Ok guys, here's the story. I have a 2001 ZX6R with 13,800 miles on it. I have owned it since new and have babied this thing. It is the most immaculate 2001 6R Ninja you could ever find. I have changed the oil on a regular basis(usually every 1500 to 2000 miles, 2500 at the very most). Sure it has seen its share of high RPM's, just like every other sport bike, but I have never abused the engine in any way. Here's the problem. A couple of weeks ago I changed the oil and there was some metal in the oil. Really small specs, but quite a bit of it. The bike runs absolutely perfect, no different than it ever has. For oil I run Kawachem 10W 40, 20W50 in the dead hot summer(100 plus degrees F in Kansas all summer) as I have since day one. Is this normal for this bike and the mileage? Could it just be from the tranny after this many miles of use? The bike doesn't use or burn any oil and runs great. Help me out here guys. What do you all think? Thanks.
METAL IN MY OIL!!!! HELP!!!!
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first thing i would tell you to do is cut open the oil filter and see if there are metal shavings in there, and how much. also, normally a motor does not just start doing this for no reason. no your bike is low milage. i have an 06 with over 15K on it. see if the metal flakes are aluminum or not. stick a magnet to them and see if they are attracted. if it is aluminum, it is most likely going to be somthing with the block, or piston rings gouging the cylinder walls. if you have access to a scope ( i dont know what the technical name is) but pull a spark plug and look insied of the cylinder and see what the pistons look like. if they are black with carbon build up, i might would lean to somthing scraping the cylinder walls.
if they are magnetic. im thinking mabe something in the tranny. have you had any missed shifts reciently?
how did you come to notice the metal in the oil? if it just stood out then there is somthing most defantly wrong, but if you looked and just thought you saw somthing and then looked super close, you might have had an issue for a while and just never noticed it. any ways. ride it for a bit and then change the oil again. and look real close and compare to what you saw last time. there may still be metal in it, but it souldnt be as bad as last time, if it is just as bad, then you have a real problem.photos would help. and cut open that oil filter and take a lookinside of it. if it was blocked then it might just be crap that was circulating in their that the oile filter would normally get, but if the filter is blocked, then the oil can bypass it.
if they are magnetic. im thinking mabe something in the tranny. have you had any missed shifts reciently?
how did you come to notice the metal in the oil? if it just stood out then there is somthing most defantly wrong, but if you looked and just thought you saw somthing and then looked super close, you might have had an issue for a while and just never noticed it. any ways. ride it for a bit and then change the oil again. and look real close and compare to what you saw last time. there may still be metal in it, but it souldnt be as bad as last time, if it is just as bad, then you have a real problem.photos would help. and cut open that oil filter and take a lookinside of it. if it was blocked then it might just be crap that was circulating in their that the oile filter would normally get, but if the filter is blocked, then the oil can bypass it.
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wait wait...cylinder walls are aluminum on these bikes?? i think not.
if u happened to drain ur oil, and it was in the sun. u seen the metal shining in there. thats normal, every internal combustion engine on the planet will show some wear. every second the bike is running, the engine is wearing down. albiet very slowly, but its still happening. and in the sun that shit will stand out like crazy.
and as mentioned, there will be traces of cluth in the oil too. my guess is its normal.
now im not saying u dont have a problem.... anything is possible. and its very hard to diagnose anything over the internet.
if u happened to drain ur oil, and it was in the sun. u seen the metal shining in there. thats normal, every internal combustion engine on the planet will show some wear. every second the bike is running, the engine is wearing down. albiet very slowly, but its still happening. and in the sun that shit will stand out like crazy.
and as mentioned, there will be traces of cluth in the oil too. my guess is its normal.
now im not saying u dont have a problem.... anything is possible. and its very hard to diagnose anything over the internet.
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yes i know the cylinder walls are not aluminum. i am assuming that thet aare sleved, but i dont know the entire internals since i have not pulled the heads on my bike yet. but there are may other aluminum moving parts in inside of the motor. if i made it sould like i was saying that the cylinder walls were aluminum, then i was not clear. but the piston rings may be cutting groves in the clyinder walls, or many other things.nevada said:
yes the motor is alwas weearing, but you normally you shoued not see visable signs of it like metal flakes in the oil. that is a sign of somthing causing premature wear on the motor
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hm, ok he didnt say flakes. but yeh i agree, with big flakes in the oil, theres cause for alarm. but from what he described, it sounds perfectly normal to me.
ive drained LOTS of oil, from everything u could think of. in the light its always shiny. but yeh..if there are pieces big enough to pick up, and feel with ur fingers. there might be something wrong.
ive drained LOTS of oil, from everything u could think of. in the light its always shiny. but yeh..if there are pieces big enough to pick up, and feel with ur fingers. there might be something wrong.
Thanks for the reply's guys. Occasionally I will get a missed shift or a false neutral here and there. This was the first time I noticed the specs in the oil, and I didn't even notice that there was anything there until I moved the drain pan out into the direct sunlight from under the bike. Like I said I have never done(or ridden this thing hard enough to abuse the engine since new), so I was hoping it was clutch related.
Yea the sun will trick you into thinking there is a problem.. I guess from my thinking if your engine is having problems that entail metal coming from it you'd have noticed lack of performance before hand and that you really cant do anything anyhow, if it blows it blows, if not, dont worry about it.. 
Just remember if it goes, pull in the clutch.. haha..
Just remember if it goes, pull in the clutch.. haha..
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I had a mechanic drain and sift through mine. He said he found the "normal" stuff in there which were very small particles. If that's the case, I wouldn't worry too much. But if you're paranoid, take it to a mechanic that you trust. I was paranoid and it helped me sleep at night.
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I had some metal particles show up in my suzukis oil. I ignored it didnt think much of it. Any way was riding home and the gearbox trashed itself. That was scary having the rear lock up going about 50kmph. Pulled the gearbox out and it was totaly rooted.
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My prairie 360 2x4 made a loud bang and blew the engine I pulled the sparkplug and carburator the sparkplug was packed with metal shavings and carburator had metal shavings in it. Am I going to need a piston as well as head? If so this is for sale New tires on it 2004 I think it's kebc anyone know how much this might cost to fix myself
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