I'm hoping someone might be able to solve the mystery as to why my sc33 cbr900 engine doesnt ever appear to have an oil level on the dip stick.

engine is installed in a westfield megablade.

I keep getting an oil pressure warning light appear briefly when braking or going around a roundabout.

Even after a long run out to warm everything thoroughly there is barely any oil on the lowest mark on the short dip stick.

Even after topping up a small amount of oil before or after each run out and its the same each time, in total in the last 4 months the engine has had 5L of oil in total.

Yet there is none on my garage floor or where i park the car up before and after each drive, i've looked for any cracks or splits to the sump, signs of a leak.... but nothing?

Any suggestions greatfully received.

TIA

Perhaps something is stopping it draining from the head back down to the sump?

Id be worried about the oil light being on does it have a baffle in the sump?

Are you getting blue smoke out the exhaust ?


[Edited on 7/8/17 by Nathsx]

The OP warning light comes on for a second then off again, its obviously oil movement related so there's a lack of oil or too much movement of oil.

Has only been an issue for last few months, never had this issue before and nothing in the set up has changed

Car was sold with apparently a baffled sump.

Where i store the car i dont have the space to pull the sump off and take a look, so thinking I'll order up all new seals and gaskets and have a garage confirm if the sump is baffled or not....

No blue smoke, car runs as it always has

[Edited on 7/8/17 by Tartanpimpernel]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tartanpimpernel
The OP warning light comes on for a second then off again, its obviously oil movement related so there's a lack of oil or too much movement of oil.

Has only been an issue for last few months, never had this issue before and nothing in the set up has changed

Car was sold with apparently a baffled sump.

Where i store the car i dont have the space to pull the sump off and take a look, so thinking I'll order up all new seals and gaskets and have a garage confirm if the sump is baffled or not....

No blue smoke, car runs as it always has

[Edited on 7/8/17 by Tartanpimpernel]

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Red light means low oil pressure which may be a direct result of low oil in the sump, the mystery is where is it going if you are topping it up.
Drain it, fill it up with correct quantity, check levels
I agree with earlier post, is it filling the top half of the engine or leaking out to another part.
Check water for oil
Check oil cooler

thanks for the replies all,

always ran the car on silkolene comp4 10w40 as previous owner did

checked the water and oil cooler, nothing untowards there.

Now its vaguely sunny, just jacked the car up and got a camera underneath to try and snap some pics

seems sump is ok





but since I last checked it looks like I'm losing oil through a seal ( strangely nothing has ever dripped onto the garage floor )





time to order a new seal & gasket set from Honda

Is the leaking oil burning off as the engine warms?

Neighbours MX5 was weeping oil from a failed rocker cover gasket. The weeping oil was running down the outside of the cylinder head and burning off on the exhaust manifold. So no visible oil marks beneath the car.

Thinking further the oil low pressure light coming on under braking and on roundabouts sounds like oil is slopping around in the sump.

As mentioned above, should the sump itself have a baffle of some kind to prevent this?

Are there any breathers? It could be a build up of crankcase pressure which is forcing the oil out of the seal when you're out blatting but not when trundling home or sat on tickover?

Good idea, ive a catch can which is empty, but will check the pipework to see if there's any restrictions

Many years ago I had a Kawasaki Z1000 that used 1l of oil every 500 miles. No leaks or smoke to be seen. Might have running out the back when I stood it up on it's back wheel

Well cleaned the oil up from the above pic and went out for a run, checked when i got back and same oil leakage, so will see if Honda sell the seal i need or if its part of a 'pack' only.

Could be its not the main cause but good to rule it out....

quote:

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Originally posted by Tartanpimpernel



Well cleaned the oil up from the above pic and went out for a run, checked when i got back and same oil leakage, so will see if Honda sell the seal i need or if its part of a 'pack' only.

Could be its not the main cause but good to rule it out....

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Hopefully cant hurt !

Anyone know how much of a job it is ?

Oil level is definitely odd, hoping a drain and start from scratch refill with recommended amount of oil will give me a level on the dipstick and or let me see how much I'm missing/losing..

Does the engine sit at the same level in the car as it does in the bike?

If not there is a good chance the dips tick won't be showing the true level .

Also once a bike engine is fitted to a car without a dry sump system most need to run a overfill on the engine oil,are you sure this is what you are not missing?

As above bike engines do tend to use oil without showing smoke out of the exhaust, Yamahas like my R1 engine use quite a lot!

trouble is I dont know what amount of oil is in the engine currently

so a full drain and refill will let me get it to the correct amount and then the overfill I've seen recommended on here

You can run upto a ltr overfill on a R1 without causing issue's.

Overfilling will never be as risky as driving it with the low pressure light coming on anyway!

Leaks or not you need it to be higher than the low mark on the dipstick to be anywhere near enough
That should stop the light coming on after a top up?
If not then you have a bigger problem

Where its going is either on the floor or burning. But 5L is a lot to burn unlwss the engine is knackered, so the leak might be worse that it seems