I have a TE511 & I did the oil change recently, with minimal oil. I read extensively on here before I bought the bike and I knew about the oil issue. I also read extensively before changing the oil for the first time. Well, about three rides after changing the oil, I had some oil drip out of the airbox. I looked at the oil level sight glass and there was MUCH more oil than what I put in. My first thought was that the coolant leaked into the oil. As you can imagine, I was not happy about that. So I basically left the bike in the garage for a week because I am working on another bike and do not have the room to start tearing into another one. Well, I looked at the bike yesterday and the oil level is back to normal. What the Hell is going on?!?! I can see the oil level raising slightly due to heat, but not that much. Has anyone had this happen? I keep the oil level at the bottom of the sight glass when on it's kick stand & cold. When the oil started coming out of the air box, the level was at the top of the sight glass when on it's side stand. A week later, the oil level dropped back to the bottom of the sight glass. I just can't see heat making the fluid expand that much. Especially with the mild ride that I had done compared to the two rides before that were much more strenuous (hotter) rides. I did check my coolant and it is fine. It's full & the color is perfect. I bought the bike in October 2015 with 800 miles. It now has 1200 miles. I do not know the service records but it can't be much with only having 800 miles.. One other thing: as mentioned above, I am working on another bike and I have been in the garage A LOT lately. The Husky is always making sounds. It sounds like the fuel pump or something is constantly cycling on for a second or two. Then 10 minutes later it does it again. Is it just my bike bitching at me or does everyone's TE511 do this?? Thanks in advance!
The fuel pump shouldn't run until you touch the button since there's no key. In regards to the oil, it does show an entirely different level cold vs. hot since it's such a small volume and has 2 pumps that tend to hold some oil as it cools. By minimal oil, how much are you running? You may want to consider cleaning your frame and air filter more often instead of a top end rebuild. 900cc is the minimum you should be running. The ZipTy breather and tank kit is really THE way to go. I know they have some in stock too. I run 1200-1300cc of oil with this mod. Imagine starting your day with the glass full rather than at the bottom.
The manual states checking the oil level with the engine warmed up, and then at rest for a period of time after. There's a dramatic difference in the two levels. If when you changed your oil, you did the filter too, it should have had 1150ml as per the handbook. Yes, you will likely get some out of the air filter at that with the standard transmission mounted breather. Moving the breather up to the head will stop that. There's the ZT one mentioned above, and there's a DIY option I did to my own bike that works well too.
I changed my oil last night to get ready for this weekend and loaded up 1250ml. I had been lazy and probably ran an extra 200 miles over when I normally change it. With the larger volume, and the credit card killing magnetic power of the ZTR oil filter cover, I was pleased to see just slightly darker than fresh oil color.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I have seriously considered the ZTR oil kit. I bought some other items from them but I didn't do the oil kit. I tried to call them a few times to ask them questions about it, but I never was able to get anyone to talk to me, they were supposed to call me but they never did..
