High Rate of Oil Consumption

[KeithInAurora]

Hi All. I have a questions for those of you who are more adept at Spyder maintenance than I am. I am having an issue with burning oil. I read the thread that was started last year about how much oil the Spyder uses, and it seems like I am burning more than average amounts. I have about 1700 miles since my last oil change on my 2010 RT SE5 and my oil is down over a full quart. It seems like oil consumption is normal on the Spyders, but I haven't seen anyone talk about being over a quart low in under 2000 miles. So I was wondering if anyone has any guidance on whether I'm just unlucky or if there's something more seriously wrong with my Spyder.

I do not have any visible oil leaks and there are no oil marks on my garage floor under the Spyder, so it's not leaking externally. Similarly, I am not noticing any of the telltale signs of burning oil internally (blue smoke or oil smell in exhaust). I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and may have a suggestion as to why I might be burning so much oil?

Thanks,
Keith

 

[chuck gross]

Just to make sure you are checking it after reaching running temperature and letting it idle for around 30 to 40 seconds before shutting it off
and checking it right away before the oil drains back out of the tank they can be a little finicky to check the oil

 

[Chupaca]

Two things..!!

make sure you are checking your oil correctly...I like to do it right after a ryde... And check it after 300/500 miles. Most can not say how much in 1,700 miles cause they are topping off after 500 miles or so. I can't tell you myself...I just top off and keep ryding. If it is not smoking out the exhaust or puddling on the floor your fine...:thumbup:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

YES IT MAY

:agree:.....Of course it does vary somewhat .......But the 998 engine did use oil at a higher rate than I would consider normal.......Both my 08 GS and My 2011 RSS used more oil than I was happy with ....................Better keep a closer eye on it than you have been so you get an idea of it's normal consumption rate .......JMHO....Mike :thumbup:

 

[Highwayman2013]

That's why there is some oil left over after a change with the oil change kit . Check it after a long ride it usually only needs a couple ounces. There is about 3/4 quart left after I fill it after an oil change(SE5) and I don't use all of it before the next change.

 

[BikerDoc]

I have never added oil to any of my three Spyders in over 100,000 miles so this seems strange to me but one member of our riding group on a trip to Maggie Valley had to add a quart after 300 miles or hard mountain riding, so there is obviously a lot of variance Spyder to Spyder on oil use.

 

[ARtraveler]

All of my 998's used a bit of oil. I recommend getting in the habit of checking the oil right after a ride every 500 miles or so. The :spyder2: will be up to the right operating temperature. After a few times, it will become old hat and very easy to do. You will also have peace of mine once you know the consumption rate on your particular machine.

 

[Silvervette05]

All of my 998's used a bit of oil. I recommend getting in the habit of checking the oil right after a ride every 500 miles or so. The :spyder2: will be up to the right operating temperature. After a few times, it will become old hat and very easy to do. You will also have peace of mine once you know the consumption rate on your particular machine.

:agree:

 

[Bob Denman]

Checking the oil on the 998s, is just one of those things that you have to get a bit used to doing more often. :shocked:
And I'm sorry that I even have to say that... :gaah:
I loved my 2010 RT; but it did burn about a half a quart between changes too.
Yours is burning more, and that may be at least in some part due to how you ride... Maybe??? :dontknow:

 

[KeithInAurora]

Thanks to everyone for the advice - I guess I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on my oil level. I don't ride very often (mostly just weekends) and I don't ride very hard, so I'd be surprised if the oil consumption is due to how I'm riding, but I do live in suburban Chicago, so there's a fair amount of starting and stopping as I ride through town. In the end, I ended up having to put 1 1/2 quarts of oil in to get back up to snuff.

The funny thing is that the oil warning light did not come on to give me a heads-up on my oil situation. I figured out I had a problem when the Spyder wouldn't shift out of 1st gear. I found a thread on Sypderlovers that suggested that might be a low oil issue, and sure enough it was. Once I put a quart in, I was able to shift gears again. Now I'm worried about what damage may have been done when the oil level was that low. :sour:

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: Oh! That's not a "Low Oil Level" warning light...
It's a "Low Oil Pressure" light...

 

[pkeller58]

That still doesn't explain the issue as to WHY the engine uses oil without leaks or blue exhaust smoke. Why does the 998 use oil?

 

[troop]

That still doesn't explain the issue as to WHY the engine uses oil without leaks or blue exhaust smoke. Why does the 998 use oil?

You're looking at an 11 year old post

 

[Peter Aawen]

You're looking at an 11 year old post

True dat! ^ Which is why it ALWAYS pays to check the date on the First post in any thread AND the last few posts in the thread before replying; but that said, if you're adding to the knowledge base or furthering the discussion in the thread, it's not such a bad idea to keep all the posts on the same subject/topic in the one thread - just don't ask a question of posters who haven't been around for all of those years; who might not be with us any longer; &/or who might still be here and posting, just haven't seen the thread/their posts for ages; and expect a rapid response...

That still doesn't explain the issue as to WHY the engine uses oil without leaks or blue exhaust smoke. Why does the 998 use oil?

However, in answer to the question without trying to get too deeply into it, it's basically because the 998 V-Twins are high revving, high performance engines that NEED a little room between the cylinder walls and the pistons/rings to allow the rotating bits to move as fast as they do and change direction as fast as they do in order to develop the power they can (and they can produce a fair whack MORE power than Can Am allows them to in their strangled & de-tuned Spyder guise ); as well as to cater for the fairly small but in the overall scheme of these things, pretty significant changes in size &/or volume as the temperature increases, both in the oil and in the components themselves; and all of that combined means that 'a little smear of oil' on each stroke is an essential sacrifice in order to lubricate those fast moving components and to help make sure the compression stays where it's meant to!! And when you use/sacrifice 'a little smear' in a couple of cylinders rotating at 8000 or maybe more RPM, and probably burn off a few more of the combustion contaminants produced due to the higher temps, compression, et al, it doesn't really take too long for that 'little smear' to add up to something noticeable in the way of a drop in the oil reservoir level.

If you do a bit of research on it, you'll find that a little oil usage like these engines use is fairly common on these fewer cylinder high revving high performance engines and less common on engines with more cylinders, lower overall revs, and basically slower moving pistons and rotating components, but even larger multi-cylinder engines tend to use more oil when they work harder/rev faster. The Rotax 1330's just don't rev as hard as the V-Twins need to in order to make power, even if the 1330's are large enough (in a few ways) to make scads of torque from fairly low revs; nor do they rev as hard overall, so they can get away with finer tolerances and generally less heat, so they don't NEED to sacrifice so much in the way of 'a little smear of oil' on each stroke; which means they aren't as hard on their oil nor do they need to sacrifice quite so much oil that their oil usage is usually all that noticeable.

 

[pkeller58]

True dat! ^ Which is why it ALWAYS pays to check the date on the First post in any thread AND the last few posts in the thread before replying; but that said, if you're adding to the knowledge base or furthering the discussion in the thread, it's not such a bad idea to keep all the posts on the same subject/topic in the one thread - just don't ask a question of posters who haven't been around for all of those years; who might not be with us any longer; &/or who might still be here and posting, just haven't seen the thread/their posts for ages; and expect a rapid response...


However, in answer to the question without trying to get too deeply into it, it's basically because the 998 V-Twins are high revving, high performance engines that NEED a little room between the cylinder walls and the pistons/rings to allow the rotating bits to move as fast as they do and change direction as fast as they do in order to develop the power they can (and they can produce a fair whack MORE power than Can Am allows them to in their strangled & de-tuned Spyder guise ); as well as to cater for the fairly small but in the overall scheme of these things, pretty significant changes in size &/or volume as the temperature increases, both in the oil and in the components themselves; and all of that combined means that 'a little smear of oil' on each stroke is an essential sacrifice in order to lubricate those fast moving components and to help make sure the compression stays where it's meant to!! And when you use/sacrifice 'a little smear' in a couple of cylinders rotating at 8000 or maybe more RPM, and probably burn off a few more of the combustion contaminants produced due to the higher temps, compression, et al, it doesn't really take too long for that 'little smear' to add up to something noticeable in the way of a drop in the oil reservoir level.

If you do a bit of research on it, you'll find that a little oil usage like these engines use is fairly common on these fewer cylinder high revving high performance engines and less common on engines with more cylinders, lower overall revs, and basically slower moving pistons and rotating components, but even larger multi-cylinder engines tend to use more oil when they work harder/rev faster. The Rotax 1330's just don't rev as hard as the V-Twins need to in order to make power, even if they are large enough (in a few ways) to make scads of torque from fairly low revs; nor do they rev as hard overall, so they can get away with finer tolerances and generally less heat, so they don't NEED to sacrifice so much in the way of 'a little smear of oil' on each stroke; which means they aren't as hard on their oil nor do they need to sacrifice quite so much oil that it's usually all that noticeable.

Thanks so much for that answer. Very informative. Now I know.