| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
We road 7 hours today, taking secondary and even about 20 miles of gravel roads. Temps in upper 80's which is really not so hot. Iowa City, IA to Omaha, NE. Around 300 miles. Never saw the oil so hot and I think it is that RSS with the comfort kit. Oil was 210 F at the swingarm as read on the EG Oil Temp Dipstick. Never got that hot before without the RSS. I'm beginning to think they did it just to appease everyone, myself included. The fan shroud is a good idea but not so sure about the RSS part of the kit. I think it only fools the ETS by spot cooling it at the expense of rear jug cooling efficiency. Flame away. I'm going to put it back the old way and see if my oil temps reverts to old temps. | ||
| Froggy |
I am sure the reflash helps, as it makes the fan run while moving, helping to keep the air flowing. The airflow gets interrupted by a non operational fan, and may be a factor in your observations. | ||
| Xbimmer |
I'm going to put it back the old way and see if my oil temps reverts to old temps. Do that and report back, I'm interested too. | ||
| Xcephasx |
supposedly while at "parade speeds" the RSS will make your bike run hotter as a result of less air being pulled across the rear head. could have been the slow speeds on gravel roads that produced such dramatically different results. must warn you that this is one of those, religion, politics and oil topics. a quick peek at the vaults will probably show passionately varying results. } | ||
| Rwven |
Is 210 too hot? That's all I'd worry about.... | ||
| Hughlysses |
My initial reaction is that isn't hot enough to worry about. You are still running synthetic oil which can supposedly withstand MUCH higher temperatures than this with no problems. The only downside to running somewhat elevated oil temperatures is increased breakdown of the oil, and with synthetic, this won't be a problem. While googling for information, I did run across this info on light aircraft engine oil temperatures which may be of interest: http://www.reiffpreheat.com/Article-Visser3.htm One particular thing of interest in that article is to verify your gauge calibration. You could do this fairly easily by boiling some water on your stove and sticking your thermometer in it. You'd need to adjust the actual boiling temperature based on the altitude in your location (water boils at 212 degrees F at sea level). You may find out your gauge is off a few degrees one way or the other. I do think Froggy hit on the root of the reason for the new ECM flash on 08-up bikes. I've noticed a few things with my 07 since installing the comfort kit. On my morning commute, sometimes I can ride the entire ~25 miles to work without the fan coming on (even when the temp is in the high 70's). When I shut the bike off under these conditions, the fan will run a LONG time before it shuts down. This morning, I got stuck in a traffic jam about half way to work and the fan kicked on and stayed on until I got to work (outside temp in the low 70s). The fan probably ran less than 1 minute when I shut the bike off. I did not notice this difference in after shut down fan run time before I installed the comfort kit. This would seem to indicate the engine stays significantly cooler with the fan on than with the fan off with the comfort kit installed. | ||
| Towpro |
210 is not hot. My 2005 XR650L runs at 225 all the time. Then when I get in the woods it runs around 250. It also has a dry sump but the oil is in the frame. | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Electraglide, I think that you have a personal vendetta against the RSS. | ||
| Etennuly |
I would think that the RSS would allow the oil to get a little warmer because it is keeping the fan off longer. It would be much more noticeable when going slow. My comfort kit sure made the seat cooler on long high temperature trips. | ||
| Towpro |
And if water boils at 212F, and your oil never gets above 210, how will the water contaminants ever get out of the oil? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Towpro, Oil temp is in swingarm which is also an oil cooler. Oil temps inside engine are much hotter as evidenced by how hot the ETS must register before ECM starts fan. Etennuly, Fan turn on temp would be the same regardless of whether or not there is an RSS. Buell engineers claimed that rear jug would get hotter with RSS installed and I can only surmise that is because the ETS is cooled but the rear head for the most part gets hotter. Fan was running constantly once it started. Was running last couple of hours consistently at 70 miles per hour. Only on gravel because of detour and the fan was running then also. Temp used to run about 185 to 195 tops and never saw it as high as yesterdays reading, never. My bike still runs like a top. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
If the RSS causes the rear jug to run hotter, what's the point of having it? Does the scoop help to keep the heat off of you / your leg? I have a RSS from another deal on the bike now. It's more symetrical with the left. The comfortkit RSS is still in the box along with the header shield - I'm using a road king one. Only piece I'm using the the cowling. If it's a looks only thing, and in hurting the engine, it's coming off. Please keep us posted! | ||
| Hughlysses |
OK, now that we know the fan was running AND the oil temps were hotter, I'll bet you that you find the culprit is the fan shroud. That shroud is bound to restrict the flow out of the fan somewhat as it forces the air to blow downwards and out around the rear shock. I'll live with slightly hotter oil if it keeps my arse from roasting, and I believe it does. | ||
| Tootal |
I don't know if it was an issue here but were you getting a side wind. I have noticed that the way the wind blows makes a difference on how well the scoops work. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Tootal, Yes, one heck of a side wind, but that is nothing new. Been looking at oil temps at the swingarm for a few years now and never saw temp that high before. Only 85 F yesterday and I've ridden in temps close to 100 without seeing oil that high. | ||
| Nobuell |
High side temperature testing for motor oil rating is at 212 deg F. It would be interesting to know the oil temperature when exiting the motor to determine the delta. | ||
| Windrider |
Ride it fast. Worry not. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I really don't worry about it at all, just noticed the difference. I'm going take off the RSS and put back on the original plastic piece and see what happens. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Come to think of it, like Hugh points out, that shroud directs hot air onto the top of the swingarm and that just could keep the oil warmer. I'd like those readings to stay south of 200 F. | ||
| Xcephasx |
I think a good point surfacing here is that this is a rider comfort kit, not a "oil coolness kit." I wouldn't worry too much about oil temps, so far as that you're not skip sparking or pinging. Hell, sportsters don't have oil coolers, or fans. Mine never exploded or anything. | ||
| Nobuell |
I found the following on the internet: Re: Max Engine Oil Temp Some products are far more stable than others. You didn't list what actually viscosity that you are using, so its hard to tell what's going on. The fact that you are checking motor oil temp is the first battle, as relatively few teams are watching it closely. Dry sump or wet sump? We have customers that run the oils well above 280, but it's not something we recommend. You should be aiming to run around 220 to 230f. If you get toward 240 or 250, you look into how its being cooled. 260 or 270? You need to make some changes, in our eyes. Again, I don't know what you're using, If you're going to look into Red Line, you should start with our 40WT Race. It's an ester-based 15W40 multigrade with lots of antiwear (ZDDP). Remember that going heavier isn't always best when trying to lower its temps, as a thicker fluid can trap heat. Also considering a way to vent heat out from under the hood. That can make a dramatic drop in oil temp. Hope that helps, Cameron Evans Red Line Oil | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Nobuell, Normally I have always used Mobil 1 15W50 but now that is harder to find. The last oil change I made I used 1 quart Mobil V-Twin 20W50 and the rest was 15W50. So maybe just a bit thicker viscosity. I don't have a Zahn cup so I can't tell how much faster the 15W50 flows compared to the 20W50. We used Zahn viscosity cups to measure the flow rate of ink and I don't know if this would be done on oil. | ||
| Buellhusker |
Make sure that your oil cooler fins are not fouled with bug guts & other bits. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Buellhusker, Good thought, I'll check it out. | ||
| Mnrider |
The shroud and scoop are shooting hot air on the swing arm instead of under the seat. Maybe it will boil off more of the milk I get in cold weather. | ||
| Mnrider |
What do you think EG does my theory hold water. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
It holds it until it boils it away  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Mnrider, Come cold weather, make sure you tape off the front of the oil cooler and that will help a bit. |
