Oil sight glass

Cobbster · Post by **Cobbster** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:09 pm

Hello,
I've just bought my first BMW, an R1100S with just over 6000miles on it. I've only covered less than a hundred miles and I've discovered a 'snot' of what looks like emmulsified oil on the sight glass. As you can imagine on a water cooled bike it would be a shock but on an air cooled bike I'm a bit purplexed as to how it got there. The bike stood in the dealers for a few months and I don't believe they changed the oil in thier pre delivery check, also it was pissing down when I picked the bike up so maybe it got in through the filler cap.

Can anyone out there shed some light on this case??

gus · Post by **gus** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:44 pm

HI
I would say it is condensation,but check the rubber o ring under the filler cap to make sure.I would change the oil also.Has the bike had its 6000 mile service?I would have thought the dealer would have carried this out before they let you have the bike.
gus

Cobbster · Post by **Cobbster** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:43 pm

Hi Gus,

I bought the bike from a Ducati dealer in Newcastle but up until 2002 it had been a BMW franchised dealership. The bike has a full BMW service history and was last done at 4000 miles. I knew it was due the 6000 mile one when I bought it but being an engineer I was prepared to undertake it myself, apart from not being able to run the diagnostics computer it all looks pretty straight forward, valve clearances lubes and fluids.

As this is my first R series BMW and not knowing all its querks, is there any other things that are characteristic with these bikes that I need to know??

Cheers, Cobbster.

colin luhrs · Post by **colin luhrs** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 6:56 pm

Hey Cobster- I looked at that bike too it was/is immaculate.
I wouldnt worry about the emusified oil at all- a combination of short fire-ups and standing around is all it takes. If it re-appears after an oil change and longer runs it may be a problem
Colin

Cobbster · Post by **Cobbster** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 7:14 pm

Hi Colin,

I've just changed the oil today and not a sign of any contaminants. As mentioned the bike had been stood for quite some time in the showroom so maybe a bit of condensation got in there. I don't know how else water could get into the engine apart from past the oil filler cap which looks OK.

Thanks for the reply, its a small world init, fancy you looking at the same bike!!

Cobbster · Post by **Cobbster** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:54 pm

In my last posting I mentioned that I had changed the oil including filter. According to my hand book it says to add 3.75l of oil if the filter was changed. Over the next couple of rain soaked days I could'nt get out on my pride and joy but the oil level in the sight glass stayed at about 3/4 up. Today there was a break in the weather so I eagerly jumped in the saddle on off I went. 6 miles later too bloody cold, went home. Checked the oil level and its up to the top of the glass. Is this common or have I over filled the bugger.

Many thanks Cobbster.

Ade B · Post by **Ade B** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:50 pm

you need to check the level with the bike hot on level ground, ideally 10mins or so after shutting down the engine.. readings from cold can vary a lot compared with hot.

oil readings can also differ depending on how much oil there is trapped in the oil cooler which doesn't help much either. Think there are some threads on this somewhere here.

Might be an idea to drain a bit as I understand that overfilling can damage the internals.

HTH

Ade

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:13 pm

Ade B wrote:Might be an idea to drain a bit as I understand that overfilling can damage the internals.

Only really serious overfilling might cause damage - having the level at the top of the sight glass isn't going to cause a problem. If the level is over the top of the glass, tipping the bike away from you (safer with an assitant!) will generally indicate how high the level is - if you still can't see the top of the oil when the bike's 45 degrees off vertical then perhaps draining a bit out is advisable

Within reason, any excess will burn off fairly quickly if you ride hard and/or do a decent number of miles. Both of which are recommended