Topic: changed oil and now runs horrible..

[78whiteorbs]

78cb550k changed oil to some 20w 50 and now it runs like crap ,sounds alot smoother at idle but feels like it has way less power, no fun at all to ride unlike before. Dont know what was in it from the get go but it was black as midnight. Gonna drain it and refill with 10w-40 and see if that makes a difference. Anyone else have negative experience with thicker oil in there old hondas

Also clutch isnt kinda tough and when I pull it in the engine revs up some. Guessing the clutch is slipping because of warped plates. How to tell when it is time for a new clutch?

[phil71]

I'd be looking around for things you could have disturbed WHILE changing the oil. It's not very likely the oil alone has changed the running condition so radically

[Don R]

Could the crankcase be flooded with oil?

[Stev-o]

Fouled plugs?

[Rgconner]

Rotella or Delron 15w-40. Both available for $15 or so a gallon at the local WallyMart.


Oil weights can make the shifting and the clutch act differently, so try a few to see if there is a noticeable difference. I really like Rotella T6, but it makes neutral hard to find compared to the 15w-40.

[Xnavylfr]

Did you drain the oil tank also along with crankcase and filter??? You could have WAY too much oil in it. With the recirculation line hooked up correctly , the oil will just stay in the crankcase and not back pump to the tank.. Complete change after draining will only take 3-3.5 QTS.



Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[phil71]

No oil tank on that bike.

[78whiteorbs]

Feels like bogged with to much oil but is excatly on the dip stick were it shouuld be . Removed filter and everything. Completely drained the oil. I amgonna pull plugs but it is running on all fours just feels choked for power, like riding two up with a fat chick. Gilbert grape fat!

[78whiteorbs]

well- back to good running order!

changed oil to 10w-40 (just like it says on the dip stick  )
and I had one fouled plug. Pulls like a freight train now . Stumbles just a little off idle when rolling out in first.

New problem is a gasket leak right below the header spigot . After a 15 minute ride I had some oil on the shifter- not cool.

[phil71]

You know an oil change didn't cause any of this right?

[HondaMan]

The question: what KIND of 20w50 oil was it? For example, I recently tried using the 20w50 Mobil 1 "V-Twin" oil in my 750. After 80 miles, I couldn't even shift it when hot, and it wouldn't idle. There's not enough zinc in it, and it has VERY high detergent, which made the oil foam so much that the clutch could not disengage and the crank bearings were getting poor lube. Switched to the 15w50 with low detergent to wash it out (it is already cold here, so the 15w is OK for now) and within 100 miles it was back to normal.

Makes me wonder if Harleys could have more power if they used some other oil?

These bikes require oil that today is called "Motorcycle Oil". In the 1970s, it was normal oil. Today's oils come with almost no zinc in them (thank you, EPA), so the engines can easily catch the cold virus, and the plain bearings suffer (as do the gears and clutch plates) significant drag for its lack. Also, the detergents are so aggressive in automotive oils now that the clutches cannot let go of each other, because the foaming oil does not provide enough lube to the cork.

So...search out and use Low Detergent, or "racing", or "Motorcycle" oils only in these bikes. Castrol and Bel-Ray make good petro-based versions of these, with Bel-Ray being real close to the best-ever (historically speaking) oil that was made expressly for these bikes: Castrol XLR. That oil has been gone since about 1990, though. 

[Terry in Australia]

When I had my Kawasaki Z1 900 there were no "Motorcycle Oils" per se, and I usually used Mobil "Super drop" because it was cheap and worked well with oil bathed clutches. At the time there was a big advertising campaign for Valvoline oil, and so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was commuting back and forwards each weekend to a military base in Northern Victoria, about a 220 mile ride, in winter. On Sunday afternoon I'd done the oil change, and packed my gear for the return trip. I fired it up, plonked it into gear, and it stalled. Hmmmnn.

I gave it a few more revs, plopped it into gear and rode off, thinking to myself I'd need to do a clutch adjustment soon. I rode around 100 miles, and stopped at a roadside cafe for a donut and a cup of coffee, and a smoke. Once all of my cravings were satiated, I fired the Kawa up, plonked it into first, started to feed in the clutch, and it stalled again. Fcuk. I fired it up, gave it the berries, and stood it up on it's back wheel!

Next weekend I dumped that crap outta my engine, refilled it with Mobil Super Drop, and life was good again. I won't use that Valvoline schidt ever again. Cheers, Terry.    

[78whiteorbs]

"Gave it the berries"  thats great, I am gonna use that sometime.

and yes , an oil change did cause this, it was the only variable changed.
The one plug that was fouled was "kicking in" enough to weakly ignite but the glug and choking only came after changing to the 20w-50 (I'll check the brand)  and after I drained it and filled with the 10w-40 it was back to it's usual self,power was back,it was revived.

[Greggo]

Did you change out the bad plug at the same time as the 10w40?  That 'riding with a fat chick on the back' feeling is how my 500 feels with a fouled plug, running on 3 cylinders...just saying.  Is that oil leak at the same cylinder that fouled out?  Was it oil, or gas fouled?