170i 2,000 Mile Oil Change

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GregsBuddy
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170i 2,000 Mile Oil Change

Post by GregsBuddy »

Hello,
So, I decided to go for a longer change interval than the ~1,600 mile suggested distance because I'm using synthetic oil and change the filer at every oil change. The engine used about 150 CC's of oil in this interval.
The oil drained out quite black and does not give me confidence to continue on this longer interval. I'm surprised given that the scoot' has an oil cooler and filter, and carries nearly a litre of oil, synthetic in this case. Something is aging the oil pretty quickly. Heat from the head overtaxing the oil?
Blow by the rings contaminating the oil? Slow oil flow allowing the oil to get too hot in localized areas? Why the short life?
'09 Yamaha TMAX Large sport scoot.
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Stanza
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Post by Stanza »

What is your riding style? Red line full speed all the time? Lots of stop/start?
GregsBuddy
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Post by GregsBuddy »

I'm pretty easy on it. Rides of 10+ miles at average speeds of 45.
'09 Yamaha TMAX Large sport scoot.
fried okra
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Post by fried okra »

An oil cooler when riding short distances in a fairly cool climate might not be worthwhile.

In essence, your oil might not ever be getting hot enough to boil off water vapor and any other liquid contaminants.

Not saying this is so, but just a thought

fried okra
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Post by GregsBuddy »

I'd agree if I didn't ride much or only rode short distances. I ride this scoot' 3-5 times a week with minimum distances of ten miles. Sitting and stewing, as you note, is a bad thing for oil.
'09 Yamaha TMAX Large sport scoot.
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kmrcstintn
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Post by kmrcstintn »

oil turns dark brown/black as it picks up & suspends carbon and other contaminants from normal operating conditions; the thermal damage that occurs to base oils and additives also turn oil dark brown/black; remember that all 4-stroke buddy model engines are air cooled which means larger tolerances inside the engine to accomodate for material expansion of parts as the engine gets hotter and I suspect blowby of combustion chamber contaminants is increased; another phenomenon is full synthetic oil has a higher detergency than conventional and your oil probably cleaned more contaminants...
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GregsBuddy
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Post by GregsBuddy »

Good points!
The 170i has an oil cooler and the oil is providing more cooling to this engine than the smaller displacement derivatives of this engine.
'09 Yamaha TMAX Large sport scoot.
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kmrcstintn
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Post by kmrcstintn »

yeah the 170i has the added mechanism of the oil cooler in addition to the forced air cooling thru the cowl surrounding the cylinder & head and the wind created over the oil filter while the scooter is moving...makes me wonder how the 170 in the hooligan achieves effective cooling; not sure if it has an oil cooler hidden somewhere in addition to the forced air cooling mechanism

hell...most air cooled motorcycles only get ambient air cooling which loses effectiveness during stop-n-go traffic, hence riders' legs getting toasty; liquid cooled scoots & motos start up rougher in cooler temps yet have longer anticipated engine life due to extra cooling capabilities; one of the oddballs I know of is Suzuki m90/c90 motorcycles...engine is a 1500+cc v-twin with fuel injection and cooling is done with a large oil cooler & an oil capacity of nearly 5 qts (common sump lubrication system does engine, transmission, clutch, and primary drive connected to the drive shaft) vs dedicated coolant based systems on most other liquid cooled bikes
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Stanza
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Post by Stanza »

The Hooligan does have an oil cooler, and it's a proper radiator vs the finned block that the buddy 170 uses. Probably to compensate for it being tucked up into the bodywork.
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Post by GregsBuddy »

The finned radiator-style cooler has vastly more surface area I suspect.
Suzuki built sports bikes and roadsters with oil/air cooling as they advertised. Baked the oil as oil is not the best heat transfer medium.
The oil cooler/oil filter aluminum block widget on the 170i is better than no cooler but may have limited heat transfer capability. On a hot day after riding at ~55MPH, the cooler is still not very hot and one can briefly touch it without burn. This, of course, is not a statement of much merit without data...
'09 Yamaha TMAX Large sport scoot.
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