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2011 RT oil warning light flicker - cause for concern?


poodad

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I was sitting for about 45 in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather. Right at the end of the traffic jam, I noticed that the red triangle with the exclamation point would flicker on along with the oil indicator. The temperature gauge was up in the 2/3 range. I could make the oil light stay off if I revved the engine very slightly. After I started moving, it went off and never came back on.

 

The bike has 34,000 miles, and I use Rotella T6 oil which was last changed back in the spring.

 

Is this cause for alarm? I'd be hard pressed to think the oil pump could be going bad at 34,000 miles. Would the oil pressure sending unit be likely to have failed?

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I was sitting for about 45 in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather. Right at the end of the traffic jam, I noticed that the red triangle with the exclamation point would flicker on along with the oil indicator. The temperature gauge was up in the 2/3 range. I could make the oil light stay off if I revved the engine very slightly. After I started moving, it went off and never came back on.

 

The bike has 34,000 miles, and I use Rotella T6 oil which was last changed back in the spring.

 

Is this cause for alarm? I'd be hard pressed to think the oil pump could be going bad at 34,000 miles. Would the oil pressure sending unit be likely to have failed?

 

Afternoon poodad

 

It is difficult to tell you much just based on the oil light flickering. It might just be due to very hot thin oil & an idle speed on the low side or it could be indicating some internal engine wear.

 

Your bike really doesn't have an oil pressure sending unit, it has an oil pressure switch. That switch (I believe) is set to bring the warning light on at around .15 bar (slightly over 2 PSI). Your OPS (Oil Pressure Switch) has probably not outright failed as the oil light goes on & off based on engine RPM but it could be built to the high side of specification.

 

You need an actual oil pressure gauge on the engine to really tell you anything conclusive.

 

Or, you can try switching to a 10w50 (colder weather area) or 15w50 motor oil (warmer weather area) then see if your oil warning light stays out under the same conditions (my guess is that it will).

 

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Is there any easy way to connect an oil pressure gauge for testing?

 

Afternoon poodad

 

Yes, you can just remove the oil warning light switch & attach a pressure gauge there.

 

The easy part is connecting a gauge, the hard part is going to be re-producing the "sitting for 45 minutes in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather".

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Is there any easy way to connect an oil pressure gauge for testing?

 

Afternoon poodad

 

Yes, you can just remove the oil warning light switch & attach a pressure gauge there.

 

The easy part is connecting a gauge, the hard part is going to be re-producing the "sitting for 45 minutes in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather".

 

You obviously don't live near Indianapolis.

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Is there any easy way to connect an oil pressure gauge for testing?

 

Afternoon poodad

 

Yes, you can just remove the oil warning light switch & attach a pressure gauge there.

 

The easy part is connecting a gauge, the hard part is going to be re-producing the "sitting for 45 minutes in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather".

 

You obviously don't live near Indianapolis.

 

Evening poodad

 

Thankfully not if "sitting for 45 minutes in a traffic jam in 90 degree weather" is a normal occurrence.

 

If that is normal then (personally) I would be running 15w50 engine oil in the summer. 15w50 is kind of a non BMW recommenced oil but if you read between the lines in the riders manual (temperature dependent) they do recommend both a 5w50 & a 10w50 oil & also a 15w40 oil so they do accept a 15w base oil as well as a 50 weight (thin anymore than) so a 15w50 does fit within their viscosity constraints.

 

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I live in south Florida. My dealer recommended Mobil 1 15w/50 after the break in period. Even though it's not on the list for Camhead I followed their recommendations. I found myself once in a stand still traffic jam on a hot summer day. I was jammed up and was crawling in the heat. I was focused on my temperature gauge as it was climbing. Riding the clutch and limited lane splitting was all I can do. Temperature gauge went up to 3/4 for the first time. I was worried about overheating and I never had the oil light flash. Maybe I was lucky.

 

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I live in south Florida. My dealer recommended Mobil 1 15w/50 after the break in period. Even though it's not on the list for Camhead I followed their recommendations. I found myself once in a stand still traffic jam on a hot summer day. I was jammed up and was crawling in the heat. I was focused on my temperature gauge as it was climbing. Riding the clutch and limited lane splitting was all I can do. Temperature gauge went up to 3/4 for the first time. I was worried about overheating and I never had the oil light flash. Maybe I was lucky.

 

Perfect, I've been thinking about switching from Rotella to Mobile 1 anyway as I've heard that Rotella loses shear resistance early in its life. I can certainly tell a difference in engine noise after an oil change.

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