Is this High Oil Usage??

[DaniBoy]

2010 Rotax 998 SE5. How much oil do these things use?? I changed the oil over the winter. I used BajaRon’s filter kit and 4½ quarts Mobil 1 10W40 Racing 4T, which is JASO-MA2 compliant. I also have Ron’s oil catch using the glass fuel filter with foam. Seems like every 1000 miles or so I need to add a pint of oil. No smoke coming out the exhaust, and no oil drips on my garage floor. Is this normal for these motors?

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Yes. It’s well known by owners and previous owners that the 998 will consume oil faster than one might think. That’s why the manual advises to check oil level every 300 miles. A pint per 1000 is not bad at all and it varies based on riding style. Just follow the proper procedure when checking. RMWL.

[ARtraveler]

As mentioned above, the 998 twins are known to use a bit of oil. Not uncommon. The suggestion to check oil on a regular basis is a good idea.

[Peter Aawen]

2010 Rotax 998 SE5. How much oil do these things use?? I changed the oil over the winter. I used BajaRon’s filter kit and 4½ quarts Mobil 1 10W40 Racing 4T, which is JASO-MA2 compliant. I also have Ron’s oil catch using the glass fuel filter with foam. Seems like every 1000 miles or so I need to add a pint of oil. No smoke coming out the exhaust, and no oil drips on my garage floor. Is this normal for these motors?

As has been said above, that's pretty much 'normal' for these motors, if not actually 'really good', cos some will use more like a quart every 1000 miles or so!! And they'll use even more than that if you ride them really hard!

But it's not such a bad thing really, cos you know that when the motor's using oil like that, it's getting that oil into all the places it needs to go to minimise wear during operation, and you've gotta remember that these things are relatively high revving high performance motors designed in an era when tight tolerances didn't help motors achieve or sustain high revs... So using some oil like that is courtesy of the design.

[BajaRon]

It takes about 20k for the 998 to fully break-in. Oil consumption should go down steadily until about 15k, then go down slower to around 20k. If you keep the RPM's high and ride hard, you'll use more oil than a more conservative rider. A lot of shifting and RPM changes (like riding the twisties) will burn more oil than cruising long distance at the same RPM even at freeway speeds.

A pint every 1,000 miles is not excessive, depending on how many of the above factors fit your riding style.

[pegasus1300]

Totally normal.

[NorwegianRT]

Sorry for jumping in. My 998 use oil like this also, but I did at one point overfill with new oil.
Manual states : DO NOT OVERFILL. What kind of damage can this cause ??
The Spyder was ridden cpl of days with this level.

[Mikey]

Sorry for jumping in. My 998 use oil like this also, but I did at one point overfill with new oil.
Manual states : DO NOT OVERFILL. What kind of damage can this cause ??
The Spyder was ridden cpl of days with this level.

When you say you over filled it, we have to know what you are calling over filled, one qt, one pint, one gal?

[BajaRon]

Sorry for jumping in. My 998 use oil like this also, but I did at one point overfill with new oil.
Manual states : DO NOT OVERFILL. What kind of damage can this cause ??
The Spyder was ridden cpl of days with this level.

Depends on now overfilled it was, how far it traveled, and how hard it was ridden. Overfilling starts with putting small amounts of oil into the airbox. Over time this leads to carbon buildup on the valves, top of the piston, and rings. If you really overfill. You can blow out seals and start leaking oil from various places in the engine. Usually the valve cover gaskets go first.

[NorwegianRT]

Depends on now overfilled it was, how far it traveled, and how hard it was ridden. Overfilling starts with putting small amounts of oil into the airbox. Over time this leads to carbon buildup on the valves, top of the piston, and rings. If you really overfill. You can blow out seals and start leaking oil from various places in the engine. Usually the valve cover gaskets go first.

Thank you for info Ron !
I was not that highly overfilled and I have not been riding hard either. It looks dry around the valve cover gasket also, so that is good. Going for a valve adjust next week at the dealer and the gaskets will be replaced with new ones also. I will tell the dealer about the over fill when I get there so he can check for damage.