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Bike Ran Out of Oil- What to Inspect

C

ClimbsRocks

New member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
Ninja 650R
Hi,

In your experience, what should I inspect on my Ninja 650R after it's been running low enough on oil that none appears in the window and it didn't start one morning?

Backstory:

Two part incompetence here: previous owner didn't know how to change the oil correctly, and I didn't bother to check why the oil light was on until it didn't start the other morning.

Looked at the oil window (finally, duh), and it's flat out of oil. Even standing straight up while cold, I can't see any signs of oil in the window, much less between the marks. Lesson learned: Honest, trustworthy seller != good motorcycle mechanic. And check my oil instead of just worrying about it and saying that there's no way it'd need a change after just 2k miles on synthetic. Fool.

I'm going to fill it up with oil, then take it into a shop for an oil change, and ask if they see anything else wrong with it.

But if you know anything else I should look for, or anything else I should tell them to inspect, please share!
 
If you rode it for any significant amount of time with the oil light on I would expect the cheapest solution would be to install a "new" used engine.

Drain the oil, if you notice metal particles or any material in the oil then your engine is likely dead. I'd just drain, fill it up and take it to a shop but they likely won't do too much.

If I bought a bike like that, I'd expect to have to replace the engine, but I'd probably drain the oil first, see if there is anything in it, if not, then I'd replace the oil and filter and then see if the bike starts up and the oil light goes off and there isn't any funny noises from the engine. If the oil light goes off and the engine doesn't make any odd noises I'd make sure to check the oil often and listen carefully for any odd noises.
 
I boggles my mind that there are still plenty of people who do not know that if the oil light comes on, that's a serious situation and the engine should be shut down immediately as is safe to do so.

OP: If you were riding around with the oil light on, it's likely that the engine is ruined. Just like my wife's girlfriend who destroyed here cherished Volvo's engine by thinking that the oil light was an indication of low oil level and she thought she'd get some oil added in a day or so. A very hard lesson learned.
 
BayAdventurer said:
Hi,

In your experience, what should I inspect on my Ninja 650R after it's been running low enough on oil that none appears in the window and it didn't start one morning?
Click to expand...

If it's an older bike, it might not be that bad. The older kawi's incorporate AFS, Automatic Fluid Sharing, when the oil gets very low. If you continue to ride it after the oil light comes on, the cooling system transfers some fluid into the cylinder head to allow lubrication. That is why an ethylene glycol based anti-freeze is important in a street bike. It is very slippery stuff.

Man there has been a lot of these "ran out of oil" postings lately.:party
 
Chances are it's toast. Yeah throw some oil in it and see, but if it's not turning over and you ran it on a check oil light, you are almost certainly looking for a new motor. Rebuilding is not an option ( unless you would rather spend $2-3k for a rebuild.
 
So it ran fine riding the bike home, then didn't start in the morning?

If you lean the bike towards the oil window side, can you see any? Lean it even farther, can you see any now? If the light never came on we can't be that's why it wont start. For all we know the reason it won't start is something not related to the oil. But yes, you should check that more often.
 
Mid-point update: It had oil in it, just not nearly enough (I'll measure how much it was missing after I've got the oil in it. The oil light was on the entire time I've owned the bike, and the oil that came out is black. You can only see that it's a synthetic if it gets spread super, super thin. But, there's no metal shavings that I can see, or debris of any other type.

Thanks again for the help!
 
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bricknerd said:
So it ran fine riding the bike home, then didn't start in the morning?

If you lean the bike towards the oil window side, can you see any? Lean it even farther, can you see any now? If the light never came on we can't be that's why it wont start. For all we know the reason it won't start is something not related to the oil. But yes, you should check that more often.
Click to expand...

Correct, it ran home fine, but didn't start a few mornings later. There was a tiny bit of oil way, way down in the bottom of the window, and when I went to change the oil, it looked like there was still at least a liter that came out (I'll measure soon). The light has been on the whole time I've owned the bike, which is why I never did anything about it til now.
 
I suspect the cam journals are toasted and the bearings are shot.
 
A quick search suggests your bike has a low oil pressure light not a low oil light. If the low oil pressure light ever comes on during normal operation, your oil is dangerously low or there is a problem with your oiling system.

Because you decided to run your bike with the low oil pressure light on, chances are very high that you've done permanent and irreversible damage to the engine.

Here's what I'd suggest... Replace the oil. Use a wrench to crank the engine over a few times and see if it frees up. Start the engine. Idle it for a bit. Pull an oil sample, and see what the lab results show. This is the absolute cheapest way to check the condition of the engine.

When your oil runs low, usually the first thing to go is the rod bearings on the big end of the rod. Getting at these bearings requires a complete disassembly of the engine. Paying a shop to do it would not be cost effective, and it's very unlikely you'd be able to get the engine back together yourself, even if you did get it apart.

Do *not* ride the bike, even if it starts up. The kind of damage cause by a low oil condition usually won't cause the bike to die immediately. It takes a little while for the bearings and rods to fail completely. When they do, the engine usually seizes, which will easily result in a crash.
 
Damn. Thanks for the info on the damage that's likely done, and for the warning not to ride it. I've replaced the oil and the engine's not seized up, but the low oil pressure light is still on. It still won't start either, though I haven't tried for more than a handful of seconds.

I'll keep trying to see if I can get it to start, and then take an oil sample. Will most definitely not be riding it for the near future.
 
The low oil pressure light will remain on until the engine is running at normal speed. If it continues to stay on with the engine idling at 1000RPM or so, it means that you have a problem with your oil system.
 
OP, where are you located? If you want a non-$hop opinion, you can swing it by our private shop and we can take a look before you get :leghump

I've got the Kawi diag stuff here as well. :thumbup
 
There is a very small chance the light is a false warning and the non-starting is unrelated, how much oil did you drain out of the bike? If you could still see some in the window things may be OK. How many miles did you ride with the oil lamp on?

Lack of oil often leads to horrible noises and seized engines, it doesn't sound like either of these happened.
 
SD Hornet said:
If it's an older bike, it might not be that bad. The older kawi's incorporate AFS, Automatic Fluid Sharing, when the oil gets very low. If you continue to ride it after the oil light comes on, the cooling system transfers some fluid into the cylinder head to allow lubrication. That is why an ethylene glycol based anti-freeze is important in a street bike. It is very slippery stuff.

Man there has been a lot of these "ran out of oil" postings lately.:party
Click to expand...

Woah, hold on a second. Did you just seriously say that Kawasaki's older bikes would automatically ruin the engine with coolant if the oil ever got low? Do you have any documentation or reference to show that this is in fact what Kawasaki did? Because what that sounds like to me is an automatic head gasket destruction device. Free milkshakes for all!
 
SD Hornet said:
The older kawi's incorporate AFS, Automatic Fluid Sharing, when the oil gets very low. If you continue to ride it after the oil light comes on, the cooling system transfers some fluid into the cylinder head to allow lubrication. That is why an ethylene glycol based anti-freeze is important in a street bike. It is very slippery stuff.
Click to expand...


:rolleyes :wtf

Automatic Fluid Sharing is the lubrication fluid sharing between the gearbox (trans/clutch/drive) and crankcase (motor). Where did you find that it's Cooling Fluid?

:thumbdown
 
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