So I have a question. About a month ago my oil light came on. Stayed on for about 50 yards and then went out.

A week later I stopped at a gas station. When I started the bike, the light was on for about 50-100 yards and then went out.

Over the past 2 months the light has come on and off, but lately it's been on more than off. I know that it has oil, because I changed the oil about 1.5 weeks ago. I have even warmed the bike up and then checked the sight glass.

Here's the goofy part. I have noticed twice in the past two weeks that when I ride into work and the weather is cool, say around 60 degrees, the oil light doesn't come on for the entire ride in, which is around 30 miles or 45 minutes. :confused::confused:

It would seem that if I was burning oil, the light should come on. Or if I was leaking oil, the light should come on. I am confused about why it wouldn't come on in the cool weather.

It could be just a faulty oil switch you could pull it out and clean it or just replace it? hope this helps.

Thanks hdeater...I thought that was probably it, but I wanted to make sure the change in temp wasn't causing something I should be aware of.

Hey Chas, is it something wierd going on just in the start-up sequence? As in, does this light come on as part of a system check when you turn the key before hitting the "start" button? Maybe it's something "electronicy".

Just a thought here... While cooler the oil is a lil "thicker" and doesn't set of low light. When it is hotter oil is "thinner" and doesn't have the pressure to hold the oil sending unit contacts from making up and tripping on the light..Just something I ran into on a motor I built for a truck once. I know its different but, ya never know just a thought.

I have seen some posts about air bubbles on the sensor causing the light to come on.

Might depend on what oil you use and how hard you ride. Short coment about it here.

http://www.sloneservices.com/SilverBack/VStar1100-FAQ-01.htm#Light

Dave

Thanks Dave. No light came on this morning and the temp was only in the 70s. I also checked the sight glass while the bike was running, just to see if I could see a difference and I could finally see where the line of oil was barely under the top of the sight glass.

I just read the article you referenced and I found that if there's too much oil in the sump that it can cause frothing of the oil. This frothing can cause air bubbles which fool the sensor. Also warmer oil will froth easier doing the same thing.

So, it seems I might just have found my oil light issue.

I have a Suzuki Katana that I bought dirt cheap. The guy I bought it from said that the reason the oil light was on was cause the oil needed to be changed. When I looked at the oil it was awfully clean looking. Come to find out he had just changed it and it didn't turn the light off. He thought the oil pump was gone and didn't tell me. Unfortunately for him he told me that the bike had fallen over in the back of his truck and I noticed that there was a small dent in the side cover. I got the bike home and pulled the cover off. Took the dent out and it worked fine. It was just grounding out on the side cover and brought the light on. Not saying that you have a dent but maybe it might be a loose wire touching inside the cover. Just a thought!

Jarhead,

My dealer cautioned me overfilling is more common then too little oil. Specially since most of our bikes are a little tricky to check oil. I never felt good about that sight glass. I used a hand held mirror while holding the bike level. But, the oil level changes so easy you almost need a level on the bike also. We worry about being low on oil and wind up putting to much in.

Dave

All this talk about oil levels makes me mad. I have the same trouble that you guys do and I am tired of all this leveling and mirrors and such. I am going to make a dip stcik. Stay tuned.

Jarhead,

My dealer cautioned me overfilling is more common then too little oil. Specially since most of our bikes are a little tricky to check oil. I never felt good about that sight glass. I used a hand held mirror while holding the bike level. But, the oil level changes so easy you almost need a level on the bike also. We worry about being low on oil and wind up putting to much in.

Dave

Dave, that's my gut filling right now. The funny part is that I have thought the cool weather was a reason for the light not to come on. Well, I rode home yesterday in 100 degree temps and the light never came on! I'm now starting to think that it was overfilled and when I got home after changing the oil I added more because I thought it was low. I do believe that the engineers don't always think about the owners when they design these "features" :mad::mad:

All this talk about oil levels makes me mad. I have the same trouble that you guys do and I am tired of all this leveling and mirrors and such. I am going to make a dip stcik. Stay tuned.

That would be AWESOME la madrugada! I've thought about the getting the mirror attachment but even that can be a pain in the butt if it's overfilled because then you can tell if it's too low or too full.

Wouldn't a dip stick still need you to level the scoot?

Wouldn't a dip stick still need you to level the scoot?

I wouldn't mind leveling the bike if there was a definitive way to tell if you had too much or too little oil.

If it's level you can't trust what you see in the sight glass?

If it's level you can't trust what you see in the sight glass?

That's where I think my problem is...I think it might have been filled too much so when I looked at the sight glass I guessed that it was too low, thus adding more. I only added some when I first got the bike home after the oil change/carb sync.

I just think that it's not as easy to verify through the sight glass, where a simple dip stick would leave no questions. Just my humble redneck opinion.

Understand.
Thinking back to my 1976 Kawi, it had a sight glass with "HIGH" and "LOW" lines engraved into a metal plate just inside the glass. But I mostly used it for oil opacity more than a level indicator. That bike never burned or leaked oil ever, and I beat the snot out of that scoot.

Overfilling your oil is one of the worst things you can do to your engine.
The reason the oil pressure light may come on from overfilling is not because foaming of the oil from overfilling the engine with oil is fooling the sensor as some have said.

If your oil is overfilled and your oil is foaming (full of air) and you are having a large LOSS of oil pressure causing the oil pressure light to come on, warning you that you have a SERIOUS loss of oil pressure and possible damage if you do not turn off your engine right away.