Attempting my first oil change!

[YukonMP]

Keep your magic beans.

Yamaha will replace for free any snowmobile engine that fails before 100,000 miles or 20 years that is maintained according to their recommendations using Yamalube and OEM filters. I'm not loosing sleep over not changing the filter out every time and only provide information and an opinion.

To each his own, whatever floats your boat.

 

[SqueezeER]

I’m new to this whole 4 stroke thing coming from Polaris’s my whole life. With that said I’m not new to oil it’s what I sell for a living. Oil is the lifeline of any motor and huge strides have been made in the quality and technology of oil. It’s a relatively small price to pay yearly to get it changed as well as the filter. Think of all the hot and extreme cold cycles it goes through on a snowmobile and then sits in the pan for 6-8 months a year not being used. Also I’m imagining that Yamaha oil for these machines is full synthetic which is the only thing to run in anything from a weed whacked to a truck. I only have a hundred miles I picked mine up at 5 o’clock on the last night we were there which somewhat sucks because I’m going to be forced to have a dealer do it while we are on our next trip. I would rather learn the procedure and gain a better understanding of the mechanics of what I own.

Exactly and that's why I wanted to try it myself. Good points.

 

[SqueezeER]

Well I went into the dealer to pick up my new windshield, and I talked with them about the oil change. They said that Yamaha wants the dealer to do the first oil change for warranty purposes as they need the case oil and magnets cleaned, as well and an inspection of other areas. Whether that's 100% accurate or not, I'm not gonna argue with the guy. I'm kinda glad I don't have to change it now anyways. Pain in the #*$&@.

 

[Joe blk viper]

Well I went into the dealer to pick up my new windshield, and I talked with them about the oil change. They said that Yamaha wants the dealer to do the first oil change for warranty purposes as they need the case oil and magnets cleaned, as well and an inspection of other areas. Whether that's 100% accurate or not, I'm not gonna argue with the guy. I'm kinda glad I don't have to change it now anyways. Pain in the #*$&@.

I understand and it’s peace of mind. It’s just hilarious the difference in dealer opinions. I asked mine if it was ok to do myself he said of course it is. I asked if I should keep receipts he was like no Yamaha does not ever ask for stuff like that. He is a large volume dealer in UP of Michigan who I definitely trust.

 

[blueironranger]

Keep your magic beans.

Yamaha will replace for free any snowmobile engine that fails before 100,000 miles or 20 years that is maintained according to their recommendations using Yamalube and OEM filters. I'm not loosing sleep over not changing the filter out every time and only provide information and an opinion.

To each his own, whatever floats your boat.

Unless a dirty filter is so dirty that its causing a big oil pressure drop then it's actually filtering better than a new filter. Unless you have a major engine issue, gas engines just don't "make" enough junk to clog up a filter that quick. At work we have switched to oil monitoring instead of just changing oil and filters every 500hr on 2000hp+ diesel engines. Oil changes have been extended well past 1000hr now without any service life lost and the machinery has pressure sensors that check the pressure drop across filter bank, 2-3psi drop on fresh oil and 2-3psi drop @ 1000hr+ on the oil, and Diesels are a lot harder on filters. Point is, if Yamaha says 10,000miles then change it every 10,000 or less as your bearings would have to completely shot to plug up a filter of that size.

 

[PITA]

I’ll be doing my first oil change on my new winder soon myself. While you may have a great dealer my opinion is, if a dealer were to ever deny a warranty claim because I did the first service, 10th service or 100th service that would be the last sled bought from that particular dealer. I get where they are coming from but I’d be willing to bet I’m going to be a hell of a lot more particular than a tech making 12 dollars a hr. Just my .02

 

[Joe blk viper]

Unless a dirty filter is so dirty that its causing a big oil pressure drop then it's actually filtering better than a new filter. Unless you have a major engine issue, gas engines just don't "make" enough junk to clog up a filter that quick. At work we have switched to oil monitoring instead of just changing oil and filters every 500hr on 2000hp+ diesel engines. Oil changes have been extended well past 1000hr now without any service life lost and the machinery has pressure sensors that check the pressure drop across filter bank, 2-3psi drop on fresh oil and 2-3psi drop @ 1000hr+ on the oil, and Diesels are a lot harder on filters. Point is, if Yamaha says 10,000miles then change it every 10,000 or less as your bearings would have to completely shot to plug up a filter of that size.

What you are saying does make good sense. However the fact that is you guys are doing oil analysis and testing to keep millions of dollars of equipment running well is what truck companies logging miles should do. This definitely helps because one persons truck that goes 5000 hours another’s can be going 5000 hours and different conditions and environment. Snowmobilers are not doing oil analysis at least any I know anyhow. I’m no viper expert but I’m guessing that there is an idiot light no actual digital pressure gauge and even so people are not monitoring it. Like I said what you guys are doing is spot on. My argument is that even excellent oil will break down it still may be within specs and oil requirements but changing it yearly is a safe alternative to “potential “ issues. IMO adding a filter is only a good practice