Post by Mx Life286 on Dec 27, 2005 1:24:34 GMT -5
Do you ride a KX250F or RM-Z250? Do you ever walk out to your bike when it's cold, See little or no oil in the viewing port window in the engine cases, and immediately think you need to add enough to the cases so that oil is visible? We'd suggest thinking again.
While talking to one of Kawasaki's Tech Reps at last week's KX450F intro, he told us that the way that the engine cases are designed, there are different chambers that the oil moves into as it runs, which affects the way that the oil level shows in the viewing port. If a rider or mechanic merely checks and sees that the oil level is low and adds oil without a proper level check, it definitely won't help the engine's performance, and can actually create enough pressure inside the cases to blow out that viewing port
He suggested letting the engine idle for a couple minutes with no excessive revving, just enough to warm it up. Then letting the oil settle for a couple minutes, and rechecking the oil level port. Doing that will give you a much better indication of the true oil level.
Of course, if you wanted to take just a few more minutes, you could do a quick oil change, and refill the cases with the recommended quantity of oil. That's even better, both for your engine, and for peace of mind.
While talking to one of Kawasaki's Tech Reps at last week's KX450F intro, he told us that the way that the engine cases are designed, there are different chambers that the oil moves into as it runs, which affects the way that the oil level shows in the viewing port. If a rider or mechanic merely checks and sees that the oil level is low and adds oil without a proper level check, it definitely won't help the engine's performance, and can actually create enough pressure inside the cases to blow out that viewing port
He suggested letting the engine idle for a couple minutes with no excessive revving, just enough to warm it up. Then letting the oil settle for a couple minutes, and rechecking the oil level port. Doing that will give you a much better indication of the true oil level.
Of course, if you wanted to take just a few more minutes, you could do a quick oil change, and refill the cases with the recommended quantity of oil. That's even better, both for your engine, and for peace of mind.