Gear oil overfilling... still a common problem?

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Fri Mar 02, 2018 8:55 pm

Grumble, grumble... I've had this scooter for nearly 12 years and have never found a shop that can do a reliable oil change.

Just took my scooter in for a new starter and said yes to the upsell on the whole service and oil change... and now my back tire is an oil slick. I'm guessing it's overfilled gear oil, again.

Is overfilling still a common problem with the shops? Having bought one of the first scooters in a showroom, I'd hoped that once Genuine was a more established brand, this problem would go away. I really want to like my local shop, I really do... They seem like cool/nice people, and I know they'd make it right if I took it back in, but sometimes taking it back in is just more trouble than it's worth and this isn't the first time that's happened. Sigh

Back to the usual DIY, I guess.

But geeze it's gorgeous out. YAY spring!!!

Clydeo · Post by **Clydeo** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:06 am

To be honest, changing the gear oil on a Buddy is so easy that I have never even thought of having a shop do it! I use a medical syringe to measure and fill it. I have the syringe marked, so I canâ€™t recall, but I believe that the owners manual has two amounts listed: one for the original fill, and another lesser one for a change, as you canâ€™t really drain all of the oil out. It would be worth checking the manual to see if Iâ€™m right or not. I have owned so many bikes over the years that itâ€™s hard to keep them all straight! But if two amounts ARE listed, the mechs might not realize it.

vintagegarage · Post by **vintagegarage** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:11 am

Yes, a common problem. Many scooters, especially Hondas, have the correct level of gear oil, when the gear oil just barely runs out of the fill hole. If you fill the gearbox in a Buddy with oil until it runs out the fill hole, you will have way too much gear oil in the gearbox, and the oil will run out and all over the back tire the first time you go for a long ride.

Sounds like your local shop isn't a Buddy dealer. Have them download and read the free service manual PDF available at the scooterloungeonline.com. You are supposed to fill the gearbox with the exact amount of oil by measuring it, not by filling it until it runs out the fill hole.

There are many youtube videos showing how to do it correctly. Go on youtube and search for genuine buddy gearbox oil and watch the first one. Note the use of the torque wrench, and also the use of an oil syringe to measure out the correct amount of oil

DeeDee · Post by **DeeDee** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 3:04 pm

The final drive uses 3.7 ounces of oil. Most shops pump it out of a bulk container. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't. Engine oil is the same thing. With such low capacity, it's important to measure it out to the drop. PM me if you want reliable service at 1/3 the cost of *****ique.

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:50 pm

vintagegarage wrote: Sounds like your local shop isn't a Buddy dealer.

Oh, but they are... half their show room is Genuine.

(And I've done plenty of my own oil changes. It's just the principle of paying the dealership to do the job, then having to redo it ... particularly when I had them do it because I just had a Murphy's law kind of move and had no idea where all my oil change tools were).

GregsBuddy · Post by **GregsBuddy** » Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:15 am

sunshinen,
THIS is why I also do as much as possible myself. Dealer tech's can be very poor mechanics. I'm NOT a mechanic but I'm fastidious and can do simple mechanical work up to at least valve adjustments and belt/rollers/guides. I've worked on scooter cylinder heads before as well. Bodywork removal and installation is the bane of my mechanical existence.

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Wed Mar 07, 2018 5:08 am

another thing to monitor with shops is gear oil weight...buddy calls for 140 wt in owners manual & 85w-140 in service manual; one of the dealers in my area uses 80w-90 and claims to have had no issues...

last season I ran an experiment for @ 500 miles running a 50-50 mix of 80w-90 & 85w-140 to see how the scoot would handle it...the rear wheel spun easier during cool temps but my magnetic drain plug had noticably more metal attached to it; I will stick with a good 85w-140 or synthetic 75w-140...currently trying Klotz 75w-140 American V-Twin synthetic hypoid transmission lube (GL-5 rated)

ucandoit · Post by **ucandoit** » Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:14 pm

I'm planning to change the gear oil this spring. I have not been measuring how much drains out. I just drain, then add 90cc. Do others recommend measuring how much drains out?

GregsBuddy · Post by **GregsBuddy** » Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:17 pm

Measuring what comes out may allow you to know what was in there, but shouldn't dictate what you put in, as you note, 90cc.

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:33 pm

ucandoit wrote:I'm planning to change the gear oil this spring. I have not been measuring how much drains out. I just drain, then add 90cc. Do others recommend measuring how much drains out?

I never do. In this scenario, it just shows that it's leaking because it was overfilled rather than starting at the proper 90cc and leaking.