Oil change, how difficult?

[carcus1]

I just purchased a 2009 venture lite, Ive heard its a big job, can't be any worse than changing the battery on my venture gt rs? Are there any videos or instructions on how to do the change.

Thanks
Jason

 

[Mooseman]

Welcome to TY.

It's not that bad. The worst is getting to the oil filter. If I can do it with my large paws, anybody can. Filter pliers are a must. You have to remove the air box, disconnect the temp sensor and move the idle adjuster out of the way. Actually, you should do like me me and just move the adjuster:
A better place to put the idle adjuster

Despite what the manual says, you should also drain out the block's sump via the drain plug. For that you have to remove the bottom plastic skid plate.

 

[BACK COUNTRY YAMAHA]

Be very careful when removing the oil tank drain bolt, if the previous owner over tightened it, you could twist off the adapter that the drain bolt screws in. Thus a oil tanks replacement or repair! I too bought a used multi purpose and that's how I know. Also good to use a torque wrench when installing the drain bolts. If your lite has a lot of mileage, there is a screen in the outlet line on the bottom of the tank you might want to check for dirt! cheers!

 

[Mooseman]

Just remembered another IMPORTANT one. Make sure the oil filter O-ring has come off with the old oil filter and hasn't stayed on the mount. A few have destroyed their engines when they didn't check for that and had double stacked O-rings.

 

[carcus1]

Thanks guys, I was a member for years but forgot my password and my old email

 

[carcus1]

What type and weight of oil should I use, I've used yamalube in my big venture but is it any different than the synthetic I can buy on sale at Canadian tire or oilmart?

 

[Mooseman]

I've always used Mobil 1 0w40 European formula. Great oil. As long as it has a good amount of zinc, it's fine.

 

[BACK COUNTRY YAMAHA]

Stay away from any automotive brand oils, remember that engine is turning over 11,000 rpm full shift, using a oil only designed for something only turning over 5000-6000 rpm not doing any justice to your engine. When the rx1 first came out guys used car oil and soon found out how good the oils were that they used, when they started to smoke and consume oil! Yamalube 0w30 is what I used in a 2006 vk pro 19,000 Kms and now in my 2009 multi purpose , it was designed and spec for Yamaha four Strokes! Also the Yamaha oil filter is good for 20,000 Kms as per owners manual after initial change@800 Kms . Cheers!

 

[Mooseman]

Don't throw a grenade unless you're ready to get it back and you have to dive on it!

That is utter BS! I've used Mobil 1 for the past 8 years and have +14k km on my MP. I take it regularly to 12k RPM and it hasn't blown up. In fact, I had it analyzed a couple of times and nothing out of the ordinary was found. Both of my sons with their Phazers also use it and they ABUSE their sleds. Lots of other people here have used it and are still ticking. Heck, in all the years I've been here, I haven't heard a single engine failure attributable to the oil.

As long as it doesn't say "Energy Conserving", it will be fine but one with a higher zinc content (or ZDDP) is better, like the European Formula, is better.

This subject has been beaten to death. Use what you want and put forward your opinion but please don't fear monger like Yamaha and their dealers. These engines are so reliable, they could probably run on bacon grease. Even Yamaha's repair manual doesn't say to use Yamalube. Attached are screenshots from their repair manual.

PS: Yeah, I use 0W40, which is not the recommended weight. I'm probably losing 0.5HP because of the oh-so-slightly thicker oil but I get better lubrication as a trade off.

 

[YukonMP]

I went with Yamalube for the first oil change for two reasons ... didn't want to give them any wiggle room on the warranty and I hadn't found the time to read all that is said in this forum on this topic. Now that I'm off warranty and have done my homework I am very comfortable with Mobil1 0w-40 European Formula. I'm a big believer in 0w- over 5w- also.

It bears repeating that several engines have been lost or put at risk by the stacked o-ring phenomena and I've never heard of engine failure due to the owners choice in oil.

 

[BACK COUNTRY YAMAHA]

Whoa, no need to be on the defensive, all because you don't see or hear it on this website doesn't mean it's not so, Here on the island we seen instances of oil consumption due to wrong spec of oil used in earlier rx1. Use what oil you want as long as it has the proper api service as stated in the manual. For me I just use the yamalube always did even in the two stroke sleds! Cheers!

 

[Mooseman]

Alright then, on other sites, I've read about Yamaha R1 bike guys using Rotella T6 truck oil and are happy with it. Only reason I'm not using it is because they don't have a 0W weight. I've done tons of research and there's nothing special about Yamalube. It's a good oil with a good additives package but nothing really special.

Quite possible that the early RX1 owners did not have the info we have today. Most car oil has little to no zinc due to environmental requirements and most cars don't need it nowadays but we know now that we need it.

When you start a sentence with "Stay away from..." or "Don't use....", I see it fear mongering unless there's hard facts to back it up, like "Don't use Energy Conserving". Probably a better way to say it would have been "I don't use automotive oils because....).

Just sayin'

 

[BACK COUNTRY YAMAHA]

No worries all comments are welcomed, this is how all members help each other out whether it be modification or mechanical issues or just wanting to express their opinions about the experiences they had with their Yamaha four stroke be it good or bad! Cheers!

 

[carcus1]

Where are you guys buying the Mobil1 0w-40 European Formula?

 

[YukonMP]

You are in luck fellow Canuck ... Canadian Tire, on sale till the 10th for $36, down from $60. Sometimes they do 50% off. That is a 4.4l jug and the front label clearly identifies it as European Formula(which actually means it meets manafacturers specification for cars I can't afford).