Problem with oil.

[Koutei]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum and actually came across it when trying to diagnose a problem I am having with my pcx. I am pretty sure the problem is something of my own making due to my ignorance as a first time scooter owner. Here's the history and description of the problem.

I have been riding my scooter for about 2 years now, I purchased it new from a dealer in the beginning of 2011 and rode it as my main mode of transportation until it became too cold in November '11. (It received it's first oil change in June '11, I replaced the oil with the recommended "pro honda" brand. The mileage was a tad bit over the first 3000 miles.) When It was too cold to ride, I stored it in an open garage where it was safe from most of the elements but not from heat or cold. In spring, around the end of February beginning of March, I brought it out and began riding again. I have been riding from then until August when the first problem showed up. I was riding to school, made it about 7 miles away from my house when the engine just died going down a hill. I tried restarting and it would turn over but refuse to stay going and could not idle. I am a college student and didn't have the money to take it to a dealer then, so it sat in the garage for about two weeks when my father and uncle recommended we try a few things before taking it in. Mainly, they wanted to recheck the oil because I had been "neglecting it" in their opinion, and the engine got too low and died. I disagreed because I thought I had at least another few months before I needed to worry about that. But I agreed to try it because I was hoping it would be something simple and even if I was too stupid to check the oil, I would prefer that to having my baby die.

So we went to start it and he started up fine, we idled it for the recommended 3 minutes, let it cool for a minute then checked the dipstick. (By the way, I HATE these dipsticks, they are so hard to read.) We couldn't see any oil on the dipstick - assumed I was an idiot and the oil was almost gone. We added about 3/4ths of a bottle to the bike and rechecked the dipstick. (Idled then waited and rechecked.) It was back at the full mark, I hopped on and rode for about 30 minutes with no issues or problems. The engine sounded normal and doesn't sputter, spit or make any concerning noises. I thought we had fixed the issue however now about 2 weeks after adding that 3/4th of a bottle, I rechecked the oil level and it says it's out again!! There are no visible leaks, and the tailpipe has not been smoking as you would expect if oil were being burned. The bike itself hasn't died again, but I have stopped riding it to prevent any further damage I might cause.

I hope someone can help me figure out what I might check for before I take it in to a dealership. It's just at 7000 miles now, and my mother thinks it is normal for it to be eating oil after reaching that many miles. I really don't think that is the case, surely just having 7000 miles on a two year old bike isn't enough to eat almost an entire casing full of oil in a week and a half is it?

I plan on ordering a few more bottles of oil and doing a full cleaning and replacement, as well as ordering an air filter before I take it in. Could having a dirty oil screen cause these problems? I know I should have cleaned it when we added oil, but I didn't have the forethought to do so at the time.

Thanks for anyone who read that whole thing.

(P.S for any who are curious, I have replaced the tires also this summer at around the 6300 mile mark. I am not riding on bald tires!)

[Urbanian]

The first oil change is the most important one, and was supposed to have been done at 600 miles. As your brand new engine beds in, it produces a surplus of metallic contaminants which should have been removed at the first oil change. Sounds like you kept all that crud in your engine an extra 2400 miles. Not good.

[TC3]

Blimey I have never known anyone to not have an oil change at around 600 miles on a pcx or many other bikes for that matter. As was stated there is a lot of crap in the oil from the factory which should have been changed much earlier than 3000 miles. Surely someone at the dealership told you about the first service at 600 miles. Did you not read the manual?

[haildamage]

if it were burning oil, it should also be smoking. if it were leaking oil, you should notice that when it is parked. keep in mind that most bikes that hold say 3 liters of oil only have around a 500ml difference between the full mark and the not showing mark. the dipstick doesnt gauge the whole oil capacity in other words, so it could show no oil when it is only 1/6 low on many bikes. of course the PCX only holds about 1 liter. checking the oil on these bikes is a bit tricky and you might need to wait a bit longer than 3 minutes before you make a conclusion. keep checking up to 5 minutes or so before you decide it has no oil, IMO. i hope you didnt end up overfilling it as that is really bad!

not doing the break-in oil change is not a good thing for sure.

anyway, i know you dont want to spend money but i really think you need to get the bike into a dealer and have a pro look at what is going on with it at this point. it might need a valve adjustment for one thing at this point!

[maddiedog]

He might not notice the oil burning if it only occurs at a certain RPM....

Koutei, you completely neglected your engine, as your family suggested. You probably need a top-end rebuild, but it's really hard to say. You NEED to take it to a dealer, because this is far out of the scope of help you'll get on this forum.