just under three quarts....and an extra large filter might push that into three full quarts....but no way could it cause another full quart of oil to be added. You will damage the bike.

The way I check the oil is by using a small shop mirror, which has a extension handle. I sit on the bile, holding it level and then use the mirror to see the sight glass. That way I have an excellent view of the sight glass and I know that the bike is being held level.

 

You are asking for trouble with 4 full quarts in the FZ09.....even with the larger capacity oil filter. Do as mentioned above.....warm the bike up for 4 or 5 minutes, shut if off and let all the oil drain back down (let it sit for 10 minutes or so) and then stand the bike up PERFECTLY level and look at the sight glass level (get someone to hold the bike level if you can't do it yourself). The oil level should be right at the upper line or maybe a 1/16" below it.

 

I wonder if he meant three (3) full quarts with the enlarged filter....rather than the 2.85 quarts requirement (using new filter), but cited four?

 

I wonder if he meant three (3) full quarts with the enlarged filter....rather than the 2.85 quarts requirement (using new filter), but cited four?

No, he means four...

And with 4 quarts of Rotella T Synthetic 5/40 oil, it's right in the middle of the two marks on the sight glass while the bike is on the kickstand.
Before that, Never saw any oil, since I don't see the oil sight while the bike is not on the kick stand... .

if you see oil in the sightglass with the bike on the side stand, you are way overfilled ...stick with the spec of 3 quarts...the engineers know what they are doing.

 

What Spacecoast says. Oil should be checked several minutes after the motor is turned off and the bike vertical. Waiting those minutes allows the oil to drain back into the sump. Checking the oil level with the bike on it's sidestand will assure the bike is overfilled.

 

With the correct amount of oil, middle to upper area of sight glass with bike level, there will be no oil visible in the sight glass when it's on the side stand. As everyone else said, you're way over filled.

Read the specs and put in exactly what it tells you to. Then if it's low in the sight glass when warmed up, allowed 5 minutes to drain down AND with the bike level, you can add enough to where it should be. Your filter can't possibly hold 1 quart more than the OEM one.

Sounds like you don't have someone or some means to hold it level while you get down on your knees and look at it. Until you do, you're asking for trouble.

Do not overfill.

 

With bike on side stand bring the oil level just below the half mark(no mark but imaginary) on glass. You would be good to go. Or just install approximately 2.85 QT and forget about it.

 

This IS the problem. You don't measure the oil level with the bike on the sidestand. IT MUST BE LEVEL!

 

Bringing it to the top of the sight glass isn't an overfill. My bike have me an intermittent low oil light until I topped it up a bit more after my oil and filter change.

 

Same here.

Under hard acceleration my low level light would come on with oil between the lines on the sight glass.

Now I put in the recommended 2.85 quarts which will show above the top line after the bike sits for a while.

 

What we have here "Is a failure to communicate"

Half of that extra quart of oil is gonna end up in the airbox!
Something isn't right here. Does anyone personally know this misinformed young man? If so, please run over to his house and help him with his oil level before that poor engine looks like something left over from a Monty Python skit.

 

If you fill the crank to 1/3 of glass it would level perfectly to top mark when you hold the bike perfectly upright. That is what I wrote.
Edit: I would shim the stand with a 1 cm wood before hand. Just forgot! Sorry.

 

Never a good idea to make an estimate based on the bike being on the sidestand or not. Just not a good idea as it opens up to all sorts of issues.

Easiest and most accurate way to measure the oil level is:

Pour in 2.8 qts
run the bike a few moments - maybe a minute but that is enough
wait a few minutes - I usually wait about 5 minutes and I am buys wiping down the bike or putting tools away and something like that while I wait.
balance the bike level, straight up and down and top off the oil level to the upper 1/3-1/4 of the sight glass

If you can't balance the bike and check the sight glass yourself by crouching along the right side of the bike, or whatever works for you, then have a friend balance the bike straight up and down.

I fill to the top 1/3-1/4 of the sight glass because on my bike the oil level light comes on when the engine is running if the crankcase is filled to only the middle of the sight glass. Your bike may vary but that is how it works on my FZ09 and on the FZ1 that preceded it.

 

People need to read their manuals before doing maintenance... Check with the bike upright. Never on side stand. With the oil level to the top mark with the bike UPRIGHT, you will still not see any oil in the site glass with the bike on its side stand. Not on my bike at least. Or any other bike with a site glass I've had.

 

not enough oil in the bike.

forget the sight glass, it's useless. i have mine filled with 9 quarts and it still doesn't show up in the sight glass with the bike lying on its side.

 

No good at all can come from running four quarts of oil in the FZ-09. It's not a dry sump system so won't tolerate low/high on the oil. Also, AFAIK 5/30 isn't the right viscosity. 10w40 is what Yamaha sells and what the manual specs. I can tell you off the top of my head that my recommended oil for my Tenere is 10w40 and that while it allows for 10w30, the temperature range is very low (like max temp is 80F or something). Even 10w40 maxes out at 110F according to the book. I'd not even consider running 5w30.

As for checking the oil, I find it quite simple to just keep the bike in gear, crouch down on the ground and grab the bar/front brake with my right hand and use my left hand on the frame to stabilize the bike. That way, you can feel perfect vertical very accurately. Any slight tip to either side isn't level. You'd have to be a complete moron and weakling to have the bike fall on you on the right side (because if you can't push a 400lb bike out of slight lean you're super weak) and the kickstand is down on the other side with no forward roll possible due to it being in gear. I also use this technique on the 600lb Tenere and it works just as well.

 

Also, make sure you are on a level surface, and NOT using a rear stand. That will also throw off the reading. Typically, I kneel next to the right hand side of the bike and hold the front brake. I pull the bike up to the balance point, and I Can see the sight glass. I do try to keep the level near the top marks, but that's not even 3 quarts, let alone 4.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ what nimbus said

 

Check your airbox... LOL

 

2.85 qt. in the crankcase and 1.15 qt. in the airbox. LMAO.

 

Wow 3 pages on this... I think he got the point ! Lol

 

Let me retract my post... from what I have just seen in his post he should apply at Yamaha for a engineering job because it seems he is on to something that the engineers had missed when the designed this engine and what oil level it should have ..You may not see the effects you are doing to this engine right now but down the line you will have engine problems !! Do what you want but I hope you keep this unit for a long time so as not to pass on this thing on to a unsuspecting buyer....

 

I say we keep going...let the flogging continue...now, what was the issue??

 

The think the "issue" was not reading that little book that came with the bike. You know... the book that says put 2.85 quarts in it.

 

You shouldn't see any oil while the bike is on the kick stand. Get a rear stand and check then

 

LOL the flogging feels nice, my back was getting itchy.... LOL

So, looking at the full gallon of oil I've added to the FZ09, it's over full, but I know that.
What I have found so far is that it's not pumping oil out the air box.. LOL that's funny.

I always ran my FZ1 over full. No issues.

I've run many vehicles with more than what's called for with zero problems, but the key seems to be keeping the oil level lower than the crankshaft/rotating assy. (And with the gearbox being open to the oil levels, when you wheelie, all the oil is going into the gears on this bike, and perhaps uncovering the oil pump pickup point even on extended wheelies. (I don't do them, but you get my point, the oil is going to move around inside the crankcase/oil pan.)

I'm sure the engine has be designed with baffles to try and help keep oil where it's going to be picked up for the pump, but as you ride, it is going to be moving around front to back the most, side to side on a bike is less of a problem since the entire bike leans in the corners v/s a car where the engine/pan stays somewhat flat by comparison.

Taking the stock sight glass, at just under 3 quarts of oil, and then "adding" another quart to the mix, you realize the oil pan and crank case are much wider at that level than down at the drain plug where it's the smallest. So the "height" of another quart is not going to change the oil level that much compared to the first few quarts of oil.

I don't think the slightly longer Pure One filter holds more than a few CC's more oil than the stock filter. I added 3 quarts, and was not surprised to see no oil in the sight glass. Stood up the bike with a 2x4 under the kickstand, nearly verticle, and the oil level barely was at the very lower limit of the sight glass. Added the other quart, and it went to the top of the sight glass while the bike is nearly verticle, and it's in the lower mid part while on the flat concrete on the kick stand.

It's not going to "blow up" the engine with this much oil folks, but I could see where oil venting from the crank case might be sucked into the air box depending on where the PCV pick up point is located. (But so far, no issues with a ride to work and back, and some riding around the neighborhood.)'

The oil in the sight glass is not frothy, so it's not being whipped by the crank/gear/rotating assy.

If you "eyeball" where the crank is compared to the oil level in the sight glass, they are quite a distance apart.

The extra oil might even be of some benefit with extra cooling ability, and to supply oil in times of acceleration or braking when the oil is sloshed forward or backward the most.

I will watch it pretty close for a few days, but if I don't see any issues, I'm going to run it this way for the entire oil change interval. (Might pull the PCV hose, and check for excessive oil or into the air box, but I might as well change the filter then, and cut the box for more flow... )

 

PS: The oil is 5/40, not 5/30 as someone misquoted. I've had great results from the Rotella T Synthetic and other "compression" rated oils since they have the best additive package v/s oils typically rated for just spark ignition that don't have to control soot as much, or deal with long service life.

One of the last Supra's I built up, had a 12 quart oil system when I was done with it. And we proved the stock oil level was too low, perhaps the cause of many rod bearing failures. You have to figure Toyota knows what it's doing right? And Yamaha designs the heads of many Toyota engines.... Sure the guys who design the engine know their stuff, but they also have other considerations, weight being a prime one. The small fuel tank is that way I have to think because they wanted to keep the bike wet weight light. Another 6 lbs of fuel another gallon of gas would have pushed up the weight more than they wanted. Another quart of oil, its more wet weight.

Does the case/engine have room for another quart? So far, the answer is that it does. If I find out otherwise, I will absolutely share that with everyone, and eat some crow I suppose, but I don't think it appears anywhere near the rotating bits you would want to keep "above" the static engine running oil level in the crank case.

It would be interesting to see if there is a built in scraper design, any windage screens or other tricks to capture oil that ropes to the crank and other items as the engine is running, and they rob the engine of power, but also absorb and then radiate heat away from the moving parts too. (What is more important on a street bike, a few points of power, or longer life of oil/engine due to improved cooling? I'll take the cooling benefits every day.)

I suppose I could add a 1 quart accusump to the bike and run 5 quarts of oil, and really get flogged here.

 

I added 3 quarts, and was not surprised to see no oil in the sight glass. Stood up the bike with a 2x4 under the kickstand, nearly verticle, and the oil level barely was at the very lower limit of the sight glass. Added the other quart, and it went to the top of the sight glass while the bike is nearly verticle

I added the correct 2.8 quarts, and my oil was at the top mark of the sight glass....and that includes adding some of that oil to the filter prior to install (which I always do). I don't see how adding three quarts would result in an oil level at the lower mark....especially if you installed a dry filter and added all that oil through the engine oil cap. If the bike is not level, or you have it sitting on a rear stand, you're not getting a correct reading. I agree that as the oil level goes "up" you might get less effect since capacity expands, but my concern would be moving parts whipping the oil.

I do wish the standard capacity was exactly three quarts...rather than the 2.85 (2.7L) spec.

 

I do wish the standard capacity was exactly three quarts...rather than the 2.85 (2.7L) spec.

I use 3 qts in mine.....I dont think the tiny bit of extra will cause any problems. no way I would run 4 qts though

 

Thanks for your rational, well written reply, Adjuster, though I'll continue using 2.85 qts. ofoil. I'm a weight weenie when it comes to my bikes, not me, so a quart of oil weight isn't justified at the rpm ranges I ride in but the weight loss is. I also don't think the weight watching engineers at Yamaha would have included crank scrapers thinking there would be only 2.85 qts. of oil in the motor but may have with 4 qts. but there's only one way to know.

Spacecoast brings up an interest point about in his reply above. Have you raised the bike via suspension, tires, etc. or bent the sidestand that would cause the bike lean more on the sidestand thus affecting the oil level visible in the sightglass?

 

The Farce is strong with this one

 

You have to be careful with too much oil as it can cause nasty stuff like blow countershaft seals while riding. Something you don't want to happen on the highway or in a corner, an oil bath for the rear wheel is not good.

 

Be interesting to see what goes on in the crankcase in all situations including acceleration, braking and cornering. Kudos to Adjuster for addressing a question I've always wondered about as well. I tend to trust the Yamaha engineers but hopefully there's always room for discussion.