Oil Change X-Town 300 - a cautionary tale

[Neil955i]

Today was the day for a routine oil change on my X-Town, 400 miles overdue, but better late than never.  All went very smoothly until I drained the old oil into the container I use for that purpose and found, lurking in the bottom, the crush washer!!

Yes I had, by this point, replaced the sump nut and filled up the oil, all one litre of it.  Blast!  I'm figuring the crush washer is there for a purpose so there's nothing for it but to drain all the oil again so I can replace it.  Now a stroke of luck.  By chance I'd left the dipstick screwed home and as a result the engine oil only came out relatively slowly.  It was messy, but I was able to remove the sump nut, replace the crush washer and screw it home again with only about 10-15 centilitres dumping into the oil pan.  Yay!

So to rephrase the old carpentry axiom about measure twice, cut once, I suggest a mental tick list of ALL the steps in an oil change to avoid the sort of schoolboy error I just made.

[Stig / Major Tom]

The nightmarish one is, of course - getting distracted and not replacing the oil!
Not every scooter has an oil pressure light. My Burgman 400 didn't....."because it had needle bearings"....or some such.
AND  the gear oil back in!
Stig

[Neil955i]

Thanks for the empathetic post Stig, it was a numpty-ish thing to do. At the very back of my mind I even thought “oh, no washer”, but it just didn’t register loud enough. For sure I won’t make that mistake again.

[CROSSBOLT]

Ooopps!

[Iahawk]

I think we've all been there! at least you got out of this one with only a little mess and additional oil. You'll hear some say to capture the drained oil in a clean container and reuse (in a situation like yours)..but I can't ever bring myself to reuse any oil!

Thanks for the reminder to always be fully aware of what we're doing.

[Ruffus]

@Neil, good to read it went all well.
Next time (hope not) if something like that happens, simply lay the scoot (on kind of cushions or on a meadow) completely on its right side down.
Thus oil is then sumped there and you can easily change / arrange on your oil plug without spilling.
Had this on my GD (split washer), worked well.
Then, before you start the motor let it run back into the sump again for a few minutes.

[Neil955i]

@Neil, good to read it went all well.
Next time (hope not) if something like that happens, simply lay the scoot (on kind of cushions or on a meadow) completely on its right side down.
Thus oil is then sumped there and you can easily change / arrange on your oil plug without spilling.
Had this on my GD (split washer), worked well.
Then, before you start the motor let it run back into the sump again for a few minutes.

Ruffus, we can always rely on you for an outside of the box solution to problems!  It never occurred to me, but next time (aargh!) if there's a mattress handy...

[Ruffus]

@Neil, I'm sure will not happen again. Just in case.....
Also if you have to change for example your standart oil plug against one with an magnet inlay, same procedure.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Ruffus, we can always rely on you for an outside of the box solution to problems!  It never occurred to me, but next time (aargh!) if there's a mattress handy...

I wonder if one can go "over and back" without troubling the tilt kill switch, pressing panels not built for the weight, or having fuel and/or oil running somewhere unintended by the manufacturer?
No thank you... I'll just pull the plug and deal with the mess....which of course will teach me to not let it happen again.

Stig

[Neil955i]

Having gently laid down a Triumph Sprint 900 on its side once at the IOM TT (long story), I know it can be done without harm, but generally, I’m with you Stig, best avoided.

[mrmike]

Today was the day for a routine oil change on my X-Town, 400 miles overdue, but better late than never.  All went very smoothly until I drained the old oil into the container I use for that purpose and found, lurking in the bottom, the crush washer!!

Yes I had, by this point, replaced the sump nut and filled up the oil, all one litre of it.  Blast!  I'm figuring the crush washer is there for a purpose so there's nothing for it but to drain all the oil again so I can replace it.  Now a stroke of luck.  By chance I'd left the dipstick screwed home and as a result the engine oil only came out relatively slowly.  It was messy, but I was able to remove the sump nut, replace the crush washer and screw it home again with only about 10-15 centilitres dumping into the oil pan.  Yay!

         
So to rephrase the old carpentry axiom about measure twice, cut once, I suggest a mental tick list of ALL the steps in an oil change to avoid the sort of schoolboy error I just made.

        Thanks for that tip Neil. I'll be doing the first oil change on my X-Town nwxt week.

[Neil955i]

        Thanks for that tip Neil. I'll be doing the first oil change on my X-Town next week.

Well if I've saved you the embarrassing faux pas that I committed Mike, my work will not have been in vain!