Oil light question 03 SM 450

[billy]

I took a look at a buddy's 03 SM 450 he has for sale. To give you guys a little background info: The bike has about 3300 miles and had a recent valve check. In addition, it had a top end rebuild at 9xx miles. The bike is in pristine condition but one of the things that concerned me was the the oil light coming on. The light would come on only after during idle when the bike was warm. When the bike was revved or running on the road the light would go out. Is this normal for that particular bike? Thanks in advance.

[jeffd]

Hi Billy,

Myself, I have never heard of that as a "common issue" for the bike - but I am not very familiar with it...

On any engine, this can be an indication of wear on some of the bearings in the bike. Or it could be that the oil is in need of a change and lost it's viscosity combined with a out of spec oil sender. How long has it been since he changed the oil and what viscosity of oil is he running?

I took a look at the owner's manual and it recommends 10w40 or thicker for anything but the coldest temperatures. How long since the last oil change? From the oil viscosity versus temp range chart (recommending viscosity) for the bike - it would be well suited to running a diesel rated motor oil like shell rotella 15w40 - and you can run a 20w50. Given summer time temps - a 10w30 motor oil is too thin and might cause the oil light to come on.

jeff

[billy]

Thanks for your reply Jeff

Oil was changed less than 10 miles ago with Motul 3000 (10w40 i think). The owner said it was not uncommon for the oil light to come on for that particular model with no adverse action. He recommended that I check with gg owners .

[Super Dave]

Originally Posted by billy

Thanks for your reply Jeff

Oil was changed less than 10 miles ago with Motul 3000 (10w40 i think). The owner said it was not uncommon for the oil light to come on for that particular model with no adverse action. He recommended that I check with gg owners .

Billy,

You are correct , I'm running 10W40. This situation has been covered extensively on the old forum sponsered my Smackover Motorsports. Since the forum no longer exsists it's hard to do a search on th "Oil Light" issue.
Hopefully someone with insight into this issue will post up.

[jeffd]

Smackover is out of business - but the board is still running...

I found a reference to the oil light sensor being "set to low" and not being an issue. I wonder if another sensor can be used in it's place - like one off a DRZ400 maybe? Either way - it's nothing to worry about - or try running a 20w50 weight oil.

http://www.smackovermotorsports.com/...21&postcount=1

Look at item #4 -

4: Low oil pressure light comes on when the bike is hot & at idle.
I have been assured that the bike is getting enough oil at idle, but the oil pressure sensor setting is too high. No news whether Gas Gas intend to adress this issue, as I'm told it is common.

jeff

[gasgasman]

To properly diagnose the concern,I would screw a manual pressure guage into the oil sender port and monitor the pressure.