2012 Engine dramatically overfilled with oil

kaalsb

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I just brought home a 2012 S10 with 10,000 miles on it. I bought it from the second owner, who had the bike for about 4500 miles. The guy i bought it from said he did an oil change on it himself, and that was the extent of the maintenence he did in the short time he had it. I Just got the bike home yesterday and began to notice a random tick at various engine speeds (only below 5k, but happens when starting from a stop, or randomly at different cruising rpms 2.8-4.5K) I can't tell if it is the valves/ CCT/ or perhaps even the clutch basket, It is a fairly loud click/ clack/ tick that stands out from the rest of the bikes mechanical noise, it doesn't sound quite as loud as the CCT warm up click, but it is very similar.

I just now drained the oil and measured at least 5 quarts of oil, maybe more. I refilled with exactly 3.6 quarts of T6, a napa Gold filter and started it back up. The click/clack/tick is still there when revving the warm engine. I haven't taken it out on a ride after the oil change.

Wondering if the previous owner caused some damage by overfilling the engine oil. After warming it up and shutting it off the oil sits right at the full mark and after about 5 minutes will slowly disappear out of the sight window, i can see why the previous owner may have have thought he didn't put enough in and just kept adding oil.

what do you guys think?
 

EricV

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Welcome to the forum. Please take a minute and fill out your profile with your location. City, state or country, or just state. It helps give perspecitive to your posts and makes it easier to answer questions you may post as well.

The bike has a dry sump engine design. No matter how much oil is in the total system, there is only about a quart of oil in the motor itself at any given time. The sight glass is notoriously inaccurate and is only a good representation of the correct level of oil under the exact method outlined in the owner's manual. IIRC, warm the bike to 160F coolant temp, then shut down and check the bike on the center stand. (I haven't read the procedure in a long while, so may be off a bit).

The bike has a low oil level sensor, not a low oil pressure sensor. Keep that in mind. It is unlikely that the PO did any damage with the over fill. Typically what you see with an over fill is oil in the air box drain tube. It has a cap over it. You can pull that off w/o digging into the air box and it will drain. Or pull the box open and see if there is a oily mess in there.

The clutch basket typically doesn't make any noise. You're really low miles at this point too. The CCT should be replaced by the second valve check at 52k if not earlier. There have been 2 or 3 updates to the CCT since the original 2012 bikes. If you can narrow down the location of the noise, it may help someone to recognize it.

Edit* You do understand that there are 2 drain plugs for draining engine oil, right? One for the engine, one for the sump.
 

cyclemike4

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hello kaalsb. I have a 2012 bike too. I tend to put close to 4 quarts in at every oil change. It looks ok at the oil change in the window then after the first ride the oil is at the top of the window or over it. I have not had any issues with that. I did have a very noisy clutch basket on my bike. Only 3 of the damper springs on the clutch drive plate had tension on them. the other 3 were loose and only had tension on them during hard acceleration. at idle or light throttle running easy it was very noisy to the point it will make you thing something is bad wrong. After changing to a 2014 clutch basket it is much quieter and feels lots better. With that said it is still a rattle trap of an engine. It is hard to get used to but they are holding up great! You do need to check the timing chain tensioner and get it changed if it is not the updated version. Get used to the noise don't worry and enjoy!
 

RCinNC

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Eric: Put it on the centerstand on level ground, warm it up to 140 degrees, shut it off, let it sit for a few minutes, then check the oil level in the sight glass. It should be between the upper and lower marks.

I know this because I have it written on the wall of my garage :).
 

kaalsb

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Thanks for all your input guys, I will check the airbox and drain tube. It was on my list anyway to pull the tank off and have a look underneath. I'm aware of the CCT failures and planned on swapping in the updated tensioner on my first valve inspection. I prefer to do all my own work as i'm not anywhere near any sort of reputable repair shop or dealer, plus it saves me a lot of money.

The sound is a bit tough to capture, it is very intermittent and i can't make it happen on demand, mostly happens while cruising with light throttle, and it does seem to go away when i really get on the throttle. It lines up with your issue @cyclemike4 I'm not experiencing any sort of vibration described in the clutch basket posts, but i understand that my bike has very low miles and has some time before that begins.

I will look into getting an updated clutch basket and will swap that in when i take it apart for the valve inspection and CCT swap.

Any suggestions on where to source an inexpensive basket? I'm in the US.

Thanks again.
 

Boris

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I'm with cyclemike4, mines a 2013 Gen 1 bike and my clutch basket was very noisy, clatter/tick/rattle, drove me mad. Also vibrated at lowish revs. Did quieten off a little on tick over once the clutch lever was pulled in.

I eventually changed the basket for a Gen 2 version which made a huge difference to the quietness and smoothness of the engine.
 

kaalsb

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Typically what you see with an over fill is oil in the air box drain tube. It has a cap over it. You can pull that off w/o digging into the air box and it will drain. Or pull the box open and see if there is a oily mess in there.
I'm finding 3 drain tubes under the bike, the two on the left are cut off at an angle and are fuel evap lines, the tube on the right looks like it isn't going up to the air box. none have a cork on em. Any idea where the airbox drain tube is at?
 

Boris

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Left side (sat on it) look up under tank and there's a clear plastic catch pod thingy, you can remove and replace with long nose pliers with any dismantling. If there's loads of oil backed up, you may want to get some rag stuffed below.
 

kaalsb

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@Boris Found it, thanks. I will wait until i pull the tank next weekend. It looks like there may be oil in the clear bulb, but if i pull it off it will drain oil all over the engine and bike!
 

Boris

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If the catch bulb is full and there's more oil in the air box, then yes it will seep out. However if the tank is lifted you'll have plenty of space and access to restrict the draining with paper towels.
 

EricV

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What Boris said. As for the clutch hub, I've had good luck with Partshark, but there are many others. Search for the part number and several vendors will come up. Looks like $301 is about the cheapest from Partshark, Boats.net and Partzilla. Ebay has one for a little less.

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2BS-16150-00-00
 

kaalsb

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I wanted to update, I pulled the lid to the airbox and found very little oil for the engine being 2 quarts overfilled. The clear bulb on the bottom contained a half tsp. and there was a tiny bit of residue on the bottom of the box. (also checked the spark plugs while I had the tank off)

Engine click has been happening less and less, and mostly seems to be happening after a cold start (and letting the engine warm up a bit). For the first few miles down the road I get a very noticeable click above 3k rpms (but not always). It clicks with the clutch engaged or not, and does seem to fade away when I accelerate hard (though not until high rpms). It really does sound like the cam chain clack at the beginning of a cold start (though not quite as loud).

I ordered an APE manual CCT which I will install next week when it arrives, as i do have a good bit of startup clack.

Trying to hold off replacing the clutch basket as it is costly and I am not experiencing any sort of vibration yet, just really irritating noise.
 

kaalsb

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Well after swapping in the manual tensioner i've go no more noise, At 10,000 miles my CCT was clicking at startup, and even clicking while riding. I haven't read about anybody else complaining about their cam chain making any sort of noise except at startup (or on very high mileage bikes the startup rattle lasts for a long time, even while riding?) I don't know, and i don't care anymore. Problem solved, i'm excited to pound out some miles on this bike now.
 
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