Please help: oil change, how badly did I screw up?

[phillyjay]

Hello
Changed my oil today (I am not mechanical at all, but have done this in the past.) I have a 1989 Honda Shadow vt1100 with 27000 miles on it, that had been running fine, although a little hot. (have been hearing the fan more frequently.) I read on-line my bike takes 4 qt. oil so that’s what I put in, ran more or less fine for 15 min. (although clutch felt a lot softer.) then oil light came on for the first time sense I’ve owned the bike (16 years) rode the final 4 min home. Oil seemed to be leaking from the filter. My fear is that the bike doesn’t take 4 qt (can’t seem to find the exact answer on here.) if that’s the case, what do I do now? Thanks for you’re your help.
Jay
[/b]

[Gumpy]

Jay

Most of the Hondas take about 3 1/2 qts, so if you added 4 qts, that's not seriously overfilled. But you don't want to overfill any vehicle, it can cause the spinning crank to whip-up the oil into a foam and then you don't have a good oil layer in the bearing journals. You didn't ride long, so probably not a problem.

Sounds like your bike took care of "purging" the extra oil, and that's not so good. If your oil light comes on in ANY VEHICLE, STOP IMEDIATELY and find out what's wrong! From what you describe, it seems you have a leaking oil filter.

Did you install a new oil filter when you changed the oil? If you did, did you check that the rubber gasket from the old filter wasn't stuck to the engine? This happens sometimes, just happened to me this weekend when I changed the oil in my pickup.

So whenever you remove an oil filter, check for an old gasket stuck on. Wipe the sealing surface on the engine to make sure there's no gunk, dirt, debris, etc. on the sealing surface. Take the new oil filter and dip your finger in fresh oil and wipe it all around the seal on the new filter, then screw it on by hand until you feel the gasket just touching the sealing surface, then tighten it the recommended number of turns - it should say on the filter package and/or the filter itself. This is usually 1/2-3/4 of a turn from touching. Oil filters for all the vehicles in my household - 3 cars, 2 bikes - all say 3/4 turn.

When refilling the oil, you NEVER add a specific amount, always fill the sump to the FULL mark on the dipstick. On all Hondas (I think) the dipstick should be unscrewed, removed, wiped clean, and inserted WITHOUT screwing in to check the level, just dip & check. The oil level should also be checked with the bike level, not on the sidestand. If your '89 has a centerstand, check it on that.

If not, here's a trick I've read often on this forum: while on sidestand, remove dipstick, wipe clean, and set back in hole (not screwed in). Sit on the bike, and pull it upright and level, set it back on the sidestand, and pull out the dipstick to see where the level is.

After you've filled the oil to level, start the bike an let it run a minute or so and look for any leak at the oil filter seal. Shut the bike off and let it sit 5-10 minutes to let the oil drain back into the sump. Re-check the level with the dipstick as mentioned above. You always have to add a little more, since you've filled up the empty filter when first started.

Gumpy

[rat]

If you did, did you check that the rubber gasket from the old filter wasn't stuck to the engine?

+1

[SHADOW 1100T]

Gumpy gave good advise on the how to's, the 1100's take 3.8 qt's with filter, 3.4 with out, if you put 4 qt's in you didn't hurt a thing, chances the 2/10th's of a Qt were still in the bottles, take your filter off and clean it and the engine like Gumpy said and install it using 3/4 turn, clean it real good so you can see if it leaks, Top it off to the dip stick mark, run it looking for leaks and the oil light going off, it should in 2 to 3 seconds, that should do it for you.

[litnin]

One thing to add to what Gumpy said...

Fill your oil filter BEFORE putting it back on the bike.
You should do that with any engine.

Some engines are hard to do and you can only fill the filter up half way
without it spilling out... but some is better than none.

With an empty filter, the pump has to fill that cavity before it lubes the
engine. That is just that much longer your internals are without oil.

[Gumpy]

Originally Posted by litnin

Fill your oil filter BEFORE putting it back on the bike.

Yeah, I used to do that long, long ago with cars/trucks, but I live in the northeast - roadsalt and "autobody cancer". Engines now WAY outlast the body and undercarriage. I'm always able to drive my junkers to the scrap yard to get the best price! I think I'll go back to it for the bike though.

Thanks litnin, I'm old enough to forget more'n I remember!

Gumpy

[ShadowDave]

I read on-line my bike takes 4 qt. oil so that’s what I put in, ran more or less fine for 15 min. (although clutch felt a lot softer.)

Did you make sure the oil you added did not say "Energy Conserving"? The oil that is marked "Energy Conserving" is not recommended and not good for our motorcycle clutches.

[phillyjay]

Thank you guys.
This weekend I didn't feel like dealing with it. But I will be out there tomorrow (Monday) to try to fix my damage, thanks for all the tips. Wish me luck.
Jay

[Cbjr]

Originally Posted by litnin

Fill your oil filter BEFORE putting it back on the bike.
You should do that with any engine.

Well to pick a nit that is not entrirely true. My wife's VN750 will not develop oil pressure if you pre-fill the oil filter. I did it once and ended up having to loosen the filter until some oil spewed out of the seal before it would build pressure.

Later I found on the VN750 site warnings about pre-filling.....since then I have put it on dry and it develops pressure very quickly.

[mensa143]

This is prolly way off subject, but what is the flow to the filter? Does it hit the filter before or after the engine? If the filter got stuck, then having it before the engine seems to be an illogical place to put it (OK, I am a computer geek). At least it would have some lube if the filter was bad.