Overfilled, should I bother?

[deeptekkie]

No matter how careful I am I always overfill mine somewhat, (something like maybe 1/8"). I've never worried about it and have never experienced any bad results from it.
I DID however ruin the valve seals in a car once, (MANY years ago), by overfilling it by one quart!
(On my son's Ninja if you put in the amount of oil the owner's manual specifies it will always show WAY overfilled! (I try to drain it down when that happens)

 

[famous556]

Here's a trick I learned at an oil change place I worked at while in high school. I have no idea if it works on a bike but I'd assume so. Put a rag around a shop vac nozzle and put the contraption over the oil fill hole. You can now remove the drain plug without losing a drop of oil. The air being sucked through the crankcase displaces the oil from around the drain hole. Then you can remove the vaccum as needed to drain oil. Reapplying the vaccum should stop the oil from draining and allow you to put the plug back in without drama.

*This probably requires you to have a buddy unless you have a 10 ft reach and 3 hands

 

[famous556]

which car filter are you using? Is there a specific make and model of car or engine to look for?

The bike will take a filter used mainly on nissans, but other Japanese cars as well. The fram number is 7317 and you can cross reference it with other brands of filters.

 

[Marthy]

Here's a trick I learned at an oil change place I worked at while in high school. I have no idea if it works on a bike but I'd assume so. Put a rag around a shop vac nozzle and put the contraption over the oil fill hole. You can now remove the drain plug without losing a drop of oil. The air being sucked through the crankcase displaces the oil from around the drain hole. Then you can remove the vaccum as needed to drain oil. Reapplying the vaccum should stop the oil from draining and allow you to put the plug back in without drama.

*This probably requires you to have a buddy unless you have a 10 ft reach and 3 hands

Working way too hard! Remove the dip stick, put a drain pan on the ground and lean the bike until it poor out. 30 second fix... Been there, done that...

 

[FinalImpact]

FYI:
I can't say how full "too full is" to cause damage but it goes like this. The Maximum level of the oil in the lower pan must be lower than the reciprocating parts (like the crankshaft and transmissions gears) because high speed parts striking a wall of oil results in the oil turning to foam/vapor/mist and the resulting vapor cloud occupies more space in the small area than can normally be vented thus building pressure inside the crankcase.

The vapor builds in quantity and PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system can not evacuate all the extra volume of expanded gases which then blow past oil seals or what have you finding the path of least resistance out of the engine. Under normal operation the PCV system sucks the fumes into the intake plenum and they are burned by the engine.

Obviously if its really over full it affects engine performance. Think shooting a fire hose into a fan! The fan is the crank, rods, gear train. It will slow the engine down and make tremendous heat!
In extreme cases connecting rods are bent from hydrostatic lock as the oil is so high it stops the pistons from coming down.

Don't leave an engine overfull. Obviously the manufactures leaves room for some error and crappy foaming oil exists. So do what you have to to get it reading proper on the stick.

 

[zackattack784]

This sounds okay but, it doesn't specify this anywhere that I know of. I speculate that this is because the level indicated is insignificant or within parameters whether the dip stick is screwed in or not. It's curious why Yamaha doesn't specify whether to screw in the dip stick or not.

My owner's manual says not to screw it in when checking oil. I have an '09 and it's on page 7-12 in mine.

 

[mave2911]

The fram number is 7317 and you can cross reference it with other brands of filters.

Apparently the Fram filters are not recommended.

I use the Purolator PL14610 car filter as it has better fine particle suppression, and has a MUCH greater filter surface area.

Cheers,
Rick

 

[mave2911]

My owner's manual says not to screw it in when checking oil. I have an '09 and it's on page 7-12 in mine.

That's correct for all of the FZ6s, you pull the dipstick, wipe it clean and just put it back into the hole without screwing.

Pull it out and check. (make sure the bike is level, and oil is warm/hot)

Cheers,
Rick

 

[deeptekkie]

Mine makes oil. If there were enough of these bikes around OPEC would go under! I always put exactly what the book calls for and from then until the next oil change the level on the stick is always at the top, (above the hash marks). I don't worry about it. I would not, however, put 3 full liters in it! As others have said, it is hard on seals and it can, (somehow), really mess up your airbox!

 

[QuietEagle]

As far as I know the manual is indicating the total quantity of oil in the system. So, depending on how you drain out the oil, not all of it is going to be removed. Some will be in passageways, clutch, etc. If you're worried about measuring the amount you put in (rather than trusting the dipstick on a level surface) you should simply measure the amount removed and refill with that amount.

Much easier to use the total quantity as a guide, fill and check dipstick. Then if you are a little low, you can simply add a bit more.:smoking: