Is 80/90w oil bad for Buddy gears?

[sunshinen]

[edited to retitle post]

I seem to have the opposite problem as KidDynomite. Things that hold the oil in my scooter have been trying to jump ship since my 300-mile service.

Question 1: For future reference, are you supposed to change the gear oil every time you change the motor oil?

Question 2: If the dealership just put 80/90w oil in instead of the recommended 85w/140... is that bad (would it make the engine sound rougher when accelerating than I would be used to with having had 85w/140 synthetic in), or might it actually be good given the situation below?

Warning: If your scooter comes back from the first (or subsequent) oil change leaking gear oil, take it back. Ask them to make sure 1.) that the gear drain plug and/or bolt aren't stripped, and 2.) that the gear oil wasn't overfilled.

If you discover for yourself (when trying to avoid having to drive the hour and half one way back to the dealership to deal with a few drops of oil in your parking space) that the bolt/hole is stripped, don't let it go just because draining it and putting in the right amount of oil stops it from leaking.

From my experience, it won't start leaking again (giving you a warning of trouble to come), but one day, on a long and bumpy road, the drain plug bolt will just fall out, leaving you stranded in the middle of nowhere, without your roadside assistance card , reading in the manual that the plug is 8mm thread (with no other info), purchasing a drain plug bolt with 8mm thread at the nice store that lets you in even though they are closed, only to have the bolt fall out on the trip home (fortunately the bolts come in a pack, so you'll have an extra to plug in, add oil, and keep obsessively pulling over to check till you can get home), then being laughed at by the mechanic charging you $100+ to retap the hole and keeping your emergency bolt taped to their paperwork like evidence.

Both times the bolt fell out, I could hear a change in the engine sound when accelerating. When the oil was put back in, the noise went away.

But since it came back from the dealership/retapping adventure, the engine sounds rougher when accelerating. Could this be the difference in oil weight/synthetic oil or is it likely damage from the oil all falling out with the plug??

It still runs great. Still hits indicated 70mph, just sounds louder to me... maybe I'm just being paranoid as discussed here

[ebcspace]

I'm using synthetic oil also, and I think it's possible that the engine is a bit
louder... could be paranoid. if you're hitting an indicated 70, it sounds like
smooth sailing to me. I change the gear oil at the same time as the engine oil. By the way, the same type of filter that fits a Vespa ET4 also fits the Buddy 125. One trade-off is that the filter does not have the hex adapter that the original Genuine oil filter has. Looking forward to those being available.

The great thing about the roadside assistance (gotta have the card) is the peace of mind that comes along with it. I don't worry. 50 miles, right ?

e.b.

[sunshinen]

Thanks ebcspace.

Just to clarify, I had had a synthetic 85w/140 in. And it is louder now with the (presumably non-synthetic) 80/90w that they put in. With this oil, it definitely sounds (to my ears, which are admittedly overly acute in picking up vibration level noises) very similar to how it sounded when the plug fell out and there was practically no oil in there.

My biggest concern is their use of the "Shaft oil 80/90w (sic)," which to my understanding has a very different viscosity than the recommended 85w/140. Is this oil weight bad (even a little) for the Buddy?

I'm worried that this oil is not giving the protection needed, but don't really know much about conditions under which you might actually want to use something other than the recommendend oil.

[edited to add] Actually, it is also making the sound during engine breaking. It's very subtle.

[sunshinen]

Response from Genuine:

Who is your dealer?

I'd use the recommended weight. So no, I don't think you are being overly cautious.

Brett Ratner
Genuine Scooters Dealer Development
877.MY.STELLA

----- Original Message -----

Forgive me if I'm being overly cautious/concerned, but the dealership just replaced the gear oil in my Buddy with "80/90w," and I know the recommended weight is 85w/140. Is the 80/90w an acceptable substitution? The drain plug had completely fallen out while I was riding, so I don't want to do even the slightest bit more damage than may have been done already.

Thanks for either appeasing or validating my concerns,

[sunshinen]

Just got another reply, saying that he is asking the engineering department. I'll keep you posted on the response.

[sunshinen]

Official response:
Our engineer said that 80W90 is acceptable but the thinnest that you should use. Definitely do not use anything thinner.

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I think I'm going to change it out anyway. Just to see if it will make it run a little quieter.

[mlstephens]

I think I'm going to change it out anyway. Just to see if it will make it run a little quieter.

Very good idea, and consider it cheap insurance.

[sunshinen]

Yeah, I'm thinking that since it didn't sound any worse on the draining dregs of synthetic oil than it does on a thinner-than-recommended mineral oil, I'm a believer and nice, clean synthetic is my Buddy's new best friend.