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Lots of Silver Oh My!

M

matt-taylor4328

Member
Member
Need some experience from others who've purchased C14s new.

Purchased mine new in '21. Changed the oil at 600 mi, noticed the oil had a fine silver tint to it, but didn't think that much of it as it was break in. Just changed the oil for the 2nd time at 2,600 mi and the oil was very silver colored and you can see fine metal particulate in the oil and settling on the bottom of the drain pan. The engine also make a horrible screech for a couple of seconds when starting up just after the oil change and the oil is refilling the system.

I have a hard time believing any this is normal. My Vulcan of the same vintage/mileage has had nothing but clean oil changes.

If anyone has had a similar experience, I would appreciate them sharing their experience.
 
matt-taylor4328 said:
Need some experience from others who've purchased C14s new.

Purchased mine new in '21. Changed the oil at 600 mi, noticed the oil had a fine silver tint to it, but didn't think that much of it as it was break in. Just changed the oil for the 2nd time at 2,600 mi and the oil was very silver colored and you can see fine metal particulate in the oil and settling on the bottom of the drain pan. The engine also make a horrible screech for a couple of seconds when starting up just after the oil change and the oil is refilling the system.

I have a hard time believing any this is normal. My Vulcan of the same vintage/mileage has had nothing but clean oil changes.

If anyone has had a similar experience, I would appreciate them sharing their experience.
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Hope ur still under warranty. Not judging here , but bought new in 2021 and ur only at 2600 miles, or was that supposed to be 26000 miles? Sounds like u have a serious issue, that I going to require some tear down of the motor to determine what's producing the flake..
 
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Might consider sending the oil from the next change out for analysis. They might be able to tell you what you're doing.
I've used Blackstone for an analysis from our motorhome, and will send them additional samples in the future. Not a lot of money and they give you a pretty thorough evaluation.
You can sign up on-line easily. They'll send you the collection bottle, shipping container, instructions and so on.
 
matt-taylor4328 said:
Need some experience from others who've purchased C14s new.

Purchased mine new in '21. Changed the oil at 600 mi, noticed the oil had a fine silver tint to it, but didn't think that much of it as it was break in. Just changed the oil for the 2nd time at 2,600 mi and the oil was very silver colored and you can see fine metal particulate in the oil and settling on the bottom of the drain pan. The engine also make a horrible screech for a couple of seconds when starting up just after the oil change and the oil is refilling the system.

I have a hard time believing any this is normal. My Vulcan of the same vintage/mileage has had nothing but clean oil changes.

If anyone has had a similar experience, I would appreciate them sharing their experience.
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Matt - suggest you bring a sample to the dealership and get this documented ASAP.

Per previous member’s mention this is likely a serious issue. And no - screeching is never good - since the machine is most likely under full warranty (and you pay for this warranty at purchase) got get it serviced.

My .02c…

Wayne
 
Does anyone remember the guy in Las Vegas that tore his 14 down over an issue like this? IIRC he just put it back together and rode it. I need to see if I can find his email or phone and see if there's more to the story. I posted a bunch of pictures for him on that thread.
 
They almost all loudly rattle right after an oil change until the chain tensioner gets oil pressure. Any chance the screech is in fact a loud chain rattle. I'm just asking because English words don't always mean the same things to English speaking peoples especially in text, and I didn't want this to go off the rails because one persons "screech" is another persons "rattle".
 
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fartymarty said:
They almost all loudly rattle right after an oil change until the chain tensioner gets oil pressure. Any chance the screech is in fact a loud chain rattle. I'm just asking because English words don't always mean the same things to English speaking peoples especially in text, and I didn't want this to go off the rails because one persons "screech" is another persons "rattle".
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That is a good point on the description of noise, as the typical rattle rattle of the low oil pressure at the tensioner I would never describe as a screech although different circumstances may yield different sound perception.

The C-14 engine has been rock solid, engine reliability nothing less than awesome. IF (big IF) @matt-taylor4328 you are experiencing a failure this is so unknown for a young C-14 engine. Over the years I’ve only seen a couple C-14 engine failures and all those with gobs of miles and other complicating factors such as failed water pump that led to major overheating.

@matt-taylor4328 when is your warranty up? Also do you have any pictures of the silver flakes settling in your oil pan. Still suggest getting it to the dealer if you are still concerned, I expect you are. And if this turns out to be a 1 in a ‘million’ I would not hesitate to get a new engine under warranty then enjoy all the C-14 has to offer.

Wayne
 
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Thanks for the advice & experiences. The bike is still under warranty and I've spoken with my dealer. They think that what I'm seeing is normal for the 2nd oil change and it should clear up over the next one or two.

Obviously there are both good and bad dealers out there. I'm not yet convinced, so I think my course of action will be:
- Preferentially ride this bike this season, then dump the oil in the fall and see what it looks like.
- If the oil is markedly better then no worries.
- If the oil is the same (or worse), then put the oil back in, take it to the dealer and let them dump it and note in my file what they see. They did suggest having them do annual oil changes and start a history file, which is probably prudent.

I still have time on the warranty, so in the fall I may take out an extended warranty which would give me up to 3 more yrs to see how it unfolds.

As far as the noise, on startup the engine (and my garage) was cold so the bike jumped to cold idle, so a de-pressurized chain tensioner could explain the higher-pitched screech sound. At a lower startup rpm (like in the summer) that could be more of a lower-tone. I have a recent Ivan tune, so under about 65deg or so, the bike immediately jumps to 2k on startup, then works it's way down.

My Kawa 1000 & 1200 motors were rock solid, and I can't find anything chronic out there with these 1400 motors, so this is either normal, or I got the last '21 they made for the model run, at 3:00, just before a holiday weekend!
 
One of the club members worked out a deal for a discounted extended warranty with a specific dealer. You may want to search that thread out; the discount is substantial, and it is the genuine Kawasaki warranty.
 
Jorge said:
One of the club members worked out a deal for a discounted extended warranty with a specific dealer. You may want to search that thread out; the discount is substantial, and it is the genuine Kawasaki warranty.
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Update on the warranty extension. The first extension MUST be purchased from the dealership that sold the bike. HTH
 
Bud said:
Update on the warranty extension. The first extension MUST be purchased from the dealership that sold the bike. HTH
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Call me cynical...is this from the dealer that sold the bike, or from the dealer that worked out the discount for COG members?
 
Jorge said:
Call me cynical...is this from the dealer that sold the bike, or from the dealer that worked out the discount for COG members?
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The dealer Rich worked out the deal with. If you go back to the original thread Rich posted, it's close to the end of the thread IIRC.
 
Matt-
Those 2 issues you have don't sound good to me.
I would be proactive at this stage and either
1. Get a extended warranty that's rock solid
2. trade it in for another one.
I have never heard any rattle on start up on my 2014 C-14 after a oil change FWIW
Nick
 
Definitely get the oil analyzed by Blackstone! They will give you a very comprehensive report showing ppm of 20 different elements, and possibly fuel that could be showing up in your oil as well as universal averages for those elements in your engine. This will also give you a baseline to look at to compare with at future oil changes. If your dealership is saying "this is normal for the first two oil changes poop and will clear up" the report will discredit that claim and give you some firm ground to stand on if they try to deny your warranty claim.
 
Did you pre-oil the filter?

You can always hit the kill switch and crank to get oil pressure, then. start.

Mine has never made noise after an oil change.

2011 original owner
 
cuda said:
Did you pre-oil the filter?

You can always hit the kill switch and crank to get oil pressure, then. start.

Mine has never made noise after an oil change.

2011 original owner
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Yes I do pre oil filter but only half way to 3/4 full, as I can't spin it on fast enough if it's full before it starts running down my arm.

As for cranking without ignition to bring up oil pressure pre start, well in theory that sounds good, but my '10 C14 kill switch disables the starter as well.
Do you remove an ignition fuse or something on yours to do that?
 
fartymarty said:
They almost all loudly rattle right after an oil change until the chain tensioner gets oil pressure.
Click to expand...

I agree with Marty. I've probably changed my oil 50+ times & it rattles every time until pressure is built up. I do not prefill my filter, I just put 4 quarts in then crank it & let it run a couple of minutes. Once it sets a bit for the oil to settle, I top it off to full.

If this method was bad for it, mine would dead by now! 🤔
 
fartymarty said:
Yes I do pre oil filter but only half way to 3/4 full, as I can't spin it on fast enough if it's full before it starts running down my arm.

As for cranking without ignition to bring up oil pressure pre start, well in theory that sounds good, but my '10 C14 kill switch disables the starter as well.
Do you remove an ignition fuse or something on yours to do that?
Click to expand...
You are correct the C-14 does not crank with kill switch activated. If you wanted to do this / an option is remove the relay for fuel pump back by the ECU.

You don’t want to inject fuel into a non-igniting engine and ‘squish’ fuel beyond the piston into the crankcase and dilute brand new oil…

Wayne
 
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