Oil Level?

[Irv]

its a dry sump a little extra oil won't hurt a thing....id rather be over than under..

and yea that dipstick is messed up

I have read on here countless times that if overfull, it will spew out of the vent line that goes to your filter/airbox?

I am glad to hear that no engine damage can occur (if true?) but having anymore oil than what is necessary is also not the best situation either, but it does beat having oil that is below the hash marks too.

 

[theCATman]

its a dry sump a little extra oil won't hurt a thing....id rather be over than under..

and yea that dipstick is messed up

I have read on here countless times that if overfull, it will spew out of the vent line that goes to your filter/airbox?

I am glad to hear that no engine damage can occur (if true?) but having anymore oil than what is necessary is also not the best situation either, but it does beat having oil that is below the hash marks too.

Ummm... I'm gonna STRONLY disagree that no engine damage can occur just because it's a dry-sump system.

A little overfull (like few oz's... OK) if it's wayyy overfull like a quart or more, that oil has to go somewhere, and it will go in the crankcase where it will be whipped by the crank, foam up, turn to 1/2 air, now the oil can't do it's job as well. It will also build excess crankcase pressure, possibly blowing seals out.

This is a worst case scenerio, but still possible. I have accidently overfilled my Vector and it just blows it into the airbox like Irv said, and then pisses into the bellypan, and leaves a nice puddle on the garage floor. This is ONLY if the one-way valve is working & the line isn't pinched, which is a whole 'nother can of worms that's been hashed over 1,000,000 times too.

 

[Sasquatch]

K the tank is pretty full to begin with adding another quart leaves no room for expansion from heat and foam. I would think that the oil would then start to back up or not be pumped away from the motor because the tank is full and starting to pressurize. Remember the sump pump is a low pressure scavenger pump it would not take much pressure to slow its rate of pumping oil and foam down.

On the pressure side from the tank it still feeds oil at its ussual rate. and as is said if oil level rises enough it starts to foam more which would compound the problem. That foaming also would cause more oil vapor to escape into the airbox from the vent system.

This was our theory on the earlier RX's which if you overfilled them by checking the oil before a ride (hard to get the oil warmed up by idling it, cold oil tends to stay in motor, all of it does not make it back to the tank) instead of at the end of the ride you would always be adding oil. Once I and others started cheacking the oil at the end of the ride we stopped adding oil every ride. Also the airbox stopped having huge amounts of oil in it. The Apex's have a redesigned vent system to keep the oil in the motor and allow less to make it to make it to the airbox. The crankcase should not pressurize if the vent system is working properly. Can it be overwelmed with foam? Don't know!

Could you blow the motor up? Doubtful! Could you blow the seals? Possible! But if the low oil warning light does not work because the dipstick is broken there goes the motor in a heartbeat.

Anyway that was our theory back when the RX's where it! Take it for what its worth!

 

[gottheblues]

Ordered a stick today, hope it gets here soon. I talked to a few mechanics, they all basically said the same thing, if something was going to happen, it should have already. I talked to my mech. today to, he says if it is overfull, it is by less than a cup, which won't hurt the machine at all. I will look at the air filter today to, if I have time. Sucks, we are finally getting some fresh snow, and I get to wait for parts. should have kept my old trail for backup.
Thanks for the continued reply's.

 

[Irv]

Ordered a stick today, hope it gets here soon. I talked to a few mechanics, they all basically said the same thing, if something was going to happen, it should have already. I talked to my mech. today to, he says if it is overfull, it is by less than a cup, which won't hurt the machine at all. I will look at the air filter today to, if I have time. Sucks, we are finally getting some fresh snow, and I get to wait for parts. should have kept my old trail for backup.
Thanks for the continued reply's.

If you want to ride, I would completely drain the oil from the tank, filter and engine drain plugs, tilt front of sled up to get every bit you can, button everything back up after allowing significant time for things to drain, intall new/used filter and add the 3 ltr's or what ever it is that your machine req's then ride it.

I would not be missing riding opp's waiting for this part, adding the recommended amount of oil after a complete drain would be good enough for me and I wouldn't hesitate to ride. (JMO)

 

[gottheblues]

Checked the air filter, there is a bit of oil on it, but nothing that I would be able to squeeze out. The hose has a nice clean cut on it though, wounder how that got there. Taped that up for now. Turns out I can't take some of the screws off the bottom cover, they are tight. Gotta work on it some other time, looks like my weekend got planned for me,lol.

 

[Sasquatch]

Heck I'd just borrow a buds dip stick or one out of a showroom sled and see for sure how much oil is in it! But if its only a couple inches down its a hell of a lot more then a cup overfull. Its a moot point however because you have to get the loose piece thats floating around in your tank so you need to drain it!

You can just drain the tank, take the screen pickup off , check it and get the piece that loose in the tank out, then add a liter plus so its at the add mark. I don't see a need to drain the motor or filter. Idle it for a bit then check it. Add to full or max mark. Having a proper dip stick would make the whole thing a lot easier. I would not run the sled with a piece floating around in the tank. Priority should be to get that out. But thats just me.

That piece in the tank could come back to haunt you if you do not remove it.

 

[Irv]

Checked the air filter, there is a bit of oil on it, but nothing that I would be able to squeeze out. The hose has a nice clean cut on it though, wounder how that got there. Taped that up for now. Turns out I can't take some of the screws off the bottom cover, they are tight. Gotta work on it some other time, looks like my weekend got planned for me,lol.

Not sure of the purpose but it is normal if it looks like this?

 

[Irv]

Heck I'd just borrow a buds dip stick or one out of a showroom sled and see for sure how much oil is in it! But if its only a couple inches down its a hell of a lot more then a cup overfull. Its a moot point however because you have to get the loose piece thats floating around in your tank so you need to drain it!

You can just drain the tank, take the screen pickup off , check it and get the piece that loose in the tank out, then add a liter plus so its at the add mark. I don't see a need to drain the motor or filter. Idle it for a bit then check it. Add to full or max mark. Having a proper dip stick would make the whole thing a lot easier. I would not run the sled with a piece floating around in the tank. Priority should be to get that out. But thats just me.

That piece in the tank could come back to haunt you if you do not remove it.

X2 on the first bold, my thoughts exactly.

Second bold, you're right, I just thought it would best if he started fresh then he would know exactly how much oil he has in there.

And as far as the broken part goes, that is definitely priority one, it must come out before ever taking it for a ride again.

 

[theCATman]

Checked the air filter, there is a bit of oil on it, but nothing that I would be able to squeeze out. The hose has a nice clean cut on it though, wounder how that got there. Taped that up for now. Turns out I can't take some of the screws off the bottom cover, they are tight. Gotta work on it some other time, looks like my weekend got planned for me,lol.

NO NO NO, take that tape off ASAP!!

That slit is there for a reason. Reason being so the crankcase can breathe in case the hose gets kinked, plugged, whatever between it & the airbox.

 

[gottheblues]

Lol, thanks thecatman, thought that slit in the hose looked a little to slick and in the middle of nowhere for an accident, tape is gone. Irv, it looks exactly like that! I like the drain the tank thought, (glad I thought of that, jk) think that is what I am going to do. Only prob is, I have no buddys with a machine like this, so I can't borrow a dipstick, and our only dealer shut the doors down recently. I only know 2 people so far with machines, old ones, and they hardly ever ride because they are busy, and so far have shown no interest in buying a trail pass. They are thinking and researching 4 strokes now though, haha, I am gonna keep poking them, maybe they will pick some up for next year.

 

[gottheblues]

Got the tank off, the oil is draining, is there only the one small piece to look for, or is there more?
One my yz450f I had to check for oil pressure by loosening a bolt close to the head, is there something like that on this motor? Or just pour, check and go.

 

[vx700xtc]

should just be the one round plastic piece if it is in one piece. then fill with oil and fire it up and let it run for a few, shut off, check add if needed and you are good to go.
there are baffles in the tank, you may have to shack, rattle and roll to get it out.

 

[gottheblues]

Good news is I can't find the piece. Bad news is I can't find the piece. I have shaken, rattled, rolled, used the air compressor.. nothing. The only thing I can think of is it came off the stick before putting it back in, but I should have seen or noticed it. Maybe I should fill it up with a solvent and shake it around a bit, might have got stuck somewhere I can't see. I am using a light, and I can see most places.

 

[vx700xtc]

I honestly dont think it would hurt anything if left in, so if you cant find it, it might not be in there. Did you remove the strainer?