Oil Consumption normal?

[MACHV]

Hello all. Been a bit since I posted. Life changes and the 89 FJ is carrying me through handily. Completely in love with her still. Close to 1500 miles on it already this season.

I can't seem to find a specific posting on this subject of oil consumption but here are my variables:
Rebuilt clutch this winter.
Fresh oil and filter this season. (Castrol GTX 20/50)
I do not ride it hard (a lot). Just those 5th gear bursts up to 85-90 mph here and there. Accels are pretty tame. I rarely get it above 3500 rpm til cruise speed.
No burn smell.
No puddles/seepage.
No smoke at all.
....Yet I am adding the better part of a quart in these 1500 miles.

Normal???


Thanks Gurus.

[Dan Filetti]

How many miles are on the motor?  What's your compression?  Do a leak-down test to see about a worn oil ring on one or more of the pistons.  You may also want to try a different oil.  Sometimes just changing the brand of oil can slow or even stop a burning oil situation...  or so I've read...

Good luck.

Dan

[Firehawk068]

A quart of oil in 1500 miles is certainly excessive!
I usually go 3-4 thousand miles between oil changes in the FJ, and I never have to add any oil in that time. It is always still full in the sight glass..............
My car on the other hand is a different story. It has 274,000 miles on it, and leaks like crazy!........................So much that it coats the underside of the car in a film of oil while I drive, but I still only have to add about a quart during the course of 4000 miles...............

If there is no oil leaking out anywhere, then it is surely coming out the tailpipe........Worn rings, valve seals, and valve guides are the usual suspects......
Pull the spark plugs out, and see if any of them have an oily black residue on them?

If it puffs a little blue smoke out the pipe only during initial startup, after it has been sitting for awhile, then it is usually worn valve seals........

Worn rings will cause oil to leak past and get into the cylinders, and also cause combustion gasses to get past, and build up pressure in the crankcase......This will usually cause oil to come out through the crankcase breather tube and end up in your airbox. Pull the side cover off, and see if there is any oil puddled in the bottom of the airbox.
Usually worn rings will cause it to puff blue smoke during acceleration, but could also puff some during sharp deceleration......

Worn valve guides will usually cause it to puff some blue smoke only during deceleration.......

Excessive carbon buildup in the piston ring lands could also cause issues similar to worn rings..........
You stated that you dont ever see any smoke?   Have someone ride/drive behind you while you put her through it's paces, and see if any smoke is emitted from the pipes at any time?
If you never get it above 3500 rpm, and just pussy-foot it around town, then you may have a carbon builup issue.............You are also missing out on the sweet-spot of her rev range 5500-9000! 
You need to really give it to her from time to time...........These engines are nearly bulletproof, and will easily handle 10,000 rpm bursts.......Mine does, and it has 124,000 on the clock now!

[JCainFJ]

Yes, that is normal for GTX. Mobil  synthetic mc oil will last longer and Redline will do better. FJ's do not do well if they ever get hot.

[Bozo]

How many miles are on the motor?  What's your compression?  Do a leak-down test to see about a worn oil ring on one or more of the pistons.  You may also want to try a different oil.  Sometimes just changing the brand of oil can slow or even stop a burning oil situation...  or so I've read...

Good luck.

Dan

Agree with Dan, we need more information about the condition of your motor. I use about 250ml every 1,500kms (approx) around the city in traffic (very hot motor in stop start traffic), on the outer roads with some throttle work here and there the bike uses less oil (cooler??). I rebuilt my motor about 10,000km ago and it has a few goodies added.

While on the topic of oils you might remember about the issues I had with my Mega cycle cams, they looked like they did lots of racing kilometers, when in actual fact they only did 15,000 kms of normal to hard riding. Basically the lobes were badly worn/ pitted.
After lots of discussion the consensus was that the GTX "modern" I was using doesn't appear to have enough needed ingredients to prevent cam shaft wear under hard conditions (zinc and other crap). This apparently was done to prevent cat convertors from dying.
That's why you see specific 4T motorcycle oils advertising these ingredients. please note I have no proof of this but I couldn't find the GTX ingredient breakdown to prove the opposite. Just food for thought.

[Country Joe]

I too have found Castrol GTX to not be a good choice in air cooled Yamahas. I had a Radian 600 that I was taking on a 2,000 mile road trip and wanted to have oil in it that I could buy anywhere. I drained out the Yamalube I had been using since the bike was brand new and changed to Castrol GTX 20/50. By the end of the second day I had to add almost half a quart.  Previously, I never had to add any oil before the oil and filter change at 3,000 miles. Went back to Yamalube when I returned home and oil consumption returned to normal; nearly none. Just my personal experience, YMMV. I'm running white jug Rotella in my FJ and pretty happy with it

[fintip]

Almost everything I know on oil:

fjowners.wikidot.com/oil



The short version is right at the beginning. But yes, don't use car oils. Motorcycle oils are better. Diesel engine oils (Rotella, et al) are best. Synthetics are best, but normal dino oils are almost as good if you buy the most expensive ones--they just don't last as long before degrading.

Anecdotally? Some people report leaks after switching to synthetics, which could potentially be because diester stock (a super high quality base stock for synthetic oils) can actually clean deposits other oils have left, which have potentially sealed up leaks. My particular FJ, which I acquired with 63k on the clock, came with a habit of consuming regular oils (even high quality ones) but not synthetics. The PO told me this, I didn't believe him, at the time had been indoctrinated to believe synthetic oils were bad with wet clutches. So I switched to Rotella T non synth. Sure enough, consumed oil, had to top up every once in a while. Studied more, got cold, switched to synthetic Rotella... No more oil consumption.

YMMV, best of luck.

Still researching and editing, but it's in a pretty good state right now.

[MACHV]

Thanks all. sounds disheartening... The bike has 24.5K on it. The previous owner did a valve job, I know. I don't know what to get for a compression test, not do I know what a leak down check is (yet), but there is no oil in the airbox. With no smoke or leaks and it running like a raped-ape... I will try the rotella and see how it does.

Thank you all.

[Pat Conlon]

I don't know what to get for a compression test..........

Go to Autozone and they will rent you a compression gauge...or buy one. They are about $30

Be sure to get a 12mm fitting for your sparkplug holes. Dan is correct, you need to know more about your engine before we can give you advice.