How-To: Oil Change For Honda PCX

[EddieC]

How to do an oil change on Honda PCX.

Once again, DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional mechanic. Do not take this as professional advice.

An oil change on the PCX is VERY easy and shouldn't take more than 10-15 min to complete.

Tools and Supplies needed:
1. RAGS.
2. 1 quart of 10w-40 or 10-30 oil. (see owners manual for best oil choice)
3. Oil pan
4. Funnel
5. 8, 12, and 17mm Sockets. Extension of any size will make life easier, but not necessary.
6. New crush washer MIGHT be necessary.


the oil doesn't flow so smoothly from our scooters. when the flow becomes slow, it tends to run down the center stand onto the floor. Position the oil pan like this to get most the oil.


remove oil drain bolt. (12mm) Located on the right side of the scooter next to the center stand hinge just beyond the exhaust pipe


remove 8mm bolt holding rear brake line (left side)


After all oil has drained Remove 17mm bolt/cover holding the oil filter. you will likely have to use your wrench the whole time when loosening since there is a spring holding tension on this bolt/cover.


the oil filter will spring out from behind the cover. Remove from engine casing


Clean the oil filter. I used WD-40 to spray the gunk out of the filter. This worked really well. I then rinsed the filter with ample amounts of water to dispose of the WD-40.
Before:


After Cleaning:


After oil filter is completely dry, place the filter spring and cap, back into the engine casing


Please remember to re-instal the oil drain plug. I generally replace crush washers every 10 or so oil changes. Some people replace every time. Do what you wish with your scoot.

remove oil dipstick and replace with funnel. Pour oil into the scoot. The scooter will take less than the full quart, but pretty close. Pour about 7/8 or so in, and verify the level with the dipstick periodically while filling. DO NOT screw dipstick into the threads when checking the oil. The proper reading will be found when placing the dipstick on top of the threads.

Replace 8mm brake line bolt, re-check everything, and you're good to go!

[skuuter]

Just a "Note".....(Most) Honda Scooters are notorious for dragging the Crank/Rod in Oil if You overfill Them at all....slightly below the full mark on the dipstick is usually better than any at all above it. I haven't played with the PCX enough to see if this applies for sure, but has pretty much been the "norm" for the Others I've owned.....

[ese12105]

What size crush washers are they? And where do you normally pick them up from? Home improvement store should do right (if I'm thinking of the right thing...)?

[EddieC]

I've just picked up crush washers from the honda dealership or MC shop.. if your nice they'll usually give them to you for free, or you can order them for 15 cents I think

[ese12105]

That's nice and cheap :-)

[maddiedog]

I've never replaced a crush washer on my cars or scooters before -- what is the point of replacing it?

[skuuter]

I've never replaced a crush washer on my cars or scooters before -- what is the point of replacing it?

Same here......except for the one I dropped down a drain while changin' the oil in my VTX1800C.....

[EddieC]

I only replace every 10 or so oil changes. You're supposed to "crush" the washer down a little further each time to get you a good seal. After a while they get REALLY thin. and can cause a leak.... This is when I replace mine... though some people say you're "supposed to" replace each time.

[WhiteNoise]

Hello EddieC and thank you for sharing your "how to" with us I had my laptop nearby while doing the job.
May I just suggest that in your opening of 1, 2, 3, etc. steps, that you preface it with something like this:
protect floor if need be (i.e. corrugated cardboard or ?) Place bike on level surface, put bike on centerstand, warm up engine for several minutes, turn off bike "Before starting" the following draining process (then maybe explain why we warm her up first?)
I know a lot of us know all ^ already, but others do not, and some don't look at their manuals at all
I sure do like this section of the forum. It's nice folk like You that use their time and effort in helping the rest of us "get into it" and thus love our bikes even more! Soooo..... Cheers to You All!!

[EddieC]

hey whitenoise! good to see you back!

Ya I guess I should have said some things about warming the engine up... but unfortunately I dont have the option to edit my original post, but those are good additions!

[trietjebietje]

Just drained the oil for the first time (1200 km). The old oil even looked quiet fresh (brown color).
Also removed the oil filter for cleaning --> was perfectly clean. Did not have to clean at all.
I poured back in 0,8 liter of 10W40 semi-synthetic oil.

The manual says: engine oil
after draining: 0,8 liter
after disassembly: 0,9 liter

what they mean with disassembly? Did i do a disassembly with removing the oil filter?

When I check the oil level, it is hard to say where the mark is on the oil dipstick.
The oil level comes above the coned tip, just after the first thin plastic line on the dipstick.
Or do I need to pour 0,1 liter more oil inside?

[trietjebietje]

Pictures say more than words ...

I see oil on the dipstick until where the pencilpoint indicates. Is this too much oil? (filled with 800 ml of oil).
The oil does not go around fully on the contour of the dipstick on that mark, only half. The other half of the contour is only until the 'plaid' area of the dipstick.

What is the real minimum and maximum of that stick? The pcx manual does not indicate.



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[EddieC]

hey there! How are you checking your oil? The mark that you have indicated is WAY over full. you should be just placing the dipstick on top of the threads only without screwing it in.

Pull the dipstick out, wipe it clean. Then place the dipstick on top of the threads. The full mark is the top of the "plaid" area, and the low mark is the bottom of the "plaid" area.

I'm also surprised you have that much of a difference in oil levels looking at the two sides of the dip stick. Maybe you grazed the side of the filler neck when placing it in or pulling it out? The oil level should have a very minute difference on either side of the dip stick, something hardly noticeable. Give it another shot and get back to me here

[WhiteNoise]

oops...too much indeed. Hmmm wondering were you on level ground with bike on centerstand while checking oil? That was surely an odd reading

[Cookie]

I wouldn't worry too much about that dipstick reading.
I've slightly overfilled mine on occasion and it didn't cause any problems.

Once the oil level gets onto the wider part of the dipstick it will show differently on each side of the stick as the stick dips in at an angle.

The problem on the PCX is that the oil filling tube is very narrow so oil clings to the inner edges and then 'wipes off' on the dipstick when you dip it spoiling your reading. Just leave the stick out for a few minutes after pouring the oil in to allow this oil to drip into the sump before dipping it.

In my experience, dealers nearly always slightly overfill - it's never caused me any problems.

Oh, and the higher volume following 'dismantling' is for when the engine has been stripped down. It's cos there are lots of nooks and crannies in an engine which retain some oil when you drain it. Obviously, if the engine has been completely stripped these will be dry so a bit more oil will be needed.
Cookie

[PCX_LosAngelesRider]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what type of oil you put in your PCX?

There are some brands that are specific towards 4-stroke, water cooled motorcycles, "forumlated with clutch saving technology."

Is this brand of oil good for the PCX? Or should I stay away from motorcycle oil and stick with normal oil (like what a car uses) ?

The manual suggests "Pro Honda HP4M" but that product is not available at my local shop.

Thanks for your time and help.

[you you]

Castrol GTX 10-30. It's what I've got in bulk in the garage

[Fiah]

The scooter does not have a wet clutch like motorcycles do, so you can use any motor oil. That is, you can use the same stuff that you'd use for a car. Honda recommends 10W30 or 10W40. AFAIK, it is never a problem to use a 5W30 or a 0W30 instead of a 10W30. I use Castrol 5W30 (Castrol Edge I think?) because that was the cheapest 30 weight 'synthetic' that I could get my hands on. I say 'synthetic' because few if any oils sold today are truly synthetic. Your Honda shop would probably use 10W40 for motorcycles (specifically, with the JASO MA certification), because that's what they use for every motorcycle. It doesn't really matter, although using a thinner oil (within specification!) will probably result in slightly less fuel consumption. I could tell though after the shop used 10W40 (instead of the 5W30 I used) just before winter, the PCX was a bit more grumpy in the morning after that. Fuel consumption was up too, but you can't really know whether one caused the other.

[Teamtd11]

Just changed my oil for the first time myself. It was changed at the 2500 mile service at my Honda dealer previously.

I bought a bottle of Castrol Power1 10W-30 Synthetic. And after the change the engine is so much smoother sat waiting at lights I feel a lot less vibration through the bike, I lose less speed when I let off the throttle and engine breaking takes effect.
I also get a higher indicated top speed than I did right before the change. Previously the needed would top out at 62 now it hits 65. I'm sure it gets there faster than before as well.

Sorry Honda dealer. I don't think you will be getting my money any more!

[loudgonzo]

Hello EddieC and thank you for sharing your "how to" with us I had my laptop nearby while doing the job.
May I just suggest that in your opening of 1, 2, 3, etc. steps, that you preface it with something like this:
protect floor if need be (i.e. corrugated cardboard or ?) Place bike on level surface, put bike on centerstand, warm up engine for several minutes, turn off bike "Before starting" the following draining process (then maybe explain why we warm her up first?)
I know a lot of us know all ^ already, but others do not, and some don't look at their manuals at all
I sure do like this section of the forum. It's nice folk like You that use their time and effort in helping the rest of us "get into it" and thus love our bikes even more! Soooo..... Cheers to You All!!

why does the engine have to warm up first? How long should the engine warm up?