I was doing an oil change on my smr449 yesterday and when i opened up the screen filter closest to the oil drain point i found a heap of what seemed to be metal flakes (didnt have a magnet so couldnt check) in the oil and on the filter. There wasnt any in the other screen filter or main oil filter compartments though. My bikes got just under 14000kms on it (nearly all commuting with the occasional hills ride) and seems to be riding fine. Can anyone shed some light on this? Im hoping its not to serious!
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Hi everyone,
As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.
When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.
Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.
Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.
Thanks for your patience and support!
metal flakes in oil
- Thread starter gopie
- Start date
I noticed something similar on the cylindrical screen filter of my 310R on its first oil change. Had about 2 relatively easy hours on the clock at the time.
As a cheap and easy way to help monitor what's going on internally in my motors I drain my oil through those disposable strainer funnels that painters use (www.amazon.com/Professional-Full-Flow-Disposable-Strainer-Funnels/dp/B00A3EK25Q).
Since my 310R's first oil change I haven't found anything except for a bit of "fuzz" on the drain plug's magnet.
As danny318 mentioned, it's probably nothing serious but if were my bike and there was lots of the stuff I'd take it easy and perform another oil change PDQ.
If more crap comes out I'd start looking for the source of problem preemptively rather than riding around wondering when the big seize might occur. Good luck.
As a cheap and easy way to help monitor what's going on internally in my motors I drain my oil through those disposable strainer funnels that painters use (www.amazon.com/Professional-Full-Flow-Disposable-Strainer-Funnels/dp/B00A3EK25Q).
Since my 310R's first oil change I haven't found anything except for a bit of "fuzz" on the drain plug's magnet.
As danny318 mentioned, it's probably nothing serious but if were my bike and there was lots of the stuff I'd take it easy and perform another oil change PDQ.
If more crap comes out I'd start looking for the source of problem preemptively rather than riding around wondering when the big seize might occur. Good luck.
Attachments
Got any pictures? The 449/511 runs pretty clean in my experience. How much metal and how big?
Maybe run some cheap oil in it for a few miles then drain again. If something's coming apart, you'll have more metal.
Then again, any oil is cheaper than a major rebuild.
Then again, any oil is cheaper than a major rebuild.
Thanks for the reply guys. I also had the bit of 'fuzz' in the oil during my first oil change but theres been pretty much nothing since then. Unfortunately i didnt take any pics but there was quite a bit of metal (im still assuming it was actually metal) in very fine granules, just big enough to differentiate individual flakes. I guess around the size of sand granules (maybe a little bigger). I thought it was a bit weird that it was only located in the one screen filter though. Im going to do an oil change again as soon as possible to see if theres more. Unfortunately i cant stop riding the bike as its my only transport! Ill post an update after dropping the oil again.
As I'm sure you know get the oil up to operating temp immediately before draining.
I've found quite a bit of additional oil will drain out if, after removing the small skinny filter screen, I free up the rubber oil line that connects to the barbed fitting and extend it straight down towards my drain pan.
With the magnetic drain plug and barbed fitting still removed I then put the the bike in 3rd and using the clutch make a couple easy, half-hearted attempts to push start it. Obviously the goal's not fire up the bike but merely turn the motor over a few times which make it spit and dribble the last bits of oil out.
Actually if you perform this procedures both ways on a slight incline quite a bit of oil wil come out so plan accordingly on how to capture or it (or hide your deed).
After performing the above and cleaning my Scott's filter I reconnect everything and refill the motor with exactly 30 ounces of Castrol Edge 0W-30 Syntec. Works perfect every time.
I've found quite a bit of additional oil will drain out if, after removing the small skinny filter screen, I free up the rubber oil line that connects to the barbed fitting and extend it straight down towards my drain pan.
With the magnetic drain plug and barbed fitting still removed I then put the the bike in 3rd and using the clutch make a couple easy, half-hearted attempts to push start it. Obviously the goal's not fire up the bike but merely turn the motor over a few times which make it spit and dribble the last bits of oil out.
Actually if you perform this procedures both ways on a slight incline quite a bit of oil wil come out so plan accordingly on how to capture or it (or hide your deed).
After performing the above and cleaning my Scott's filter I reconnect everything and refill the motor with exactly 30 ounces of Castrol Edge 0W-30 Syntec. Works perfect every time.
Centerline
Husqvarna
AA Class
Oil analysis:
Just one link to one of a number of businesses who can analyze your motor oil
http://www.motorchecklab.com/what-moves-you/recreational-vehicle-engine-oil-analysis/
Just one link to one of a number of businesses who can analyze your motor oil
http://www.motorchecklab.com/what-moves-you/recreational-vehicle-engine-oil-analysis/
Kenneth Webb
Livin' It Up!
Changed oil today after the first real trail ride on my 310. It just received the full Zip Ty treatment and had 5.2 hours. Normal fuzz on the magnet and just a few discernible flakes on the lower screen. Stainless filter was clean. I expect nothing but fuzz next time, but the engine is still new. There may be a few more bits lurking in there somewhere.
Checked my mileage carefully after the ride and I got 54mpg! Trail riding is going to give me a range over100 miles! Much better than I expected.
Checked my mileage carefully after the ride and I got 54mpg! Trail riding is going to give me a range over100 miles! Much better than I expected.
Cybercycle
Husqvarna
AA Class
Hi! Had a tc449 with the same issue on the two first brake-in oil change. My friend who was working for husky at the time told me it was normal in the brake-in period but after two or three oil changes I should only get some fuzz on the magnetized drain plug.