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Engine running without oil ..

13K views 77 replies 22 participants last post by  addimatty  
#1 ·
Hey! So I had unfortunate situation yesterday as I went for a race, did qualification, all good. Before going to 1st moto checked the oil level (as I changed it in the previous evening before race day), the level was perfect. But then after 6 minutes in moto 1 the engine became quite loud and I could not figure out the problem, did ride for 3-4 more minutes max, finally stopped and noticed that apparently I did screw in the oil drain bolt by hand and forgot to tighten it (I was helping simultaneously my brother to help fix his bike + we had some friends over at the garage and lost focus on my bike as I had to help him and stop doing my stuff) - > so in the end the bolt was missing and there was no oil at all left
sad
sad
sad
sad
I dropped of the bike to my mechanic but has anyone had any experience with this? The engine did not seize up, but I assume Im looking at new main bearings, rod, piston, cylinder, clutch? and in the best scenario hope that the transmission isn't fooked up? I hope the camshafts should not be fooked up either? Feeling so stupid, guilty and angry about myself, wanna hit myself a couple of times
sad


And does anyone know any reputable companies who could repair cylinder/cylinder head and its journals)

P.S. bike only has 30 hours
ermm
(Husqvarna FC 350)
 
#8 ·
Thanks for answer! I already left bike at mechanic so he can carefully take apart top end, inspect everything and then go to bottom end, transmission, clutch etc. Dont wanna run it as the bike is so fcking close for me and I do not want to do any more damage :(
 
#18 ·
I had a white/blue/red MX one with a front and rear jack up kit, I thought I looked like Dave Thorpe....er maybe not!
 
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#6 ·
Hello @addimatty & welcome

Wait until you get older.......I make more mistakes than I ever did when I was young. Check....check and check again. I hope you get things sorted, without great expense.

Where are you in the world? Might help locate local mechanic/company?
 
#26 ·
my mate's an engineer,after riding for a few hours one morning he said the bike didn't sound right [2013 450 exc]
checked the oil window,nothing,went to mine and put over 1 litre in
he'd only finger tightened the sump bolt before the ride that morning
botttom end was fine,needed new camshaft and two valves
he got off lighly

i always go through in my head what work i've just finished on the bike
 
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#31 ·
Ohh wow, that would be so nice if I could get through only with camshafts and smth else. But its hard to believe after few hour ride that piston/cylinder would be fine, bot even talking about cam journals/cylinder head?
 
#27 ·
I never but a bolt in an engine hand tight, its either not in the engine or its in the engine and torqued up. Screwing bolts in by hand and then thinking 'I'll torque it up in a minute' is asking for trouble!
 
#28 ·
I'm like that for any screw / nut / bolt or any bike. I pick up the tool I'm using before I start the thread. Way too easy to forget.
Was loading up one of my mates bikes who had just done a tire change & rim lock was loose. He said yeh, i'll do it at the track. I had to go grab a spanner and do it then & there.
Also have a scraps of paper i write lists and leave on the bar pad of things i need to do or if i'm half way through a job write myself a note of where i'm up to before heading in.

Same for mixing 2T - duct tape the cap on the fuel can and write on it how much oil / fuel is needed if it's not already done.(i also date it but that cause i'm a sad engineering twat)
 
#34 ·
I can remember starting my Young Thick and Stupid (YTS) apprenticeship in 1984 as a "vehicle technician". I was servicing a car and dropped the oil and put the sump plug back in finger tight before going for my butties. The foreman marched into the canteen and booted my butty box across the room and dragged me back to the car ( Rover v8 sd1) and explained to me "a sump plug is either in or out, not finger tight"...........i've never forgotten that.
I wasn't that bothered as my mum had made me sandwich spread that day and I fuckin hated that shite !😕
 
#39 ·
You may have damaged your cylinder head and it may require replacement depending on year. Newer engines have soft metal linings and not ball bearings which can be replaced. Oil is pumped up to the head and the head tends to get damaged first due to the low level oil not having the ability to reach the top of the engine (some engines are designed to do this as the head is cheaper then the top end). KTM sells a head kit for this reason and sells whole engines.
Friend of mine built a customers bike who drowned it and didn’t drain the water and oil. Rode it home, needed a new head on a 2020 cost over 1200 to repair.

I tend to fit locking wire to my bikes sump bolt and always fit a new plug/oring/gasket on my cars. I also carried out a modification on a fleet of trains to fit locking wire to the gear box sump plug. Fed up with techs not fitting back correctly or them just falling out. Makes a mess and cost £££££££.
 
#40 ·
Couple of trackday horror stories based on [mention]KevInYorks [/mention] and [mention]dantheman [/mention] comments...

My mate had a K&N oil filter go on his R1 flat open into T1 on the south track at Yas Marina Circuit... luckily able to hit the kill switch and get it stopped despite his back wheel being covered in oil. Think it had been overtightened and split.

There was another [emoji90] bike shop related incident or two at Dubai Autodrome... side oil plug on the S1000RR liable to rattle out apparently, bike just back from main dealer service... dumped all its oil on the entry to the bus stop chicane that goes from National to Club circuit section, three bike pile up, three trashed bikes and riders. One still has a really bad limp. Not oil related but there is also the tragic case of one of the riders going for the brakes on the back straight (flat in 6th on my CBR600, he was on an Aprilia RSV1000R) to find they weren’t there. Was racing for one of the local bike shops, they had changed the pads and hadn’t lock wired them. One had rattled out, poor guy never stood a chance.

Torque, Loctite, Lockwire where required...
 
#41 ·
A mate bought a used wr450 from a large bike garage, the boss of which had disturbingly served his apprenticeship on the big road racing teams and people to this day pay strong money for their engine and suspension expertise. My mate came back from his first 100 miles or so of greenlaning complaining his new bike wasn't running right and was hard to start. I started looking through it for him, several half done up bolts and for some reason the fuel screw was wound in pretty much onto the seat making it too lean. I went to drop the oil and there was maybe a quarter of a cup in there :D Testament to Yamaha quality it was fine with some oil, fuelling in the right ball park and the various falling off bits attended to. It didn't use a drop of oil, so I'm guessing someone had dropped the oil, put the sump plug back in and forgotten to refill it. Hope the OP is as lucky (y)
 
#42 · (Edited)
Thinking about it.. I actually do often put the sump plug back in just hand tight as that is part of my drain routine.
I like to get as much out as possible so it's sump first (then frame if it has a frame tank), then filter and finally back to the sump. This is because often the oil lines will only drain once the filter is removed (my van is like this), so a little more runs back to the sump after the filter is pulled.

I could drain the sump last but I like to drop that oil first to get as much of any suspended crud out before it has a chance to drop out and settle. I could also use two oil drain bowls but who does that.

I have never left a drain bolt loose but I remember when I was 18 doing an oil change on my car and I started to fill the engine and I didn't even have the sump bolt in. Couple of litres of fresh Castrol GTX went down the driveway.. Dad was well impressed.
 
#47 ·
It had a good advert to, 'liquid engineering'...whatever that is!

It was the only oil good enough in my Dads eyes for his 1.8 Morris Marina! (What a 'crock' that car was!)
 
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