2021 Tracer 9 GT - First Oil Change

[knyte]

13 minutes ago, duckie said:

add the proper amount of oil and not round up

No kidding, if anything, they'd be better off to round DOWN.  LIke @duckie says, it's not hard to measure the CORRECT volume.

[kilo3]

It's hard to bill a partial container, just because they bill 4 doesn't mean they dump in 4.

[KrustyKush]

No two shops/techs do things the exact same way.  I'd be inclined to believe they overfilled the engine oil, because that's what has happened to me on the few occasions I've used a shop to do my oil changes.

First, almost every bike I've bought (most cars, too) come to me overfilled.  The 21 T9GT I just bought came with the oil filled all the way up to the top of the sight glass such that I had to tip the bike to see the oil level. This was the factory fill.  At 600 miles I dumped the factory oil and replaced it with exactly 3 qts of Yamalube, plus enough oil from the 4th container to fill and presoak the Yamaha oil filter. That is just a hair over 3 quarts.  That brought the oil level exactly to the lines on the sight glass.  Properly filled, not overfilled.  

If 4 qts are dumped into this motor, it will be overfilled.  That's why "rounding up" is the technique of the dumb-butt tech.

Obviously, though, it probably doesn't matter all that much.  They overfill them slightly at the factory so I feel like the motor probably would need a lot more oil than just the 4 quarts to cause damage.  However, this much extra could possibly cause oil to breather into the air box more than is usual.  Many engines, including many Japanese engines, actually want to be a little below the upper limit because of this. 

[knyte]

Thing is, sometimes the book value is slightly different than the sight glass or dipstick.  I tend to trust the stick or sight glass over the book value.

I've experienced more than one shop that just pumps whatever the book says without even checking the stick.

[2and3cylinders]

3 hours ago, TracerNed said:

I am not sure why they used 2 drain bolt gaskets.  I thought the same thing when I posted this, did not really pay attention at the time.  I will ask when I take it in for the recall. 

As for the 4 quarts of oil instead of 3.4, as you probably know this is normal shop practice to round up. 

Oh, I now recall the T9 takes over a half quart more than the Gen 1 CP3 engine.

[RayJ]

Getting ready for my second oil change and was considering getting a magnetic oil pan plug. Have the specs on the size and thread pitch, but not the length. Anybody done this recently? thx.

rayJ - 2021 tracer Gt 900 

[knyte]

There should be a few threads on this.

Here is one of them:

 

[GTO MIKE]

K&N 204 here also and by chance the same filter my ST 1300 also took which definitely needed the welded nut to remove and replace the filter !

MIKE

[knyte]

9 minutes ago, GTO MIKE said:

needed the welded nut to remove and replace the filter

That p*ss*s me off to NO end.  What, that filter and/or drain plug is holding the whole engine together ?

Of all the bolts or things that spin requiring low torque - these are two of them.  No need to overtighten.

[2and3cylinders]

22 hours ago, KellyL said:

Personally I stay away from K&N oil filters. Some race tracks have banned them because they have a record of blowing out their seals. (I’ve heard they change their suppliers according to what prices they can negotiate, thus the varying reports.)

Hiflo Filtro do a ‘race’ oil filter with a hex nut welded in, like the K&N. If you must go aftermarket, then I’d recommend the Hiflo.

Actually, I believe they leaked at the stamped nut spot welds, as identified in K&Ns own recall.  Leakage at their (and all other filter) base gasket is usually due to over-tightening*, possibly with the nut.  K&N instructions specifically state the nut is only be used for removal; as do the Hiflo's.  Coincidentally, I just bought 3 of the near identical appearing (to the K&N) Hiflo synthetic blend filter media "race" filters for about $9 each on Prime.  Could they both be made in the same factory?

*Base gasket leakage has also been caused in recent years with Purolator and other filters due to the filter end plate being stamped too concave such that the rubber gasket was not compressed enough before the filters end plate bottomed out on the double-end threaded union bolt that the filter threads on and whose other end threads into the crankcase. In fact a guy on the FJR forum offers replacement FJR "union bolts" that he machines down to prevent this bottoming out, that also fits the CP3 (and likely other Yamahas). I installed one on my FJ, after I had a Purolator filter leak.  Had the same leakage on my 111,000 mile VTR after decades of using the same filters with no such issue.

[Bill H]

11 hours ago, TracerNed said:

I am not sure why they used 2 drain bolt gaskets.  I thought the same thing when I posted this, did not really pay attention at the time.  I will ask when I take it in for the recall. 

As for the 4 quarts of oil instead of 3.4, as you probably know this is normal shop practice to round up. 

as far as washer goes neither my FZ07 or Tracer had one when I bought the bikes. ,,so never used one 

But did the new Tracer engine get bigger ,,my 2020 holds under 3 quarts ,,did you check your manual ?

[Bill H]

11 hours ago, kilo3 said:

It's hard to bill a partial container, just because they bill 4 doesn't mean they dump in 4.

I dont get it ,,,you have same bike as me ,,3 quarts overfill the glass eye ,,there shouldn't even be a reason to open the 4th quart 

[kilo3]

1 hour ago, Bill H said:

I dont get it ,,,you have same bike as me ,,3 quarts overfill the glass eye ,,there shouldn't even be a reason to open the 4th quart 

Clearly you have never worked at a service station. I had two billable options for oil in cars, 5qts or other. Other was a pain in the butt to change in the system, so guess what everyone got, you bet 5qts billed. I'm sure life has changed in the 20+ years since then, but do you really expect a small dealership to have an enterprise grade ERP system accounting for every ounce? Cripes sakes you old farts.

[2and3cylinders]

I believe when the 21 CP3 were rotated more vertical in the new frames the oil level had to be increased along with the oil level sensor calibration but the sight glass level did not, hence about + 1/2 qt capacity. 😉 

[bwringer]

12 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Actually, I believe they leaked at the stamped nut spot welds, as identified in K&Ns own recall.  Leakage at their (and all other filter) base gasket is usually due to over-tightening*, possibly with the nut.  K&N instructions specifically state the nut is only be used for removal; as do the Hiflo's.  

Thanks for posting this! It's important for people considering filters with a nut to read and understand the bolded points. It's only a wee hunk o' sheet metal doing a bad job of simulating a nut, and is only spot welded to the canister. 

Yes, I've seen this failure with my own eyes on a buddy's bike. Fortunately, I was able to give him a ride to a rural Kentucky Walmart for a compatible filter, oil, a drain pan, etc. It did a nice job of oiling the rear tire, which was very interesting in light rain.

I've also seen the nuts just rip off the canister much of the time when attempting removal of these things. They really can't take much torque.

People get obsessed over that damn nut and with defending K&N to the death for some reason, but I don't really see the point; use the correct "cap" tool (less than ten bucks), or perhaps a strap wrench to tighten and remove the filter. And if you have that, what's the point of the nut?

FWIW, the filter itself seems to function perfectly well, but since there's no cost savings compared to OEM Yamaha, you can't safely use the nut to tighten the filter, the nut stands a fair chance of ripping off the filter when removing, and it blocks use of the proper cap wrench... then what's the point?