-
Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password. If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?
too much oil
- Thread starter osbornk
- Start date
IIRC, the distance from the top to the bottom of the sight glass represents about 0.5 quart. Approximating the sight glass diameter at 1 inch, 1/8 quart (1/2 cup)would be about 1/4 inch. Get a buddy to help you tilt your bike to the right and observe the sight glass to see if the oil level registers. If you see the level at a slight tilt, you're good to go. If not, your overfill estimate is probably low, and you should consider draining.
S
screwtop
Guest
Drain with caution..
I had the same issue with my 02 GS when a rookie tech at the shop overfilled it. When I got it home, I tried to attach some tygon tubing to a turkey baster and pull some oil out out, to no avail. I ended up having to drain some oil out using a "controlled bleed" method, which will enable you to drain out just enough without draining the whole 4 quarts. Very simply:
1) Centerstand the bike and put your oilpan underneath the bike for secondary containment purposes (you dont have to warm the bike up).
2) Have an assistant lie down on the other side of the bike and place his (her) finger right next to the drain hole as you loosen the plug from the other side.
3) Carefully turn the plug off the last tread as your assistant immediately slips his (her) finger over the hole (I know this is sounding kinda' bad, but work with me).
4) With the dike plugged (so to speak) your assistant can controll the relase from the drain hole by letting a bit of oil leak out with his/her finger while you watch the sightglass.
5) When the oil reaches an acceptable level, put the drainplug against your assistant's finger and slip it back over the drain hole as he/she removes finger.
This method worked really well for me, and saved me having to drain the whole crankcase. It also saves you having to pour all the oil from your pan through a funnel back into the bike, potentially overfilling agin, getting new oil, etc. Good luck.
ST
I had the same issue with my 02 GS when a rookie tech at the shop overfilled it. When I got it home, I tried to attach some tygon tubing to a turkey baster and pull some oil out out, to no avail. I ended up having to drain some oil out using a "controlled bleed" method, which will enable you to drain out just enough without draining the whole 4 quarts. Very simply:
1) Centerstand the bike and put your oilpan underneath the bike for secondary containment purposes (you dont have to warm the bike up).
2) Have an assistant lie down on the other side of the bike and place his (her) finger right next to the drain hole as you loosen the plug from the other side.
3) Carefully turn the plug off the last tread as your assistant immediately slips his (her) finger over the hole (I know this is sounding kinda' bad, but work with me).
4) With the dike plugged (so to speak) your assistant can controll the relase from the drain hole by letting a bit of oil leak out with his/her finger while you watch the sightglass.
5) When the oil reaches an acceptable level, put the drainplug against your assistant's finger and slip it back over the drain hole as he/she removes finger.
This method worked really well for me, and saved me having to drain the whole crankcase. It also saves you having to pour all the oil from your pan through a funnel back into the bike, potentially overfilling agin, getting new oil, etc. Good luck.
ST
bikerfish1100
New member
not exactly. the worst that can happen would be that it overpressurizes, and blows a rear main seal. not likely, but it is possible. and just becaue a dealer's tech is not careful, and overfills your bike, does not make it an okay practice. these bikes really like their oil level to be around center of the window on a refill. more than that & they just end to burn it off more quickly intil they get to the desired level.
if you go to drain it from the filter, realize that the capacity of the filter is about 2/3 qt. and you'll need to add some back in if you use that technique (probably the easiest method mentioned).
n2230b
Fast Eddie
too much oil, cont.
THANKS GENTS!
I think I will drain some oil. Don't like the idea of foam in the crank-case. Before I do that I want to do the 'tilt test' suggested by ChrisF. This will at least give me an idea of where I am to start. Let me add that I was (I thought), very careful filling it after the drain and filter but it seems to require a bit more gentleness than I anticipated. Any thoughts about re-using the crush washer one time? Also, I'm not crazy about the method of inserting a flexibe tube through the fill hole. It might get snagged and retained and then what am I looking at? Splitting the case to retrieve foreign bodies?.....Expensive.
Phenomenal response/good insight
My sincere gratitude!
Ed
THANKS GENTS!
I think I will drain some oil. Don't like the idea of foam in the crank-case. Before I do that I want to do the 'tilt test' suggested by ChrisF. This will at least give me an idea of where I am to start. Let me add that I was (I thought), very careful filling it after the drain and filter but it seems to require a bit more gentleness than I anticipated. Any thoughts about re-using the crush washer one time? Also, I'm not crazy about the method of inserting a flexibe tube through the fill hole. It might get snagged and retained and then what am I looking at? Splitting the case to retrieve foreign bodies?.....Expensive.
Phenomenal response/good insight
My sincere gratitude!
Ed
S
schistosity
Guest
I have asked numerous dealers/techs and no one has said anything other than the extra oil may go into the airbox on an R1200 engine. I have had it at the top of the sight glass once or twice and no oil has ever gone into the airbox.
Welcome to the Club
I don't think there is a person in the forum who has not done the same thing. When I did it, I just unscrewed the drain plug and kept it aligned with the hole without removing it from the hole. This allowed oil to leak without causing a gush of oil. I then screwed it back using the same crush washer. While doing so I wore some rubber gloves. Your hands are guaranteed to be coated with oil. Needless to say, you want to do it when the engine is cold.
Easy
"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
THANKS GENTS!
I think I will drain some oil. Don't like the idea of foam in the crank-case. Before I do that I want to do the 'tilt test' suggested by ChrisF. This will at least give me an idea of where I am to start. Let me add that I was (I thought), very careful filling it after the drain and filter but it seems to require a bit more gentleness than I anticipated. Any thoughts about re-using the crush washer one time? Also, I'm not crazy about the method of inserting a flexibe tube through the fill hole. It might get snagged and retained and then what am I looking at? Splitting the case to retrieve foreign bodies?.....Expensive.
Phenomenal response/good insight
My sincere gratitude!
Ed
I don't think there is a person in the forum who has not done the same thing. When I did it, I just unscrewed the drain plug and kept it aligned with the hole without removing it from the hole. This allowed oil to leak without causing a gush of oil. I then screwed it back using the same crush washer. While doing so I wore some rubber gloves. Your hands are guaranteed to be coated with oil. Needless to say, you want to do it when the engine is cold.
Easy
"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Last edited:
I'm a bmw newb, but when I did my filter replacement on my last oil change, and then put in the four quarts recommended by clymer. It fills the sight glass, until I tilt the bike, then the sightglass is empty, everything changing with the slightest change in angle.
Thus, unless somebody tells me that clymer is wrong about 4 quarts, I'm happy. To blow out a rearseal, from a car mechanics point of view, would require quite a lot of oil, you'd have to overfill be substantially more then 1/8 a quart.
imo
Thus, unless somebody tells me that clymer is wrong about 4 quarts, I'm happy. To blow out a rearseal, from a car mechanics point of view, would require quite a lot of oil, you'd have to overfill be substantially more then 1/8 a quart.
imo
Because oil sometimes hides in the oilhead engines, it's a good idea not to start with four quarts. I fill with 3.5 quarts and then go for a ride. Then I park it on the side stand for ten minutes or so and then put it on the center stand. After it settles, I top up a bit. Even then I don't go above the dot. That allows for hidden oil to appear later.
I suppose then in good faith and whatnot I'll drain a bit out of the bottom before riding season starts again. It's going to get another oil change very soon because my oil was very very dirty- a SUV backed over the bike while parked on the street, actually had th nerve to pick it up before driving away. Cracked the valve cover, I had to ride 40 miles home in the rain stopping every 10 to top up the oil.
It was a great day.
It then got parked for a new valve cover, and being winter (late november) never got taken out again. Now I just need a new headlight, new mirror, new instrument cluster assembly, new clutch lever, etc. Winter projects.
jimvonbaden
Kool Aid Dispenser!
I wouldn't bother draining out any oil. It is very unlikely you are significantly overfilled. +- a few ounces wont do any damage to the engine.
Just ride it, and it will eventually get down to the correct level.
Jim
