Oil Pressure Warning - 2018 v7iii Stone

[LibrarianFuture]

Hi all, thanks in advance for any help.

On Christmas Day, my oil pressure warning light began to flash. I had no choice to ride 100 miles home with it on. For what it’s worth, it ran faultlessly for the duration.

I’ve already dropped the oil, thankfully nothing alarming to report. I can’t see any gasket leaks or whatnot.

I’m just looking for insight from mechanically minded individuals - could anyone offer me a checklist of what they’d investigate first before sending it off to a shop for repair? Preferably in order of cheapest to expensive 😂.

Much appreciated. Merry Christmas!

Richard

[Dirk_S]

I’m currently at a loss for words. My understanding of the oil pressure light is that once it comes on, if you don’t immediately stop and check if there’s enough oil in the bike, you’re definitely in trouble. The fact that you rode for another 100 miles and it ran “trouble free” without breaking down has my mouth on the floor.

Did you measure how much oil came out?

No significant amount of shavings, flakes, or glitter found in the oil or on the magnetic tip of the drain plug?

[LibrarianFuture]

Apologies - I did manage to check the oil level before having to continue. It measured absolutely fine. And by the time I got home, it hadn’t lost a drop.

I was equally as concerned to be honest, but Sod’s Law and a series of unfortunate circumstances meant I had to do what I did.

Not a precise measurement, but I’d say around 1.7 to 1.8
8L was emptied.

Honestly, absolutely nothing on the drain plug, and nothing noticeable in the oil. I was flabbergasted. I’ll flush it again once a new oil filter arrives.

This just tells me there’s something wrong elsewhere, but I just don’t know where… blocked filter? Are there any know problems with the sensors on this model?

I’m just grateful I’ve gotten home safely to be honest.

[Bulldog9]

If level was good, no evidence of problems in the oil and the bike ran well, could be as simple as a loose connection on the pressure sensor, or the sensor is going bad. Very common issue on the big block Guzzi's.

[Dirk_S]

That would be quite the relief if it were simply the sensor.

I wonder—for those who understand the pumps a little better than I—I forget where the pump sends oil. If it sends it up to the cylinder heads, you could pop off the valve covers and check that the rocker assembly is lubricated and there’s residual oil sitting. But something’s telling me—and I don’t have the manual in front of me to check right now—that the heads are lubricated by a blow-by system, and the pump is primarily for the cam. I could be correct or completely off.

Can someone verify, please?

[LibrarianFuture]

That would be quite the relief if it were simply the sensor.

I wonder—for those who understand the pumps a little better than I—I forget where the pump sends oil. If it sends it up to the cylinder heads, you could pop off the valve covers and check that the rocker assembly is lubricated and there’s residual oil sitting. But something’s telling me—and I don’t have the manual in front of me to check right now—that the heads are lubricated by a blow-by system, and the pump is primarily for the cam. I could be correct or completely off.

Can someone verify, please?

Indeed - I may be wishful thinking, but fingers crossed!

That’s great, much appreciated. I’ll check that next.

[Moparnut72]

I had this happen to my Audace the first day after I got it. It had the engine replaced due to a catastrophic failure at 500 miles prior to my purchase. It turned out that the sensor wasn't connected correctly. The flashing indicates that the sensor has failed or the ECU cannot communicate with the sensor. A solid light indicates a loss of oil pressure. Hope this helps and gives you a sense of relief, sounds like a minor issue in your situation.
kk

[kingoffleece]

Rode 100 miles home sure suggests a sensor issue as opposed to mechanical.

[Kev m]

Rode 100 miles home sure suggests a sensor issue as opposed to mechanical.

It's more than suggests.

It's the switch/pressure circuit.

Otherwise the motor would not have survived.

[kingoffleece]

I was being polite. 

[Frenchfrog]

That would be quite the relief if it were simply the sensor.

I wonder—for those who understand the pumps a little better than I—I forget where the pump sends oil. If it sends it up to the cylinder heads, you could pop off the valve covers and check that the rocker assembly is lubricated and there’s residual oil sitting. But something’s telling me—and I don’t have the manual in front of me to check right now—that the heads are lubricated by a blow-by system, and the pump is primarily for the cam. I could be correct or completely off.

Can someone verify, please?

no...the heads are pressure fed.

[LibrarianFuture]

There is oil at the valves - thanks for the response RE being pressure fed.

A little update. Again, whilst it runs acceptably, I’ve found a what I’d consider an unacceptable amount of water in the oil.

For context, given I can’t get parts for the time being, but have plenty of spare oil, I thought I’d spend an afternoon putting it through it. I know this is wasteful btw…

I’m surprised at this given the mileage / long trips I’ve done recently.

Photo of the dipstick after a number of wipes.

[pehayes]

Pressure switch failures are quite common.  I have changed them several times on both large and small Guzzi.  Never actually had an oil pressure issue.  Changing the switch is a quick, cheap experiment.  Did you wash this bike recently?  Wash water can damage the pressure sensor.

How did you get water in the oil?  Did you wash the bike recently (see above)?  Do you often ride very short distances?  Cold engines can cause internal condensation of humid air.  The engine requires a periodic long, hard ride to generate heat and drive out the water as vapor.  You can drain and replace the oil but the water will come back if your driving habits cause it.  Take the long way home on your work commute.  :-)

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[LibrarianFuture]

Really appreciate the reply. I have ordered a replacement switch. However it won’t arrive until the second week of January. Thanks to the post above I’m fairly confident it’s a switch issue, but the Guzzi is my primary mode of transport atm and I’m a bit of a worrier at the best of times.

I have given it a thorough wash recently, so perhaps it is that? I ride it year round, and it now has around 74k miles on the clock, so I do tend to give a monthly deep clean. I’ve never noticed water in the oil though.

My riding is generally a mix of 12 miles each way Monday - Friday, with longer rides (by Welsh/British Standards) on Weekends.

[DoubleGuzzi]

My riding is generally a mix of 12 miles each way Monday - Friday, with longer rides (by Welsh/British Standards) on Weekends.

it's not so much the distance but the amount of time engine running, when snarled up in the grid-locked South. When I occasionally commuted 10 or so miles across Edinburgh on my 955, it would take at least half an hour, to nearly double that! A 250-500cc bike is much more suited to that abuse, for a number of reasons. 
Get yerself a cheapo smaller bike for the daily commute and save the bigger one for the weekends, if at all possible.

[Edit] Google:
33m (10.9 mi) via Ferry Rd./A902 - 33minutes, yeah right on a bike on a good day, not rush hour in a car.

[Frenchfrog]

that oil is a liability for the engine....
Now I'll swear that it's getting like that because you are only doing 12 miles each way and that means that the oil is not getting hot enough to boil the condensation out of it in humid conditions.The end result is that it does not lubricate correctly and the first signs of that will probably be excessive cam and cam follower wear.I'd get the engine hotter before setting off each way but as there is no temp guage on these how long for is a bit of a mystery.Certainly 12 mile journeys and then long stops are not a good thing.

[DoubleGuzzi]

To allow the oil to reach temperature quickly and provide maximum lube when cold, you'll want to use a really thin blend such as "MANNOL ELITE 5W-40 FULLY SYNTHETIC ENGINE OIL A3/B4 JASO MA2". Other brands are available but this meets/surpasses the specification, at a semi-sensible price (about 20quid for 4l.). I usually use their 10w40 4-takt+ equivalent, when semi-synthetic will do the job.

[Kev m]

I will only add that emulsified oil in a Guzzi forms first in the valve covers and takes a LOT to be found in the oil pan.

It also takes lot of full temperature operation to rid the motor of it.

[Dirk_S]

I’m willing to bet that parts of the UK are quite…moist—this time of year. Perhaps similar to the Pacific Northwest. If you’re commuting regularly through wet or even just humid weather, and not getting the motor as hot as it can safely get for longer periods of time, I think you just need to expect to moisture ingress more often. I ride year round in coastal New England, and I’d be puking mocha milkshakes if I didn’t check my final drive and engine often. Cut your check time by half (half the miles in “normal” schedule maintenance)

[Moparnut72]

Years ago I had a Harley 883 Sportster. It was notorious for making milkshakes in the winter. It was all from condensation, I live in an area that outside of town is heavy with ice in the winter so I am never able to ride longer distances. I did my best to get it up to operating temperatures for a reasonable amount of time and changed the oil often. Air cooled Sportsters unlike the rest of the Harley lineup run pretty cool a lot of it is probably due to the remote oil reservoir.
kk

[Kev m]

Years ago I had a Harley 883 Sportster. It was notorious for making milkshakes in the winter. It was all from condensation, I live in an area that outside of town is heavy with ice in the winter so I am never able to ride longer distances. I did my best to get it up to operating temperatures for a reasonable amount of time and changed the oil often. Air cooled Sportsters unlike the rest of the Harley lineup run pretty cool a lot of it is probably due to the remote oil reservoir.
kk

I've dealt with a few myself. The carbureted air cooled Sportster was an anomaly. It was overcooled in anticipation of the upcoming hotter running EFI models.

And ironically I've had experience personally with two of them, one of which developed emulsified oil in the primary chain case/transmission.

It's easy on some with short trips in winter.

[DoubleGuzzi]

Back to the days of only owning/affording a single bike and no car..
My daily commute was a similar small distance mainly on back roads. The Z200 was used all year round, come rain, snow or shine and frothy oil was a feature. I would've rarely changed the likely cheapest Comma car oriented 20w50 dinosaur fluid. Hmm, did the wet clutch ever slip on that bike? Don't recall that being an issue - perhaps due to the colossal 18bhp.
With the benefit of hindsight, the oil contamination probably didn't help the plain bearing camshaft that crapped out at around 16,000 miles. 

BTW, I assume that you'll change the filter. Given the level of contamination, I'd be tempted to drop the sump, for a good wipe down, along with the strainer.

[kingoffleece]

kev is spot on.  Pull the heads.

[DoubleGuzzi]

Air cooled Sportsters unlike the rest of the Harley lineup run pretty cool a lot of it is probably due to the remote oil reservoir.

You've jogged a memory cell somewhere: my missus' first F650GS was prone to emulsification at the oil reservoir tubing - not as a consequence/fault of the water cooling.

[Kev m]

kev is spot on.  Pull the heads.

Sorry, Mr. Pedantic here again.

I'm sure you meant to say "valve covers" and not "heads" there, right?

That's all.

[TN Mark]

My riding is generally a mix of 12 miles each way Monday - Friday, with longer rides (by Welsh/British Standards) on Weekends.

I’d guess if your Monday through Friday commute were doubled, combined with longer rides on the weekends, you wouldn’t have this water in the oil issue.

As has been posted, get the engine fully up to operating temperature. Depending on the weather, typically over 20 miles. Longer when it’s cold and/or wet.

With the drain plug and the oil filter removed, remove the valve covers to check for a mayonnaise/ chocolate milk shake residue that will need to be throughly cleaned away.

Then consider a 50cc scooter for your short daily work commute.

Emulsified oil does a very job of lubricating and preserving engine components.

I have no idea if the water contaminated oil took out your oil sender or if it may have gone dodgy anyway.

[Dirk_S]

The natural resolution this is obviously heading toward: If you drive TO work, turn around, and drive immediately back home = the motor will have had enough time to heat up appropriately and burn off the moisture = problem most likely solved.

[Frenchfrog]

  I love that logic Dirk !!!!!!!

[chuck peterson]

Regarding the frequent washing, you aren’t using a forced water nozzle are you? Hard spraying can disturb quite a few thing's, electrical and mechanical, like bearings and connectors ...my shop guy just wipes things down with a clean slightly oiled shop rag, which has the extra benefit of repelling water…just a dribble works for a rinse if you’re using soap and water..followed by a leaf blower to drive away residual moisture …good luck!

[kingoffleece]

Yes.  Covers, not heads.