Triumphrat

MelUK · 10-09-2008, 01:11 PM

Since I got my RS about 8 weeks ago, I've I only checked the oil once every 10 days or so. I hadn't noticed a problem. Today I had the bike on the centre stand to adjust the chain, took the bike out, and then came back and put it back on the stand to check all was well with the chain. I'd noticed the gear change was a bit clunky today, so I tweaked the clutch and gear linkage and as I put everything away, took a quick peek at the oil level. Erm. Empty. Not a drop on the stick. Dry as a bone. I got a torch and peered in, and could just seen a slight green sheen to the metal surfaces. Oh heck. Where's all the oil gone?!? So maybe I was right to worry about the rattle, cos something over the last 10 days seems to have used up all my oil.

Loosehead · 10-09-2008, 04:01 PM

Hi Mel,

Sorry to hear about you loss of oil.
How long was it since your last check? Has anyone complained that you've left nasty deposits on their drive/car park etc?
I've had two Sprint RS's, my current one is Caspian Blue, and I've never come across a total loss like yours. Have you started it up after refilling?
Here's hoping it hasn't caused any damage.
Regards,

Martin.

johnny · 10-09-2008, 04:45 PM

Not to imply anything of you....but are you fully-screwing in the dipstick to check oil level?

DaveM · 10-09-2008, 04:47 PM

If it was me and I had a worrying noise i would have been checking that everyday.

I hope you haven't got anything terminal going on there.

DaveM

MelUK · 10-09-2008, 07:33 PM

Initially I checked the oil every few days. Once it seemed OK, I dropped back to less often. It's probably 10-14 days since the last check.

The rattle has always bugged me, but I took it into a Triumph dealer and they checked it out and said it was normal. I posted about this before. I still thought it sounded bad but was reassured when the head tech said it was a great bike for the money.

The bike has only ever been parked up in my garage really, so the oil must have been burnt rather than dumped. I even checked the bike recently during runs and I know it wasn't smoking at all once warmed up, so I'm totally baffled. Apart from the rattle since I got it, which I am told is normal, it's been fine and was running fine today. It just suddenly is coming up empty, even fully screwed in, over a matter of days. I'm totally foxed.

I have the choice of sourcing a filter and draining the system and refilling with a new oil, or finding somewhere that sells the Mobil 1 4T that was put in at the last service 6 months ago and just topping it up. Unfortunately, my nearest Triumph/Mobil dealer is 90 minutes drive away, so I don't think I'm going to know any more til the weekend.

BTR01 · 10-09-2008, 07:56 PM

Hey MelUK,

I hear you man! That does sound puzzling. Just one question (and I'm not trying to be a smart a**, either). When you checked the oil, was the bike sitting flat on the ground, or on the center stand? I ask because a few weeks ago I thought that my bike was low on oil, so I rushed to my local Triumph dealer (in Worms, Germany) to get some oil. They pointed out to me that the bike should be sitting flat on the ground, and not on the center stand (which is how I was measuring it). I've since then looked in the manual, and it says the same thing (but in pictures). So if you were doing what I was doing, then you might be reading like I was reading it. Once I did as they told me... yeah, so now I've got a full quart of oil sitting on the shelf.

Hope that this helps. Good luck!

mulvaney · 10-09-2008, 08:37 PM

If you've been caning it, you might have some oil in your air filter. Probably not enough to lower the level on the stick, but I would look there too.

KitNYC · 10-10-2008, 02:10 AM

My old motor burned oil, so I know this from experience: no oil on the dipstick does not necessarily mean an empty sump! About a quart down is when it stops showing up on the dipstick.

Cheers,
-Kit

MelUK · 10-10-2008, 01:11 PM

Thanks for the comments, guys. I was testing it on the centre stand, but even on the floor there was still no oil visible on the stick. I was screwing the stick right in.

A bit of an update. Amazingly I found an ex-Triumph dealer not too far from me that still had 1.5l of Mobil1 4T left in an old 4l bottle, which they sold me for a few quid.

I slowly topped up the oil until it read near the top of the hatched area. It took just over 500ml, about half a quart, to get there. I took the bike out for about 25 miles, came back, let it sit for a couple of hours. Now it's dropped a bit to nearer the bottom of the hatched area. I'm not saying that's "gone", maybe redistributed. So anyway, I topped up to full again, which took another 250ml. I then checked how many miles the bike has done since it's service a few months ago - 1200. So that's not good if it's using 750ml or more for 1200 miles, but I guess it's not catastrophic either. The dealer today said they used to tell owners that the 675 engine used about a litre per 1000 miles!

I'll keep an eye on it, but it does seem I'm using more oil than I expected, but at least it wasn't as serious as I first thought!

I didn't think they still made vehicles that used oil. I haven't had to top up a car for over a decade!

UlsterSpud · 10-11-2008, 12:54 AM

[QUOTE=MelUK;1133020]Thanks for the comments, guys. I was testing it on the centre stand, but even on the floor there was still no oil visible on the stick. I was screwing the stick right in.

Mel, when you say "on the floor" is that on the side stand or straight up? I check the oil by setting the bike on the side stand, remove and clean the dip stick and then screw it back in fully. I then hold the bike upright for about 30secs before setting it back on the side stand to check the stick. My bike does not register on the dip stick while on the side stand.

Too much oil may be as bad or worse than low oil.