Emulsion in the Oil

[Kneeslider916]

Morning all.

Decided to check & top up my oil yesterday, as i noticed it was getting low.

Unscrewed the oil filler cap, and was horrified to find the whole of the inside of it was covered in oil emulsion.

Now, currently the GS is doing the quick 15minute hop into work every day and not much else, so i've convinced myself that its condensation forming over these short runs, however, my 10 year old Yamaha Fazer did this run for two years and never suffered, and it was water cooled.

Anyone else had this ? I've never seen this on an air-cooled bike before.

 

[Shep]

Morning all.

Decided to check & top up my oil yesterday, as i noticed it was getting low.

Unscrewed the oil filler cap, and was horrified to find the whole of the inside of it was covered in oil emulsion.

Now, currently the GS is doing the quick 15minute hop into work every day and not much else, so i've convinced myself that its condensation forming over these short runs, however, my 10 year old Yamaha Fazer did this run for two years and never suffered, and it was water cooled.

Anyone else had this ? I've never seen this on an air-cooled bike before.

Happens all the time if the bike never gets really warm, sometimes the emulsion shows at the filler cap sometimes at the breather, if the oil never gets warm enough to burn off the condensation it could lead to increased engine wear and eventually failure.

Get out more Lots more

Shep

 

[Kneeslider916]

Yep, guessed that was coming.

 

[D6]

gs,s wont get warm in only 15 mins

 

[Shep]

If i'm on a short journey routine i try and make sure that at least once a week the engine gets hot enough so I can't touch the end of the exhaust pipe that can take 30-40 miles in the winter.

1.6 petrol fiesta's used to really suffer to the extent that the rocker cover would be hard to remove cos of the creamy crud built up inside, i think that was due to windblast straight through the grill onto the cover so it never ever got warm.

Shep

 

[Kneeslider916]

Hmmm, best take the old girl out for a good thrashing at the weekend then, and treat it to an oil & filter change for good measure.

Nice to know you can't use a £9000 bike for anything less than intercontinental blasting. Should i move further away from the office ?

 

[Shep]

Hmmm, best take the old girl out for a good thrashing at the weekend then, and treat it to an oil & filter change for good measure.

Nice to know you can't use a £9000 bike for anything less than intercontinental blasting. Should i move further away from the office ?

Your Faser would have suffered the same issues, it's just that the emulsion may have collected somewhere you couldn't see it.

But if it makes you feel better to blame the bike, feel free, it does seem the fasionable thing to do

Shep

 

[Kneeslider916]

ok, then i shall.

Actually no, i do rather like it.

 

[ts2]

Me too

My first bike (XJ600) and my GS both have oily emulsion problems. In between this I had a thundercat and a GSXR. Neither of these showed any symptoms (same short commute into work).

I'd always put it down to the fact that the XJ and GS are both air (technically oil) cooled, but the GSXR and Cat were water cooled. My (probably flawed) logic was that the water cooled system was a bit cleverer, so could reduce cooling on colder days, effectively letting the oil heat a bit quicker. The air cooled engine is a pretty basic system, and its cooled all the time the bike is moving. This means that the oil is always being cooled down, even when it doesn't really need too be.

This is probably an over simplification as there may be valves to the cooler on the front, but the principle is probably sound (feel free to step in if I'm miles off).

The one thing I will say is that the GS is coping better than my old XJ. That would sick up foaming black tar from the air lines. It meant the bike ended up sitting in a pool of foaming oil like "bike vomit". So far the GS has only got a little on the filler cap. I'll have to ride it further/harder, or wait for the sick.

TobyS

 

[Kneeslider916]

Well TS, as we are both Manchester based i'll keep an eye out for a GS throwing up at the traffic lights.

I'm just going to thrash mine and enjoy it

 

[pistonbrokescooby]

hi
i have had this problem in the past ,short trips ,need to get the things hot , also washing the hot engine with cold water can do it ,cold hitting hot ,downpours i have had it also where the water comes off the front wheel and straight on the block . had a ktm 640 as a winter hack couple of years ago , real problems with milky oil , old gs 1150 had it when it was really cold and could see white streaks in the oil level glass , however on a good run would disappear and not come back .gs i put a front fender extender on and the water didn't seem to come up as much .pb

 

[Kneeslider916]

Well, i always wash it when its cold, and its got a fender extender on the front to protect the engine, so its not that. Just too short a ride to work i guess.

 

[wilddog]

I am doing a 35/40 min commute through sticky A40 traffic into central London and have the same gunge issue on the filler cap. It only seems to be present during the winter which fits with explainations in the above posts. I don't think it is a major worry.

 

[Phil Clarke]

Have you ridden through any big puddles lately? As noted extensively elswhere on this site, the crankcase breather enters the airbox at its lowest point so any water in the airbox will end up in the sump = emulsified oil.

 

[wilddog]

no big puddles as far as i can remember. Having pondered the issue i was wondering if anyone thinks a winter cover for the oil rad might be worth a thought, cabbies in london do something similar with their vehicles coolant. Probably a rubbish idea but i thought i would mention it.