Oil temp light came on twice

[kinger]

Well I finally got some miles on my sled about 350 and no issues at all except this little light. Twice on the last day of the trip the oil temp light came on after the sled had been sitting for a minute or two after a hot run and I was waiting for everyone to catch up. I shut the key off once they got there I fired her up and went and the light popped on instantly. I assume this is because the oil was not circulating around the sender when off and it did register it as hot. I threw a little snow on the tank and it instantly went off, never came on riding, just after a brief stop.

I checked the oil and its about a half qt low, but I screw the dip stick in all the way, I just read in another post to NOT screw the dip stick in all the way.

 

[Grimm]

That's right, you just place the diptick in and resting on the threads. You do not screw it in to check the level.

 

[race24x]

Someone correct me if I amm worng but I thought the temp light was for Antifreeze temp and yes from sitting no circulation the temp will go up

 

[kinger]

There is one for both, this one had the little spout with oil dripping out of it on the dash display.

 

[Black 1000]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I dont think thats oil temp. Machines are not equipped. That should be oil level

 

[RX-1MAN]

I'm pretty sure also that it is oil level low. You are definitely low if it shows half a quart low when dipstick is screwed in. Check it with oil warmed up and dipstick not screwed in and see what you show.

 

[kinger]

Ok thanks guys, heres hoping it wasn't full at the start of the 350 miles!!!

 

[RedRocket]

That light is a low oil level warning light. I assume that it went out after shutting it off for a while because all the oil was pumped back into the tank. A dry sump system will do that. It sounds like it is about 1 quart low.

 

[Len Todd]

One needs to check the oil after the engine is warmed up. And the guys are right on just setting the stick on the threads. And, the oil light is for Oil Level. And, it seems from your description the oil level was very near low.

Now about the oil consumption.... You may want to try filling it to full when the engine is warmed. Then run it several hundred miles (e.g. 500) to see how much oil you are really using. If you are using a quart in < 500 miles, then you may want to do a RingFree or SeaFoam shock treatment to remove the carbon from the rings. If the thing still uses oil after that, then I would consider a compression check. The '03 rings are susceptible to carbon fowling, which if not treated may cause ring failure. The '05 rings are updated to preclude this problem. But typically the shock treatment helps a lot on earlier models RX-1.

If you want more info, you may want to try a search on Rings or Ringfree of Seafoam.

 

[Black 1000]

I do the Shock treatment every fall and both my 03 only burn a tiny bit. I use Sea Foam as Ring free is not available up here

 

[kinger]

Thanks guys, if you read through my turbo post you'll find that this engine was just all apart, it has a 4% leak down and rings were perfect not gummed up. I'm thinking it was just a mis hap where I didn't get the oil tank full and got excited when I got it back running I never checked it throughly. I'm going to get her hot this weekend check it with the stick unscrewed and then add till I get her right on F take her out for a spin on the lake and keep her hot then check it and verify its right at F. Mid Feb were talking about a 500+ mile trip and I should be able to discern if she is leaking or not.

I assume the low oil light is based on temp and comes on when the oil heats up because its a qt low and can't disspate all the heat?

I didn't smell anything, never any blues out the exhaust, so maybe I'm ok and just paranoid.

 

[Black 1000]

After hot you must leave for 5 or so minutes or you will get an incorrect reading

 

[Len Todd]

I agree with your "estimate of the situation."