Oil Warning Light

[Midicat]

so I ditched the stock oil filter system in favour of the spin-on adapter at the start of the riding season. Installed the recommended filter and thought I had the world by the tail. Until I found that the oil pressure warning light was coming on during hard acceleration and then while sitting at traffic signals on an incline. The warning would go off after about 10 secs. But it never came on before. Not in the nine years I have owned it. So, after talking with Saddlebum, I decided to reinstall the factory hardware. Switched it out this morning and went for a spin to Port Dover. Hard acceleration had the warning popping on again. Sitting on an incline was no problem. So... I have no idea what it could be. Can anyone offer any ideas?

Oil is new Castrol GTX and filled to half glass.

 

Thomas

[Venturous Randy]

It is not an oil pressure switch/indicator, it is related to oil level. Many 1st gen owners have mentioned the light coming on during hard acceleration, but I have never seen it. At what level are you running your oil in the sight glass with it on the center stand?

Randy

[Blackmax88]

The 'oil warning' light is actually an oil level indicator not an oil pressure indicator. If the oil level is low, under acceleration or on a positive incline, the warning light can come on simply because the oil level sensor is at the front end of the oil sump (the pump is toward the rear so will not be starved of oil ) .

This is a common condition with the Gen I Venture and Vmax engines.

Just top up the oil level to mid way on the sight glass with the bike standing level.

[Midicat]

Thanks for the quick replies. I thought about oil level and triple checked it. The oil is at half way up the sight glass on centre stand and level surface. Could it be possible that I should be above half?

 

Thomas

[stanG]

I have noticed that when the bike is off the stand the level is lower than on the stand due the angle from the rear tire being off the ground. I fill to the top of the sight glass when on the stand. I checked the level again with the bike off the stand while someone was holding the bike upright and it was about halfway up the glass.

[Wizard765]

Thomas: In my opinion if your oil level is right in the sight glass then just ride it.. My 84 would do that once in awhile as well. I just ignored it. If you over fill it you will not like the mess.. On another note I almost never checked on the center stand.. I always just held it level and had it half way up the glass. I think StanG is right as when the bike is on the stand the front wheel is on the ground with the back wheel off the ground which puts the bike in a decline position and more oil near the front of the sump where the site glass is.

[Venturous Randy]

One other thing about the oil light is when I am changing the oil, I will occasionally try to remember to turn the ignition on when the oil is drained just to see if the oil level function is working.

Ranbdy

[Patmac6075]

I am noticing the same issue...on my first oil change I only left a small bubble in the sight glass. On my most recent change I am just slightly over half way in the glass, now the oil light comes on after it's been on the side stand...while taking left turns...and on inclines.

Perhaps fuller is better as long as you can still see a gap in the sight glass while on a known level surface.

[Marcarl]

It's an oil level warning light,,,,which doesn't mean that you are out of oil but that the level is getting to the point that if it goes any lower there could be an issue. As long as it doesn't stay on you should be good to go. Usually when that happened on my 85, I would be sure to check the oil level at the next fuel stop to verify. There is no indicator for oil pressure or anything else to indicate that you have any oil in the oil system, so if your pump should not be pumping oil, you wouldn't know, until something started screaming. Some guys have added an oil pressure sensor so that problem could be observed, but my understanding is that the oil pressure is so little at idle that it would scare the bejeebers out of you each time you came to a stop.

[bongobobny]

Yup, when I really got on my '84, and sometimes on the 2nd gen as well I get the old oil level indication...

[dna9656]

Folks; Just keep the oil half way up on the sight glass (with the bike standing up on the center stand) and ride... yep the light comes on when the oil is in the back of the tranny under hard acceleration; cool huh? Maybe slow down a little from now on? Where's the fun in that? Also when checking the oil on the road...let the oil settle back down into the sump before you decide it's low and add oil, most times the level is fine, it's just got to flow back down to the sump before you can check it....

Edited July 13, 2015 by dna9656