[luv2spider]

Has anyone had there engine oil light come on and stay on. Went riding last sunday and everything was fine and when I pulled up in the garage the oil light came on. Well I checked the oil the next day and it was at the add oil line so I added some oil ( half of a quart ) hope this was not to much and started the bike but the oil light stays on. Dealer said it could be a sensor as they said they have replaced about 4 or 5 sensors for this. Has anyone else had this problem and also do you think I added to much oil as I am not mechanically inclined. Thanks

[nccruiser]

luv2spider, on 30 May 2011 - 09:07 AM, said:

Has anyone had there engine oil light come on and stay on. Went riding last sunday and everything was fine and when I pulled up in the garage the oil light came on. Well I checked the oil the next day and it was at the add oil line so I added some oil ( half of a quart ) hope this was not to much and started the bike but the oil light stays on. Dealer said it could be a sensor as they said they have replaced about 4 or 5 sensors for this. Has anyone else had this problem and also do you think I added to much oil as I am not mechanically inclined. Thanks

Can't say about a bad sensor as I have not had that problem. I do have to add a little oil to my spyder between oil changes. Just remember to be on flat surface and check and add when engine is warmed up.

[Sarge707]

nccruiser, on 30 May 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

Can't say about a bad sensor as I have not had that problem. I do have to add a little oil to my spyder between oil changes. Just remember to be on flat surface and check and add when engine is warmed up.

To check the oil properly read manual.
Basically you have to have a warm engine so ride at least 4-5 miles , then bring home, shut off engine , get off bike, start engine and let idle 30 seconds, shut off engine, wait 30 seconds and check oil level.
You cannot idle engine to warm it up- You MUST ride several miles!!

[luv2spider]

nccruiser, on 30 May 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

Can't say about a bad sensor as I have not had that problem. I do have to add a little oil to my spyder between oil changes. Just remember to be on flat surface and check and add when engine is warmed up.

So if your oil level was at the add line how much do you think it will take to put it at the full line. I used about half a quart. Do you think this is to much

[sabunim5]

luv2spider, on 30 May 2011 - 01:00 PM, said:

So if your oil level was at the add line how much do you think it will take to put it at the full line. I used about half a quart. Do you think this is to much

If you checked the oil level correctly and added 1/2 quart, you should be fine. Oil pressure sensor failure is not common, but it has happened with a small percentage of Spyders and should be handled under warranty.

[Roadkill]

+My sensor failed at about 49k.

Ride on.
Roadkill

[zeebill]

Engine oil should be checked after a 9 mile run while it is hot. If you check it while cold the oil has not expanded to its true hot volume and it will read lower and you will over fill it. If you overfill it the oil will froth and bubble because of the way BuRP has the return line designed and the engine can run a bit hot. This can and will cause the oil sensor to give a false reading. Most dealers check the computer and chose to replace the oil pressure sender which more than likely is just reading the bubbles you caused by over filling the trike.

If you get the feeling this is a vicious circle of errors caused by operator overzealous oil checking and filling you are right. I went through three oil pressure senders on my first trike following the lead of the technicians who were just following the computers readouts. It went into limp mode and out of it each time it happened and each time they replaced the sender. They were wrong maybe? I was wrong definitly not allowing the oil to fully heat up and expand to it true full expansion and then read its level. So don't take a small trip downtown and run back home and because the engine temp guage says fully heated up think it is safe to get a proper reading. The oil has not gotten to its full volume like it really should for a true reading.

Now I will never truly know whether the techs were right in the replacement of the oil sensor pressure switch but I sure suspect they weren't! Then they were following protocall reading the computer and more than likely following what it told them to do. The real culprit of the whole situation is the design of the return line to the dry sump tank which causes bubbles and froth in the oil when we overfill the sump tank because the oil is not fully hot and expanded to true volume. If the oil is scavenged from the small sump the way it should be the recipocating parts of the engine should not be causing the froth or bubbles. My next thought is what if we are so badly reading the oil level we are actually filling the engine with so much oil even the tank and engine oil capacity are over stepped in volume? That sure as heck would cause froth and bubbles and over heating that many of us have seen too. If they went away from the engine coolant type of guage for the engine or maybe added to that an oil temperature guage that would surely help judging when the oil was fully up to volume and true measurement was possible.

So if you get oil lights make sure the oil is fully heated and expanded and check for an overfill condition on the trike. It could be sensor but more than likely it is you overfilling the oil! Been There Done That! Bill

This post has been edited by zeebill: 02 June 2011 - 05:32 AM

[trysicl]

Theres no need to ride to get the spyder warmed up. Start it and let it idle, when the spyder is not moving it will warm up pretty quick. The pirate lets mine warm up at idle till the fan kicks on. Also no need to rap the throttle, just let it idle. Fill to the middle of the two lines on the dip stick, not the full line, this helps reduce blow by.

[ulflyer]

Just got my new RT assembled out of the crate and it now has 400 mile on it. Checked oil yesterday by just allowing it to warm up and oil level was frothy and above the full mark about the same distance as between add & full. Ran it tonite 25 miles, pulled in garage, removed helmet, then immediated pulled cover off and checked oil. Just like before....way overfull, but not frothy. I syphoned out about 10 oz and its now down to just a hair over full. Will keep chekc on it.

Do they come with oil from factory, or does dealer add the oil after its assembled?