UPDATED!! Clutch issues w/ oil change

wizardefc · L Plate Warrior Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Karma :

Figured it out fellas (assuming those that helped are guys) the master cylinder was faulty thanks for the help................ Laughing

I took it off and the shaft was hung up, thus not moving any hydraulic fluid Exclamation

THANKS FOR THE HELP!!!

See my update down 3-4 posts....

OK here is the scoop I changed my oil and put in regular automobile oil. After riding about 5 miles the clutch stopped engaging. ( it happened gradually over those 5 miles but it was the first drive of the year and I thought it may just need an adjustment) In other words I essentially have no clutch at this point depressing the clutch lever yields no result.

Now after talking with a tech at the local dealer he said that the problem was the automotive oil and its additives I used (woops!) and that after changing the oil to motorcycle the clutch would again grab to allow shifting.

I have changed the oil and still have the same problem and in fact there is no improvement. Is there a way to "wash" or "flush" out the wet clutch to get rid of the old oil?

Any advice would be appreciated.

89 Kawa ZX-10

Guest · Brolly Dolly Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Karma :

Your local dealer should get a new tech, he's talking out of his fundamental orifice.

I've run my bike on 'car' 15/50 since the first oil change and suffered no ill effects to the clutch in 36000 miles. In fact it's often the latest fully synth oils that give clutch trouble. When the ZX10 came out I doubt if there even were any 'motorcycle specific' oils on the market.

I think you should look to the clutch release mechanism - cable or hydraulic? - for the source of the problem.

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

I presume you do mean that the engine is just spinning up, rather that that you can't change gear using the clutch?

Some expensive car oils have 'friction inhibitors', these do/can cause clutch slip. Seen it several times myself, though never this dramatically. I suspect that your clutch may have been on the way out, anyway so that when it started slipping it pretty much burnt it's self out.

You will probably be needing new clutch plates anyway. So new plates (maybe some new springs if they aint been changed in a while) and some more bike specific oil should do the trick.

Hex · Party Boy Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

What G said. Thumbs Up

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wizardefc · L Plate Warrior Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Karma :

Thanks for the replies, actually it is just like I said the clutch does not engage thus I depress the clutch lever to shift and it is if the clutch is not there thus shifting is not really possible without slamming it into gear. 2 other things to note:
1)when I rode there is no real clutch slippage (ie engine revs) when the clutch lever is not squeezed
2) when it is parked and in gear with the clutch lever squeezed, I can't move it.
...maybe I have totally misdiagnosed the problem and it isn't anything to do with oil... maybe it is is the hydraulic master or slave cylinders for clutch engagement? The lever does seem a little soft but I assumed that the cause may be related to the oil situation. I'll take a look today.

Thanks for the help and if there are more ideas I would be very grateful.