KawasakiKid, I don't think I've experienced a loss of power due to overheating. Did this occur after your initial oil change that did not go to well or after the second one? Did the temp light ever come on or start to flicker during the power loss? If not, I'd want to verify that the overtemp sensor is working. The coolant wasn't boiling over was it? I'm sure you know enough to kill the engine immediately if you ever feel a power loss or excessive heat or continuous fan running. How is the coolant level? Is your gas tank venting properly? Is the fuel petcock filter clogged? What do your plugs look like? If too lean, the fan will run continuously. Are you running an exhaust tip? If so, did you fatten up the jetting? Is the crankcase vent breathing OK? Your newly changed oil doesn't look milky does it?

One thing to be aware of when running the fan with the engine off is that the coolant is not circulating to cool the engine and the fan does not directly blow on the coolant temperature sensor, so it may take longer to cool down if the engine is not running.

About the anti-freeze, don't use automotive anti-freeze, it is not made for the types of waterpump seals these motors have. Silicates can wear away at the seals in no time. The F650 guys recommend BMW or Honda motorcycle coolant. I would hold off on the water wetter until you find out what the problem is.

 

I don't know what the hell I did the first time, but I started all over from scratch and now it runs the way it should. Just for S&G I took the lid off the air box and WOW what a difference!

Everything is back to normal now, even under extreme riding. Maybe I had some sort of air lock in the oil system? No lack of power nor does it get excessively hot.

When I changed the oil the very first time, it did have a slight gray tone to it. I wouldn't necessarily call it "milky". I've seen much worse. The second time the oil looked absolutely normal.

Thanks for all the suggestions Scooby. I would have never imagined certain anti-freeze would deteriorate seals.

BTW, I'll be heading over to Silver Hills Sand Dunes, on the West side of Michigan, this weekend. I plan on taking tons of pics and I'll post them for all of you!

 

Bleeding the oil. Do you bleed your oil in your automobile before you start it after an oil change?? I do not and never have seen it done. All you do is start it and see that it has pressure. Follow the manufacturers suggestion and do not bleed it unless you have a problem. The oil pressure will come up and the light will go out. It has every time for me. I do believe their saying that you should let it run for 2 minutes is a bit extreme. Mine took under 10 seconds to pressure up. Just my opinion.

 

The DS engine uses a different method of oiling than that of most car engines.

In a car, you have an oil pan that holds from 3-5+ quarts of oil. The intake for the oil pump siphons from this pan with a tube that is placed near the bottom of the pan, pointing down, like a straw you would use for your super big gulp. Since the siphon is pointing down and an oil pump, when not spinning, acts like a finger over the end of the straw, the oil in the siphon tube stays there during an oil change.

The dry sump doesn't have this type of oil pan. It needs to basically draw the oil through a much longer oil line circuit that can be higher than the oil pump itself and when you drain the oil, it can probably drain out of the tube that leads to the pump. So, if there is an air bubble in the line, it can possibly act as a block in the system, keeping oil from reaching the oil pump and then going to the engine.

It's like priming a new fuel pump or master cylinder for your brakes, but with extremely bad consequences. New fuel pumps and master cylinders need to be primed with the appropriate fluid, so it can create enough vacuum to draw fluid through the system. You also have to bleed the brakes to remove air from the lines, since it a totally sealed, two way circuit, otherwise, the air in the line will compress without transferring force past the air to more fluid or to the brake cylinders that move the brake components.

Fuel and oil circuits are one direction typically during operation and usually have a separate return line to complete the circuit. If air is introduced into the system that doesn't keep the flow from stopping, the air will escape into the induction system of the fuel circuit for the fuel lines or the crankcase for the oil circuit. But, if enough air is introduced, then the system can stop circulating until it is primed again. When you need to do this with a fuel system, the only consequence is possibly running the battery down and having a long time to start the car. If this is done with the oil, you are running with little or no oil pressure to protect all of the moving parts in the running engine.

Sorry for the long explanation, but you should see the importance of bleeding the oil, regardless if it seems like it doesn't "need" it at any particular time or not.

Laters,
CRT_Leech

 

Drops in oil pressure are not that bad for short periods of time after you change the oil....Does your oil light come on when you turn on the key?? Mine does, and it means no oil pressure. Do you freak out when it does not pressure up for 3 seconds, or do you prime it up then start it real quick before the light comes back on?? There are times that an engine will not have oil on all the necessary lubricated parts. This is called wear, live with it, it happens.

I have not seen the update in the manual to bleed the oil system. When it is updated I will do so, until then I will trust Bombardier (God only knows why).

 

What brand/weight oil are you guys running? I am about do the first oil change. Cant wait for the fun it sounds like you all are having :-)

 

I am using Maxima Premium 4-stroke oil. 10w40.

 

I am using Honda 10/40 non synthetic oil.

 

Honda HP4 is semi-synthetic.

 

I know that there is no oil pressure when you start the engine and that's where a lot of your engine wear comes from. No, my oil light does not stay on for three seconds after starting, the light goes out almost immediately. If it did stay on that long, I would try to find out why.

The owners' manual may say that bleeding the system each time you change the oil and filter is optional, but ScoobyDFW and okbyethen have had experience changing the oil and suggested this addition to the instructions. This not some procedure concocted by ScoobyDFW and okbyethen. What do you think that bleeder screw is there in the first place for? Isn't it worth doing it just for some piece of mind? Plus, there have been some problems with the DS650 that came out after the manual was produced, are you going to ignore those, just because the owners manual doesn't mention them.

Do you really think that Bombardier is going to mail you an updated manual or something? They haven't even mailed us the updates that they have sent out to the dealers.

There is information that the dealers have that they are not even telling us owners. I have seen about seven pages of warnings and fixes to the DS650. These are all known by now to people that have been coming to this website for several months, but not to newbies or people that don't have Internet access. These are the rear brake line routing, front ball joint clips (the only written warning from Bombardier), icing of the carburetor during cold weather and a couple of other things that I didn't have time to catch because the guy flipping through the book wouldn't let me see it. The information about the rear axle bearing carrier wasn't even out yet and I was the one that informed my dealer of this potential problem.

If you don't want to listen to the advice of others and myself on this board, by all means, that's your choice. But, you don't have to criticize people for giving it in the first place.

Laters,
CRT_Leech