Re: oil light came on...
Pterodactyl said:
I had an oil light flicker the other day and I'm not concerned about there being a problem, however, after reading this post I do have a question.
From your explanation of a dry sump system, I've drawn the conclusion that a dry sump is less susceptible to problems with overfilling the oil. I came to this conclusion because of my understanding that the principle problem of an overfilled crankcase is oil frothing from the crank stirring-up the too high oil. With a dry sump the excess oil is going to be in the sump and not where it can become frothed, I believe. Of course, the amount of overfill has its limits. Is my reasoning correct?
Yes.
Also, it seems that bikes with a wet sump and a crankcase breather can cause oil to go into the airbox if the oil is overfilled. Will this happen with the dry sump on a S10?
Yes, to a lesser degree. The Super Tenere, at least the 1st Gen bikes, do exhibit some excess oil in the air box after high rpm running for longer periods, or if over filled. Its a good idea to check that drain tube on the left rear corner of the air box now and then. I forgot to for a while and ended up with a minor code, but that may have also been due to a cracked vacuum cap too. The 2nd Gen bikes, (2014-on), apparently are less susceptible to this issue. Different pistons and rings, among other changes.
Some owners on the forum have reported just tossing in 4 quarts at oil/filter change times and not worrying about it. I still prefer to do the spec'd 3.6 quarts, but see no real issue with their method. I suspect they may have a bit more oil in the air box drain than I see, but that remains unknown. The engine will pull what it needs and that volume will remain static, w/in engineered parameters. More oil won't mean more oil in the engine, so no issues with frothing as would happen in a wet sump design.
Koinz said:
I always thought that Oil in the air box was from lugging the engine or wide open throttle where crankcase pressure iexceeds engine vacuum.
I think that's still true here, but a little more oil than spec'd may simply cause some additional fluid to end up in the air box too when those conditions apply. We have legal 80 mph speed limits here and if I'm running that or a bit more all day I do tend to notice some oil in the drain at the end of the day, (
or when I remember to check it next ).