No oil on the dipstick after 500 km, Stella 4T

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Mon May 27, 2013 6:38 pm

Hello all, I'm new to this forum, purchased a 1 year old used Stella 4T with 10,000km on it.

I do all the service on it myself, no issue there. Changed the oil 500km ago, and today, just ny curiosity, I checked my level (yes with the dipstick pulled out and positioned just on the threads) and there was NO oil on it!!! I filled up with quite a bit of oil (forgot to measur just how much I put in).

Is this anywhere close to normal? No noticeable smoke in the exhaust, and no leaks on the driveway... What'S going on?

Thanks for your help!

Luc

Maximus53 · Post by **Maximus53** » Tue May 28, 2013 2:19 pm

lifebeat wrote:Hello all, I'm new to this forum, purchased a 1 year old used Stella 4T with 10,000km on it.

I do all the service on it myself, no issue there. Changed the oil 500km ago, and today, just ny curiosity, I checked my level (yes with the dipstick pulled out and positioned just on the threads) and there was NO oil on it!!! I filled up with quite a bit of oil (forgot to measur just how much I put in).

Is this anywhere close to normal? No noticeable smoke in the exhaust, and no leaks on the driveway... What'S going on?

Thanks for your help!

Luc

This just recently happened to mine. I took it to Scooterworks and they had a tech from Genuine look at it. The end result was "a bad oil filter". The replaced the oil filter and refilled the oil. This made absolutely no sense to me, but I figured i would give it a try. I have put another 200 miles on and no loss of oil so it seems to have been true. Although i am still not sure where the oil went.....

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Tue May 28, 2013 2:32 pm

Wow! Thanks for your reply. It does sound really wierd though... Changed the oil myself last time, and made sur to put the filter in the right way...

Will check this closely now.

fisher1 · Post by **fisher1** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:36 pm

I filled up with quite a bit of oil (forgot to measur just how much I put in).

Are you serious? Do you think maybe you should drain it again and refill with the correct specified amount?

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Tue May 28, 2013 5:11 pm

I'll probably do that if the level goes down really fast let's say after 200 km?

I'll document it better so I can talk to service (i'm still under waranty, but the dealer is 200 kms away, so I try not to go there...)

slotrod65 · Post by **slotrod65** » Tue May 28, 2013 6:33 pm

Too much oil can be a very bad thing...

I would drain it and refill with the proper amount.

I purchased a neato squeeze bottle with a snout from my local Sally beauty supply for adding oil oil :

http://www.sallybeauty.com/applicator-b ... _vc=SEARCH

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Tue May 28, 2013 7:10 pm

Yep! I got basically the same from a kitchen supply store

JohnKiniston · Post by **JohnKiniston** » Tue May 28, 2013 9:30 pm

I just use one of those 'Transmission' funnels from the auto parts store to put oil in my scooters.

fisher1 · Post by **fisher1** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:21 am

I'll probably do that if the level goes down really fast let's say after 200 km?

How will you know if the oil level goes down at all when the level isn't currently showing on the dip-stick?

Really, consider taking Slotrod's advice and drain / refill with the proper oil amount. Then decide what you should be doing after that.

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:28 am

fisher1 wrote:
I'll probably do that if the level goes down really fast let's say after 200 km?
How will you know if the oil level goes down at all when the level isn't currently showing on the dip-stick?

Really, consider taking Slotrod's advice and drain / refill with the proper oil amount. Then decide what you should be doing after that.

No no! I wasn't clear I guess. I did refill it to the normal level, and now I am monitoring closely. It's when I checked it 500km after my oil change, that the level went bellow the dipstick.

For example, I'm now at 200km since this last level adjustment, and it looks not so bad, so makes me wonder what the heck happened...

fisher1 · Post by **fisher1** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:04 pm

No no! I wasn't clear I guess. I did refill it to the normal level, and now I am monitoring closely. It's when I checked it 500km after my oil change, that the level went bellow the dipstick.

For example, I'm now at 200km since this last level adjustment, and it looks not so bad, so makes me wonder what the heck happened...

Ahhhh ! LoL .... sorry I misunderstood ! Is it possible that - like what Maximus said about the filter - that if you change the filter with the oil - that when the engine is started the oil fills the filter and oilways to it - and thus lowers the level so it then needs to be topped off?

After changing oil & filter on a 4T, is it necessary to start the engine, stop it and then top off the oil again?

lifebeat · Post by **lifebeat** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:29 pm

That's a good point. I'll have to try it at my next oil change, but I haven't read this anywhere, procedure wise. But seriously, without measuring, I'm betting that I put in at least 300ml of oil in there when I corrected the level. Not sure 300ml is what if taken up by the filter and the passages... But I would love your idea to be true because it would mean my engine is not kaput

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:46 pm

fisher1 wrote: After changing oil & filter on a 4T, is it necessary to start the engine, stop it and then top off the oil again?

It's even better to fill the filter before installing. That way it is "preloaded" and the engine doesn't start dry.

Modern Buddy

No oil on the dipstick after 500 km, Stella 4T

No oil on the dipstick after 500 km, Stella 4T

Re: No oil on the dipstick after 500 km, Stella 4T