Wanted to do my 600 mile oil change and clean the strainer today or tomorrow.
Hope everyone is enjoying this weekend and getting some riding in.



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I see what you mean, 'rear brake cable clamp bolt' being one of the crankcase cover bolts does not have a torque value spec mentioned specifically. It's to be treated as one of the 10 pulley/clutch cover bolts in torque value and I haven't found those values yet either. Could be anywhere in the SMPCX150Rider wrote:I can't find the torque value for that 8mm fastener that has to be removed and reinstalled on the rear brake cable bracket when you pull the Oil Strainer Screen for maintenance. Depending upon the fastener situation it varies in the Torque Values chart on page 1-11 of the SM. It could be 16 ft. lbs, maybe 20 ft. lbs. Seems a little high.
PCX150Rider wrote:Homie - Then I guess I didn't overlook it. . ..![]()
So idiot that I am when I went to use my torque wrench I discovered that it starts at 20 ft. lbs. and goes up from there. It's more of a heavy duty automotive type one. I'll have to pick one up that deals with the lower torque values.![]()
That being said I kind of went with my instincts from working on metric bikes over the years and carefully tightened the oil drain plug, the brake cable bracket bolt, and the strainer cap. I will say the strainer cap did give some resistance on removal and I used the leverage of the torque wrench handle as a persuader to finally get it to spin. . .and without rounding anything off. You were absolutely right about the fuzz. And it cleverly tucks itself up near the rubber piece the screening is molded into as well. There was some "greyish" graphite looking material that came off on the paper towel when I cleaned off the screen. . .not particles. . .just very fine pencil lead colored stain. I thoroughly cleaned off the screen needless to say and reinstalled with the 17mm socket. Not really any compression room there. Once you get the screen, spring, and cap assembly spun to the mating surface it's hardly a twist after that and it's on tight. I did put a little new oil on that cap o-ring before reinstalling.![]()
As an added note I made sure the brake cable was properly routed and not out of plan when I reinstalled.![]()
The SM said replace 1 quart of the recommended oil if you drain the oil and remove the strainer. . .which I did. I found the level to be a little bit higher though than the high level mark on the stick upon measuring it after running the motor for a bit. I definitely got at least 800 ml of old oil out of the oil drain pan (poured it back into the empty Honda oil bottle) and there was some residual still in it. So by adding the quart I know it couldn't be that much more than what came out. Seems like a vague situation.![]()
Here's what I did when I drained the oil. . .unconventional and don't recommend it to others but I walk the edge sometimes. The motor was warm and the exhaust pipe was warm. Not hot enough to burn me but close. I have a plastic triangular oil drain pan. I put the PCX on the side stand. I removed the oil filler cap, cleaned it and put it aside (the o-ring was fine). I loosened the oil drain plug with my 12mm socket wrench just enough to loosen it by hand without oil coming out yet. I carefully fit the one of the angular ends of the oil pan under the PCX in such a way that when I was loosening the drain plug by hand the oil spilled right into the pan and on nothing else. Then wiped off my hand and the oil plug/washer to reinstall later. When the draining stopped I went around to the kickstand side of the PCX and while carefully holding the left handlebar and passenger grab rail I let the PCX lean to the starboard side and could hear more oil coming out. I did that until it stopped. . .did it again. . .heard it a gain. . .and did it one more time until it had definitely stopped. I proceeded to wipe off the drain hole and hand tighten the plug before I pulled out the drain pan. Then I tightened the drain plug carefully with the socket wrench. Note that since the oil drain pan was plastic it could "give" a little bit if there was contact with the frame or exhaust pipe etc. . .when I lean it over.![]()
Next thing I did was put the PCX on the center stand and got ready to remove the brake cable bracket bolt and the strainer cap. The 8mm bracket bolt came off easy and I just tugged down on the cable a little to allow more access to remove the strainer cap. I then slid the oil pan back under the PCX strainer cap penetration. Using my 17mm socket with the extension I first had trouble trying to loosen the cap. So I tried using my torque wrench (much longer handle) with the socket adapter and low and behold the cap let go and I was then able to hand loosen the assembly. As stated above I found the "fuzz" and some other stuff. There also seemed to be some red paint that was applied along the lip of the cap like a factory reference mark or something. While the strainer assembly was removed (and with the PCX still on the center stand) I again carefully grabbed the left handlebar and passenger grab rail and tilted the PCX towards me a bit (to the port side) and could hear more oil pour out. I repeated the effort a couple of times to allow things to settle in the base of the motor and to enhance the amount of oil removed as much as I could. The next time I do this I may take it off the center stand first and then do the tilt. . .but like I said sometimes I live on the "edge".
So after 612 miles my PCX is running great with fresh oil and a clean screen. I hope being a little over the high oil level mark on the stick isn't a mortal sin. If I have to I can drain a little out but it seems OK. Will think about. . ..
New discoveries and inventions are unveiled by pushing the "edge" of the envelope, getting into the sticky part, and going beyond that edge into the "unknown". It's when you're in the "unknown" that you either succeed or fail. . .succeed by going forward and creating another stepping stone for humanity to reach out to. . .or fail and return to the familiar, the common, the rock of what is accepted as reality, or a huge mess to clean up.What edge?
Okay. . .so I thought it over and I'm going to drain enough oil out to meet the "full" level on the dip stick with the engine warm.Great job! You found the factory fuzzI'm guessing they use fuzzy gloves or there is a shop rag being used to wipe something on assembly. Please do not over fill the engine oil. I would have to check but unlike my Buell with a oil pump serving the life blood the GY6 probably splashes from a spoon on the crank somewhere. This would make for some excessive engine braking and a much harder working engine if you have too much oil in the crank case. Again I would have to look at parts of the SM I have never been to know for sure.
Or if you are a little neuritic (WARNING - I'm not endorsing this at all for PCX because I haven't thought it thru) I do this to the Buell at the risk of having to prime the oil pump but get away with it every time and always check to see oil flow is good before walking away after change > Start and idle the engine for 15 secondsyou you wrote:Use a syringe and pipe or an old turkey baster to get the oil out
homie wrote:Or if you are a little neuritic (WARNING - I'm not endorsing this at all for PCX because I haven't thought it thru) I do this to the Buell at the risk of having to prime the oil pump but get away with it every time and always check to see oil flow is good before walking away after change > Start and idle the engine for 15 secondsyou you wrote:Use a syringe and pipe or an old turkey baster to get the oil out![]()
Tosses all the residual oil to the drain but can get messy if you forget to cover or control the drain port. Again I made this one up and have no idea what could happen with a PCX running with no oil for a few seconds. I assume it to be no different than the few seconds it takes for oil to get moving after the little engine has sit for a while. The critical element of this craziness is the rings in those seconds so think about that with me for a moment. Certainly warm the bike before dropping the oil and consider the hot gases on the cylinder walls with no more oil coming up from below for those seconds, might no be worth a little dirty oil left in the system. I think I will stop doing that with the Buell
you you wrote:Don't run your PCX without any oil FFS.
Just got back and read all these great suggestions.Use a syringe and pipe or an old turkey baster to get the oil out
Britain, where is that? There's no such place.homie wrote:youyou... I deserved thatso I wanted to elaborate on where my neuritic monkish behaviour came from... BRITAIN of course! Those obsessive compulsive Brits, we had to ban them from the Buell forum for freaking us out
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djbass wrote:The remaining 1-5% of the old oil does not affect the properties of the new oil and engine life. A drain in the zero oil system with engine start is really bad.