Losing oil!

[johntaylor]

Having been very happy with the purchase of my low milage RDO4 I merrilly rode it to Devon where I had i serviced. On arriving back in london I noticed it was very low on Oil - so i topped it up. 700km later and its really low again. It never drips and does not smoke. Does any one have any suggestions?? I run it on synthetic oil as I was told by the chap I bought it off thats all it has ever been run on. Does anyone know of a good garage in south east London that would give me an honest opinion.
Any help really appeciated!! THanks, John.

[Tarka]

If it truly isn`t leaking,then the engine is consuming the oil.

If there`s no smoke on cold starting then the valves seats and seals are more than likely okay.

So,we`re probably looking in the piston ring/bore area.

If it was run on synthetic oil from brand new,the rings and bore may never have fully bedded in.

I`d suggest draining the oil and trying a mineral oil for a while to see what happens....

By the way,what grade of synthetic is it running ??

[jpc]

Use a good mineral oil.And see what happens.Synthetic is a bit OTT for these babies.H ad similar problems with an older bike running it on synthetic. Could be due to engine tolerances.

[Dilbert]

Use a good mineral oil.And see what happens.Synthetic is a bit OTT for these babies.H ad similar problems with an older bike running it on synthetic. Could be due to engine tolerances.

Ditto and don't worry, it can't be anything drastic if it's still running Ok, just keep an eye on it

[chronyx]

Mine uses some too - although, none really on my end to end trip.

This makes me agree with the fully synth being too good idea. I guess that hours on end at 5000 - 6000rpm were rough enough to not burn the synthetic, but normal riding is. Although nowadays it doesn't get long runs but still gets revved quite hard most of the time...

[BobA]

Madness!!

Who can make sense of it?

I use fully synthetic in my rattly old RD04 and the level only dropped after a very fast (for an AT) thrash to Barcelona. Other than that, it doesn't use a drop. I only use it becasue I have a small quantity of it available.

I ALSO use fully synthetic in my year old Golf GT TDI and it drinks the stuff. I was so concerned that I asked VW to check recently, and their response was that a litre in anything down to 600 miles was considered OK!!!!! The stuff is £13 a litre!!!!!

My guess is you could probably isolate the problem down to the fully synthetic by switching over to a pefectly adequate mineral. I've even heard of forum members using diesel engine oil with very good results.

Good Luck, but I wouldn't worry too much


Bob

[chronyx]

Saying that mine is on semi synth...

[cabbage2404]

Had the same problem with my RD03 , oil was escaping from the rear of the rear cylinder rocker cover gasket, didn't look too bad to the eye, but seeing as these engines hold precious little of the slippery stuff to begin with it was enough to drop down on the dipstick rapidly, easy fix though .

[Whealie]

Mine did this. I did a full service, including filters and oil. never lost a drop since.
Order the bits off Dave Silver and I'll give you a hand if you're a bit nervous about doing it yourself. I'm in your neck of the woods.