Hi guys. I know this is a bit off-topic, but it is related to engines, just on a smaller scale. Regarding my 1993 Suzuki King Quad 300cc. I was curious as to how often I should be changing my oil, especially since the engines' top end was rebuilt less than 200 kms ago. Now, to be clear, initially after it was rebuilt, I followed the Clymer manuals' break-in procedure quite closely, which includes varying the rpms and not using more than 1/3 of the throttle for the first
10 hours. At 10 hours, I drained the oil and put in a new filter, checking it to see how much metallic filings there were, which seemed normal and not excessive. Up until the 10 hour mark, I had been driving it around the yard and in the forest behind the house, but no major distance, no high speed, or loading the engine. After about 15 hours, I took it on a 5-6 hour rally, and have taken it on a few smaller runs, totaling about 150 kms. Again, a little more high-speed, but not wide-open driving, and no major power-loading of the engine for excessive periods. The manual recommends checking the oil level every trip because of the chance of excessive oil consumption, which there isn't, and high speed bursts only, up until 150 hours have been logged. I've probably only put about 20-25 hours on it since the 10 hour service. The manual recommends the next oil change at 150 hours, but that seems a bit excessive to me.So, having said that, I've been staying on par with what the manual says and after the last short run, I decided to clean the UNI air filter and pull the oil filter out to see how much more filings there were. There is still a good amount of filings, not as much as the initial oil change, but enough that it makes me wonder if I should be changing the oil again. Keep in mind that this ATV shares the engine oil with the transmission, plus it has an oil cooler, and it takes 3.8L of oil to fill when empty. My thoughts are that when I change the oil, I'm likely not getting it all drained out of the engine/trans. and cooler. That probably explains the extra filings in the filter too, seeing as how I didn't get all the oil out the first oil change.
Should I be cautious and change the oil earlier? As well, does it seem like a good idea to remove the lower output line of the oil cooler and drain as much oil out of it as possible, and possibly even flush it out, in case there may be filings in there? Realistically, there shouldn't be, because the cooler input line picks its' oil up where oil comes out of the oil filter, so it should be contaminant-free. Is there something I should add to the engine to try and flush out as much metallic particles as I can, or would the filter be catching the majority of them?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. BTW, I already picked up the oil and two filters and had planned to change the oil anyway, but I wanted to see what others thought first. This is the first time I've had to maintain a freshly rebuilt engine and would like to extend the life of it as long as possible.
Again, sorry about being off-topic, but I know this is a group with some really knowledgeable guys, and I didn't get any replies in alt.atv. Thanks, Sharky.