Wrong Oil - HELP!

[ShingH]

Hi- bought a Suzuki GS450S (1981) used, checked the dipstick and it came up dry... SO, I drove over to the shop, but forgot to check what type I needed - some guy told me he was *sure* what I needed was 2 stroke oil... bought a quart, put 'er in... and of course it's a 4 stroke engine. Boom. Have I completely screwed up my bike? What to do? Drain the oil and put in the right kind, or is it too late? Someone else told me it might even be ok to leave the quart of 2 stroke in there, but that doesn't sound right to me... mix it with the 2 quarts of 10W40 I just bought? Then again, I don't know anything! Any help would be appreciated... Thanks!

[Finglonga]

Have you ridden it?
If you have stop!
Drain the oil / Change the filter and put fresh oil in (the correct type).

Hopefully you wont have damaged the engine as any oil is better than none.

Good luck
____________________
Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[ShingH]

Hi- haven't ridden it because it actually won't start (think it's fouled spark plugs, gonna hit those later this week- the guy I bought the bike from used the choke a LOT, pretty much would leave it on for 10 minutes, etc...) I have tried to start it tho, hitting the starter, but no action. Think that's ok, or would the oil have gotten into the engine? How do I go about draining / changing the filter? (Dumb newbie question probably...) Thanks

[mr jamez]

Right so it is a four stroke engine, and he thought it needed 2 stroke oil? where the hell did you take it to drain the 2 stroke out, put the correct amount of the correct oil in, would probably be good to do it twice to flush the two stroke out. Unless if course it want bang, not sure but you said boom so I guess it did, I would give that bloke a damn good beating and ban him from going near anything mechanical

[ShingH]

Believe me I wanna hurt the guy- I wouldn't have just taken someone's word for it anyway but he was so damn SURE. GRRRR.

[mr jamez]

To drain the oil you need to take the sump bolt out, usualy at the bottom of the engine. No idea what sort of filter is on your bike, but they are simple to remove. If you have no idea where any of this is then go and buy a haynes manual. It will tell you how to carry out simple maintenance tasks on your bike and will tell you what type of oil it is that you need!

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

What a situation.

Drain all the 2 stroke oil out asap, put fresh 4 stroke oil in. Run it for a few minutes. Hopfully it will work, and be fine.

Then get some engine flush. Follow the instructions labled. Use it with the new oil.

After using the engine flush, completely drain the oil again, and put another quantity of new oil in.

Hopefully the engine flush (coupled with the 2 oil changes) will get as much 2stoke out as possible. And help dilute any remaining oil, should there be any traces left. The more times you change the oil, the cleaner your engine will be (so you could even do a third change it you really wanted to). The engine flush will help to clean out all the bits of crap in the engine (including the 2 stroke oil).

The plugs may be cacked up, so it would be wise to check/clean/replace them.

And hopefully it will be ok.

Good luck

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Oh and change the oil filter as well with each oil change. Both times (both oil changes) to be on the safe side.

Hopefuly any traces of 2 stroke in the combustion chanber should be burnt off harmlessly. Its just the wear damage to the engine that could have occured, that is the problem, due to the fact that it was completely the wrong oil.

Ps. My old Nissan Micra regularly runs with oil warning light on, and it still pulls well. So dont loose all hope. And i kain it, lol

[Kickstart]

Hi

Definatly change the oil and filter. Do it once without running the engine, and then do it again shortly afterwards.

All the best

Keith
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[stinkwheel]

You should be OK if it was just a fairly small amount. Two stroke oil will still lubricate the major engine componants like the bearings and bores. Not so good in a gearbox and wet clutch though, the gearbox would take rather longer to suffer damage.

I would do the same as kickstart. Drop the oil out, change the filter and refill with proper engine oil. Run it for a few miles then repeat the change.

I'd just stick something like ordinary Castrol GTX (not magnatech) in a GS450 so not too expensive. Flushing oil shouldn't really be necessary (and cheap-ass oil will do the same job).

GET a workshop manual (Haynes or Clymer), there are pictures and everything!
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Finglonga]

Have a look at..https://www.thegsresources.com/reviews/gs_80-81_450_review.htm
lots of info about GS's.
____________________
Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[Guest]

As Keith and Stinky - change oil and filter now, run it for a few miles till it's nice and warm and then change oil and filter again. I wouldn't be fussed with flushing it. A little 2T still in won't hurt, those old GS's are tough old birds - ball bearing cranks will run on water

I wouldn't bother using anything fancy in it either, basic 10/40 was all there was when it was new and it'll be good enough for it now.

If the previous owner was running it on choke for 10 minutes I'm not surprised the plugs are fouled - stick some new ones in. I'd guess after all this time it could do with a carb strip to check jets. needles, float heights etc.

[ShingH]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I will definitely try to drain it as soon as I can figure it out - prob is I believe I may be blocked by some exhaust pipes and I'm not too mech-savvy... like I said it won't run, so hopefully I can get it running with spark plugs and new oil, then take it to the shop for a real check (found lots of electrical tape inside, looks like none of the filters have been changed in ages, etc... ugh... hope it won't cost me a fortune). Thanks again all!

[Ste]

Take it to a different shop, I wouldn't trust that shop further than I could throw it.

You should be able to get to the sump plug to drain the oil without moving the exhaust, but if needed you can undo it, move it out the way then put it back on, just unbolt it from the front of the engine and the can and then you're fine. Before you put the two stroke oil in was it running okay yeah? Should run even with the two stroke oil in (don't though!) drain the old oil and change the filter as said, then flush it round with good oil to get all the rest of it out then do another oil and filter change as said up there.

Out of interest where are you in the country as there might be someone not far away who would be able to help you.

[ShingH]

As for where in the country... I don't think I *am* in the country... over here in the U.S. - dunno how I ended up finding the board, just googled a few motorcycle terms and here I am!

Don't think the shop I went to is representative of most over here - and I didn't bring the bike in, since it wasn't running even before I did the oil change (spark plug problem I think, as before)... I'd just gone in and asked, and the guy for WHATEVER reason just assumed I could only be riding some lawnmower of a 50cc bike or something... ignorant jerk

[Rory]

I know they don't cost much, but is changing the filter more than once really going to make any difference? Surely it's there to filter out dirt particules that aren't dissolved in the oil? Or would the two-stoke oil possibly dislodge other crud in the engine? Just thinking out loud...
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My Old CBR400RR | Bike Oil FAQ | Petrol FAQ

[ShingH]

Thoughts?

[Kickstart]

Hi

With the nominal cost of a filter I would just change it both times.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[ZRX61]

So just to clear things up:
You bought a bike that didn't have any oil in it, it hasn't ever run since you got it & still won't run?

& whereabouts in the US? (on the offchance you are in the next street...)

[stinkwheel]

[Rory]

Hmm, very true
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