Oil warning light came on

[polebridge]

The other day I was riding my 2004 Coppa Italia when the oil warning light suddenly came on. I pulled over and stopped. The light went off after about 3-4 seconds and since I was close to home I rode her back. On the ride home the light did not come on again and the bike seems to have the correct amount of oil in the sump.

 

The bike is new and has only 700 miles on. I think I checked the oil level correctly.

 

Any ideas / suggestions?

 

Thanks

[Baldini]

Some have reported seeing oil light after sharp bursts of hard acceleration. Pos that oil is moved away from pick up in sump & pump can be briefly starved. For this reason it may be advisable to keep sump topped to max.

 

I measure oil level: Run motor for a minute or so, & shut down. Stand bike vertical. Screw dipstick fully home & remove to read.

 

KB

[Martin Barrett]

Pete will warn that if your light comes on the damage will have been done to your main bearings

 

However. My switch did fail and was replaced under waranty. The conections could be suspect.

 

I did have a period of time where it seemed that I was burning oil and the level did drop slightly and the light would flicker on hard acceleration. But since my last oil change I topped it right up and have since noticed no discernable loss of level. I'm using a semi I forget what weight.

 

She is getting a bit mechanical so will be checking the oil levels tomorrow and a valve lash/gear/bevel/engine oil changes before the first long trip at the end of next month.

 

I just hope that my mains are infact Okay.

[polebridge]

It did happen after some hard acceleration. I'll top it off a little.

 

Thanks.

[Ouiji Veck]

hmmm...

I've let mine get down to the bottom 1/4 of the dip stick

on a long trip...beating it pretty hard. I bet it's the sender.

Try wigling the wires while its running.

[G.POLEGATO]

Hi all, on my Tenni i have change the oil pressure sensor two months ago for the same problem and after all right. In Italy the spare parts price is under 10 Euro.

Best regards Giovanni #60

[callison]

I've gotta get a longer dipstick. Mine doesn't reach the oil anymore...

[Greg Field]

It is probably one of the things already mentioned.

 

That said, I have seen two V11 Sports recently on which similar symptoms turned out to have a real cause:

 

On one, the oiling system's bypass valve stuck closed, resulting in too high a pressure that blew open the rubber sealing ring on the oil filter. Oil pressure then wasn't always low enough to light the light, but it definitely was low enough to ruin the rod bearings.

 

On the other, a small bit of the gasket that seals the joint between the filter/cooling system and the engine block blew out. The light did not come on until the oil was hot and the engine near idle. Bearings were OK in this case, but would not have been had the guy delayed bringing it in.

[nose2wind]

The other day I was riding my 2004 Coppa Italia when the oil warning light suddenly came on.  I pulled over and stopped.  The light went off after about 3-4 seconds and since I was close to home I rode her back.  On the ride home the light did not come on again and the bike seems to have the correct amount of oil in the sump.

 

The bike is new and has only 700 miles on.  I think I checked the oil level correctly.

 

Any ideas / suggestions?

 

Thanks

86099[/snapback]

 

I have had this happen after letting the bike sit over night in the rain at a hotel. Seems that if it gets real wet it can play havock with the sensor. When it drys out the light goes out. Not your situation but nice to know.

 

David

[kaput]

One of the things I would check is to make sure that the oil filter is on tight. I had a similar problem when my oil light briefly flickered a couple of times while I was cresting the Cherholla Skyway at 6 AM last summer. When the oil light flickered again a few minutes later I thought it might just be my overenthusiastic right wrist. I unwisely kept going until I started hearing the beginnings of a most sickening heartwrenching sound. Trust me - you aren't given a whole lot of warning. When I got the oil sump off, the oil filter was clearly loose. By the way I also discovered that Guido had generously left behind two extra screws for me within the oil pan.

 

Kaput

[Guest Nogbad]

Reading this I start to wonder whether it would be a wise precaution to arrange some sort of locking tab that can be attached to to filter with a large hose clamp to prevent it moving. This arrangement was used on the external Norton Commando filters and prevented any possibility of the filter unwinding.

 

My V11 is due an oil change shortly. I'll take a look in there and if I decide to do something I'll post the pics.

[svjj]

Mine came on twice. Once right after I washed the bike. The other time I was riding in a heavy rain storm. The cause was water in the connections. I fixed the problem by making the connectors water tight. I hope!

[polebridge]

Thanks to all for your feedback.

 

One thing that I have found is that I really hate the stock plastic dipstick! You simply can not get an acurate reading. I used my truck's dipstick to try and get a better indication on the oil level and it appears to be OK? Maybe slightly down but I must say that I am not completely sure. I added about 1/4 of a quart of 15/50 and I have not had any similar problems since.

 

I did notice that the clutch makes a hell of a racket when disengaged though. I guess that is normal?

 

I am curious about 'Kaputs' posting. Is your bike OK?

 

Thanks.

[Guest Nogbad]

Thanks to all for your feedback.

 

I did notice that the clutch makes a hell of a racket when disengaged though. I guess that is normal?

 

Thanks.

86369[/snapback]

 

Yes. The sound of two cats fighting inside a bag of spanners.

[mike wilson]

Reading this I start to wonder whether it would be a wise precaution to arrange some sort of locking tab that can be attached to to filter with a large hose clamp to prevent it moving. This arrangement was used on the external Norton Commando filters and prevented any possibility of the filter unwinding.

 

My V11 is due an oil change shortly. I'll take a look in there and if I decide to do something I'll post the pics.

86304[/snapback]

 

There's been a thread on that on either: here, Wildguzzi, Guzzitech or the morini.com.au Guzzi forum in the last month or six weeks. Someone bought a bike and found a jubilee clip on the filter, arranged so that, if it began to unscrew, the head of the clip butted up against part of the sump.

 

There was a lot of stuff following about how it was likely to come loose itself and not worth the bother [sounds like WildGuzzi 8-)] but it struck me that someone would do that if they had had problems. Given how cheaply filters are made, especially the screwthread holding it on, seems like a sensible precaution to me.

 

mike