Engine Oils

[devils_friend]

Re: Engine Oils

Folks, a little help needed here.
I have a 8 year old Pulsar 150 dtsi. I've researched about my oil grade on this thread which says 20W40. Also some Pulsar owners do not recommend using FS oil.
What i want to know is, do you ALWAYS drain the oil whenever you change your oil after 2k-2.5k KMS ? OR you can also just top-up sometimes?
Some people also say about oil being very black means it's burnt. What does that exactly mean ?
Also, do i need to change the oil filter everytime ? How much does it cost approx for the p150 ?

Many Thanks

PS : Oh and uh, i must have done approx 2.5k KM. How do i check my current oil level ?

Currently on what oil are you?

Folks are facing issues with FS oil in Pulsar. Have read on other forums.

Whenever you go for an oil change, the best practice is to drain the previous oil completely, change the oil filter and fill in with a fresh new oil and fit a new oil filter. The oil is suppose to turn black. That is an indication of thr oil doing its job properly.

The oil level can be checked with the help of dip-stick located on the lower part of the engine (from where you fill the oil).

Cheerz!!

[B7ACKTHORN]

Re: Engine Oils

Folks, a little help needed here.
I have a 8 year old Pulsar 150 dtsi. I've researched about my oil grade on this thread which says 20W40. Also some Pulsar owners do not recommend using FS oil.
What i want to know is, do you ALWAYS drain the oil whenever you change your oil after 2k-2.5k KMS ? OR you can also just top-up sometimes?
Some people also say about oil being very black means it's burnt. What does that exactly mean ?
Also, do i need to change the oil filter everytime ? How much does it cost approx for the p150 ?

Many Thanks

PS : Oh and uh, i must have done approx 2.5k KM. How do i check my current oil level ?

Older pulsars do tend to leak with higher grade Fully Synthetic oils and for that matter even some newer bikes do that.

Now you must understand that engine oil the moment it's used in an engine has a shelf life, when it is supposed to be drained. For example, you pour in new oil at 500 KMS and depending on the way your engine is, riding conditions etc etc, you can have a good life of 2 to 2.5K KMS. Now since you don't have the glass window you need a dipstick to see if the oil level is really below the recommended level, if yes, then you *CAN* top up.

Before that, you need to understand, how the oil itself has performed. If the oil gives you good smooth rides and good gearshifts and good heat reduction, even after certain period then you can assume your oil has still some life left, and you need not change it for the time being. The reason I said is that because you just can't run with the same oil for a long time by just topping up, which is a sureshot way to ruin your engine.

Now blackening is one way to idealize that the engine oil is doing its job pretty well, it doesn't mean it's burnt. Now most oils when drained are black, so that doesn't mean they are burnt as such, it means they did their job of cleaning the engine from the gunk and effluents.

Pulsar 150 doesn't have oil filter, they have different oil filter which is inside the engine, which can be cleaned every time you change the oil and for a bike old as yours, it's recommended you do the cleaning. It hardly doesn't cost more than 150 bucks or even less for cleaning, as cleaning is more than enough for the type of filters Pulsars have.

Cheers!
VJ

[bAR o' 9]

Re: Engine Oils

Thanks a lot devils_friend & B7ACKTHORN for the quick helpful replies.
So, it means the P150 does not have a specific oil filter which you can replace by a new one. It just needs cleaning. Am i right ?

[B7ACKTHORN]

Re: Engine Oils

Thanks a lot devils_friend & B7ACKTHORN for the quick helpful replies.
So, it means the P150 does not have a specific oil filter which you can replace by a new one. It just needs cleaning. Am i right ?

Yes it does require cleaning for the most part and they're all set. If in worse worse cases, then it needs to be changed, which is kinda rare. But as such if you haven't changed your filter, now it's a good time to do that now and then you can be rest assured for well a long period of time.

Cheers!
VJ

[bAR o' 9]

Re: Engine Oils

Thanks once again VJ.
Cheers

[princesirohi]

Re: Engine Oils

Folks, a little help needed here.I have a 8 year old Pulsar 150 dtsi. I've researched about my oil grade on this thread which says 20W40. Also some Pulsar owners do not recommend using FS oil.What i want to know is, do you ALWAYS drain the oil whenever you change your oil after 2k-2.5k KMS ? OR you can also just top-up sometimes?Some people also say about oil being very black means it's burnt. What does that exactly mean ?Also, do i need to change the oil filter everytime ? How much does it cost approx for the p150 ?Many Thanks PS : Oh and uh, i must have done approx 2.5k KM. How do i check my current oil level ?

8 years old P150 means it is UG2.

FS oil is not required in a pulsar 150 since it is neither a very high revving or a high speed vehicle which will put higher demands on oil. it is a budget bike or a commuter bike and needs just a good enough oil. costly FS oils are not needed. besides FS oil does not suit pulsars well. it simply disappears.

so use a good Semi synthetic oil like Shell AX7 and your bike will be happy.

if you are doing it after 2500 kms you should change the oil rather than top-up. use a SS oil and change it every 2000 to 3000 kms depending on your riding style and bike condition.

top-ups are done if your bike is consuming oil, in that case you top up at say every 500 kms, but even in that case, you have to change the oil at about 3000 kms.

pulsars have a centrifugal oil filter, and it does not need cleaning during every oil change.

also even if you want to clean it, you can not do it, because a centrifugal oil filter means that you have to open the clutch side cover of gearbox to access the oil filter. if you open it every time during oil change not only you need a new gasket everytime, but there are chances that you will do more damage than good to your bike.

better to clean it during clutch plate change or once in say 15000 kms, unless you suspect something wrong with your bike. manual recommends 5000 kms cleaning interval for old pulsars upto UG2 and 10,000 kms for UG3, don't know why it was recommended 5000 earlier and what exactly changed their minds later on in UG3.

apart from oil filter, pulsar oil pump also has a oil strainer, which also needs cleaning once a while, it is basically a net, not exactly a filter, basically to stop anything entering into oil pump which might damage it. clean it along with centrifugal filter but not at every oil change.

i have a pulsar UG3, i think UG2 i.e. your bike will not have a dipstick, but a glass window on the lower right side of gearbox to check oil level.

remember to check oil level when the bike is not on center/main stand and is 100% straight. to do that you need to hold the bike straight.

always check oil level when the bike is cool and engine is not hot. a hot engine will always show you less oil.

regarding changing the centrifugal oil filter, it is not required as it is just a hard metal conical piece. there is nothing in the centrifugal filter that demands it to be replaced. even oil strainer needs a change if it is damaged or torn, otherwise just wash it.

[bAR o' 9]

Re: Engine Oils

8 years old P150 means it is UG2.

FS oil is not required in a pulsar 150 since it is neither a very high revving or a high speed vehicle which will put higher demands on oil. it is a budget bike or a commuter bike and needs just a good enough oil. costly FS oils are not needed. besides FS oil does not suit pulsars well. it simply disappears.

so use a good Semi synthetic oil like Shell AX7 and your bike will be happy.

if you are doing it after 2500 kms you should change the oil rather than top-up. use a SS oil and change it every 2000 to 3000 kms depending on your riding style and bike condition.

top-ups are done if your bike is consuming oil, in that case you top up at say every 500 kms, but even in that case, you have to change the oil at about 3000 kms.

pulsars have a centrifugal oil filter, and it does not need cleaning during every oil change.

also even if you want to clean it, you can not do it, because a centrifugal oil filter means that you have to open the clutch side cover of gearbox to access the oil filter. if you open it every time during oil change not only you need a new gasket everytime, but there are chances that you will do more damage than good to your bike.

better to clean it during clutch plate change or once in say 15000 kms, unless you suspect something wrong with your bike. manual recommends 5000 kms cleaning interval for old pulsars upto UG2 and 10,000 kms for UG3, don't know why it was recommended 5000 earlier and what exactly changed their minds later on in UG3.

apart from oil filter, pulsar oil pump also has a oil strainer, which also needs cleaning once a while, it is basically a net, not exactly a filter, basically to stop anything entering into oil pump which might damage it. clean it along with centrifugal filter but not at every oil change.

i have a pulsar UG3, i think UG2 i.e. your bike will not have a dipstick, but a glass window on the lower right side of gearbox to check oil level.

remember to check oil level when the bike is not on center/main stand and is 100% straight. to do that you need to hold the bike straight.

always check oil level when the bike is cool and engine is not hot. a hot engine will always show you less oil.

regarding changing the centrifugal oil filter, it is not required as it is just a hard metal conical piece. there is nothing in the centrifugal filter that demands it to be replaced. even oil strainer needs a change if it is damaged or torn, otherwise just wash it.

The UG2 UG3 is really very confusing for me. Anyway, its a 2005 Model if that helps. It does not have the round headlight which the older models had.
I have a glass on the lower left of my bike. I dont think there is anything on the lower right. Maybe i am wrong. But i'm sure about the glass at the lower left.

[princesirohi]

Re: Engine Oils

how can it be on lower left, left side has stator plate, clutch assembly and oil reservoir is on right side of gearbox. -->>



also see the first pic on this page-->>

Pulsar 200 query. - BCMTouring

to get an idea of glass window.

[Calculus]

Re: Engine Oils

Older pulsars do tend to leak with higher grade Fully Synthetic oils and for that matter even some newer bikes do that.

Have this doubt for sometime now.. Have seen many posts stating that Fully Synthetic oils cause leakage. Is leakage due to the grade of the engine oil or damaged seals in the engine gasket material ? In older bikes its understandable but in new bikes, what could be the reason.

[B7ACKTHORN]

Re: Engine Oils

Have this doubt for sometime now.. Have seen many posts stating that Fully Synthetic oils cause leakage. Is leakage due to the grade of the engine oil or damaged seals in the engine gasket material ? In older bikes its understandable but in new bikes, what could be the reason.

No buddy. Thing is it leaks due to lots of reasons, he oil being more finer and as such the way the gaskets are made. Any old bike you take, and use FS oils do tend to leak, and for most part even new bikes leak. But as technology improves, incorporating new gaskets, seals etc would provide modern engines a good gun to begin with.

Mostly the oil leak is due to poor gaskets, or the gaskets aren't designed to handle the FS oils, but that isn't a problem of a specific bike, it happens to almost most bikes. In that case, keep an eye on the oil level and top up if necessaray....of course... wipe all that mud induced gunk on the engine.

Cheers!
VJ

[Touseef Ahmed Mohammed]

Re: Engine Oils

Im a Synthetic oil FREAK!
I everytime use Synthetic oils (earlier 2 semi synthetics), and never ever found even a minute leak in my Fz, nor my Cousin's Pulsar 220.

[shoeb2015]

Re: Engine Oils

IMHO , using expensive Fully synthetic oil in our commuter bikes does not make any sense at all.
If you consider FZ,P220 as sports bike then that is a different thing...

Can anyone please tell me what significant difference does this FS oil make over a regular mineral/SS oil in small engine's performance,life,smoothness,FE etc ? Hardly anything,no ?

[devils_friend]

Re: Engine Oils

IMHO , using expensive Fully synthetic oil in our commuter bikes does not make any sense at all.
If you consider FZ,P220 as sports bike then that is a different thing...

Can anyone please tell me what significant difference does this FS oil make over a regular mineral/SS oil in small engine's performance,life,smoothness,FE etc ? Hardly anything,no ?

Well, the opinion varies from biker to biker. IMHO, FS oils offer better film lubrication, better heat control in the engine, smooth gear shifts, drain interval is higher. The engine runs much smoother than Mineral or SS oil. Other bikers have got better FE. Whereas, some have not seen any change in the same.

I am on FS oil and have noticed much much difference as compared to SS oil. The shifts are butter smooth, engine heat reduced drastically.

Cheerz!!

[B7ACKTHORN]

Re: Engine Oils

IMHO , using expensive Fully synthetic oil in our commuter bikes does not make any sense at all.
If you consider FZ,P220 as sports bike then that is a different thing...

Can anyone please tell me what significant difference does this FS oil make over a regular mineral/SS oil in small engine's performance,life,smoothness,FE etc ? Hardly anything,no ?

Let me add my two cents *since you asked*. I've used almost all of their oils from Motul 3000 to 300V in my Pulsar 220 and all other oils in my Vicky.

From SS to FS in Motul, I didn't find any difference at all, nothing radical that would make my mind go "HOOPLA" over 300V. I'm currently on 300V at 1k KMS and no difference whatsoever from 5100 7100. In fact for some reason I love the 5100 just because I've had such good long trip logs on that oil, but that's just me.

Now Valovline, Shell, Yamalube, Mak, Crapstrol etc have been used in my Victor, but the bike liked SS Yamalube 15w50 for some reason. The gear shifts were hot knife on butter and the engine tone completely changed, you can hear a whining turbo sound, when you throttle down (loved every second of that sound) for 3k KMS as I quoted a lot of times pages back, until I redid the engine intentionally after clocking more than 65K and still the oil was good.

Personally I've not known any difference from all these 5 Motul oils.

And next up in my mind is Delvax MX and 1300 or 1400 for my Vicky.

Cheers!
VJ

[Touseef Ahmed Mohammed]

Re: Engine Oils

IMHO , using expensive Fully synthetic oil in our commuter bikes does not make any sense at all.
If you consider FZ,P220 as sports bike then that is a different thing...

Can anyone please tell me what significant difference does this FS oil make over a regular mineral/SS oil in small engine's performance,life,smoothness,FE etc ? Hardly anything,no ?

Dude, IT MAKES SENSE, Fs oils have wide range of benefits over conventional oils.
You quoted Pulsar-220 ,Fz to be considered as sportsbikes ROFL.
The thing here is not considering them as sportsbikes, the REASON i use fully synthetic oils is that i dont prefer changing oils once every month as i have quite busy schedule and i prefer longer drain intervals (say 4000-4500 kms) and moreover i hope you did not notice the feel of synthetic oil.
Coming to the feel of conventional oils, they give a quite harsh feel in around 400-500 kms.
Semi synthetics on the other side are much better than minerals but fully synthetics are best in feel and protection too.
Everyone have their GENUINE reason behind using synthetic stuff.
I quoted my reason.
Hope you got me. Coming to benefits, i have a book in my home about synthetic oil vs conventional oils.