SuzukiSavage.com - 2 oil questions (not wars)

drums1

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2 oil questions (not wars)
08/13/12 at 15:11:48

1st: The Rotella you guys use....Rotella T in the white jug? (15w40) I also have seen T5 in a grey jug and T6 in a blue jug. If I use this, I want to make sure I get the right one.

2nd: What is the thickest oil to safely use in the bike? I'm thinking of going to a 20w50. Is that advisable?

I can't afford to tear the motor apart at this point, and I'm looking to put a band aid of sorts on the whole thing. It's starting to knock quite a bit, and my thinking is a thicker oil may prolong the motors doom until the end of summer. Input?

Undecided

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Oldfeller--FSO

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Re: 2 oil questions (not wars)
Reply #1 - 08/13/12 at 15:17:51

Rotella T-5 is a semi-synthetic in different weight from T or T-6 -- it is not currently JASO MA approved while the other two are.

Rotella T and Rotella T-5 have recently grown a 10w30 type, so please read your bottles before just picking up a white jug.

If you want to try a 20w50 oil for knock relief, you can try it. Valvoline 20w50 Racing has all the ZDDP you need already in it.

So far the knocks are coming from 1) bad main crank bearings and 2) loose main clamping nuts/bolts on one side or the other of the main crank bearings. Your oil won't help either of these two issues.

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drums1 Serious Thumper Offline '87 Savage Bashed--Down for the count Posts: 664 Racine, Wisconsin Gender:	Re: 2 oil questions (not wars) Reply #2 - 08/13/12 at 15:28:11 TY OF
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drums1 Serious Thumper Offline '87 Savage Bashed--Down for the count Posts: 664 Racine, Wisconsin Gender:	Re: 2 oil questions (not wars) Reply #3 - 08/13/12 at 19:44:14 1 question though.....how in the [#@!*%] does a crank bearing or the other thing go bad in 24,000 miles?? Too much lugging? Cheap metal? Faulty assembly? Large rock to the knee? 24,000 miles sure seems a bit early for such a major repair.
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ZAR

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Re: 2 oil questions (not wars)
Reply #4 - 08/13/12 at 19:50:36

drums1 wrote on 08/13/12 at 19:44:14:

1 question though.....how in the [#@!*%] does a crank bearing or the other thing go bad in 24,000 miles?? Too much lugging? Cheap metal? Faulty assembly? Large rock to the knee? 24,000 miles sure seems a bit early for such a major repair.

Shocked

Drums I'm no expert but most bearing failures are a direct result of lubrication failure. My guess is either letting the oil level runs too low for long periods or getting dirty from long times between changes.

It could be possible failure due to the wrong oil(auto oil,maybe) being used.

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drums1 Serious Thumper Offline '87 Savage Bashed--Down for the count Posts: 664 Racine, Wisconsin Gender:	Re: 2 oil questions (not wars) Reply #5 - 08/13/12 at 19:58:17 Always had the right oil, changed it every 1000k, never ran low. I'm baffled.
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Re: 2 oil questions (not wars)
Reply #6 - 08/13/12 at 20:01:34

Drums, what I think don't much matter, but hitting that big rock could have moved the case around and got some misalignment in your crank/bearings? Anyway I use regular Rotella T I think. Dino 15w40. I also poured a half cup of transmission fluid into the radiator of my 454 thinking it was antifreeze, so what do I know Grin

Just don't use anything like STP or any viscosity thickener. The clutch will slip. Good luck.

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ZAR Serious Thumper Offline Rock this town! Rock it inside out! Posts: 961 Kentucky, USA Gender:	Re: 2 oil questions (not wars) Reply #7 - 08/13/12 at 20:01:49 drums1 wrote on 08/13/12 at 19:58:17: Always had the right oil, changed it every 1000k, never ran low. I'm baffled. Since you can verify the maintenance on the scoot I'm baffled too
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rfw2003 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1108 Yantis, TX	Re: 2 oil questions (not wars) Reply #8 - 08/13/12 at 20:03:01 Someone else recently, I think it was Dave, had a loose flywheel bolt from the factory that caused his bearings to wear out prematurely. Also if your using K&N type filters and not keeping them properly oiled and they get to dry they can allow dirt/sand through which will cause accelerated wear in your engine. R.F.
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drums1

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Re: 2 oil questions (not wars)
Reply #9 - 08/13/12 at 20:20:01

No K+N here. Just stock a/f. Oh, There may have been some shavings in there from when the idiots who did the clutch put the oil pump gear and oil filter in bassakwards, causing the head to go bad. They put a new (used) head on. The oil was changed then and 5-6 times since. That was 3-4 years ago. I just been getting the rapping/knocking for about the last month or two. Came kinda out of nowhere. I been noticing it getting worse, along with a lot of other things, but that's a different thread.

Boofer--I think I'm gonna try the Rotella T, sans the tranny fluid. Grin

I think I might be agreeing with the idea that the large rock incident may have caused some shifting. That was 2 years ago, in spring. It has vibrated more ever since that happened. And that's about when the belt started making more noise too. As if the motor maybe was shifted causing the belt to not run true. Like a slightly bent motor mount or something. And the case has been seeping a small amount of oil down the center seam, like where the 2 halves of crankcase meet.

Dam. I'm betting this bike will be up for parts sales in the not so distant future. (Like when the motor goes ka-blooey)

Undecided

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Re: 2 oil questions (not wars)
Reply #10 - 08/14/12 at 07:48:15

Yep.....I am the guy with my motor sitting on my bench with only 1,000 miles on the engine. I bought the bike used with 262 miles on it and it looks like a cream puff. It started getting noisy with only 400 miles on it. I changed to Suzuki 10W-40 the day I brought it home and tried Valvoline motorcycle 20W-50 when it was getting noisy. The left crank bearing was loose - the left crankshaft nut was finger tight and is supposed to be torqued to 100 foot pounds. Not sure if the loose bearing caused the loose nut.....or the other way.

My crank looked good, rockers and cam looked good......piston bore looked like it had not seated the rings very well yet.

Me.....I am switching to a high ZDDP oil like Brad Penn or Rotella.

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