I just purchased a Girzzly and noticed in the manual that there are 3 different listings for engine oil capacities. With a routine oil change with replacing the oil filter, how much oil do you put in? And, what type of oil should I be using, as far as fully synthetic vs synthetic blend and oil weight ?

 

Hey Grizzman,

I just bought my Grizz in January and had the dealer do the 20 hour service, but I wasn't going to pay him $50.00 to change the oil so I did it myself. (He is a great mechanic, just expensive). I used the K&N oil filter because the o-ring is pregreased and there is a 17mm nut (same as the drian plug) on the end of the filter, very convient and easy.

He recommended the Yamalube 10W30 for the summer, it might be different depending on the mechanic too. I had to play with the measurements a little, but if you have a Ratio Rite cup it makes it easy. With a new filter it came out to 2 full quarts plus 275 cc of oil put the level right on the full line.

Hope this helps some.

 

i would stick with the yamalube if i were you. my grizz also takes a little over two quarts.

 

You can use Yamalube-4 oil in 20w40 (better) or Yamalube-4 10w30 (acceptable) for warm or hot weather and it will take about two quarts to do a routine oil change. If it doesnt go below 60 degrees you might want to stick to the 20w40 because it will protect better at higher temperatures.
Do not use any oil that is out of Yamaha listed spec because it could make your wet clutch slip or it may not protect the engine properly. The reason there are different capacities listed is because there are some oil cavities that do not drain when you remove the engine drain plug. The engine will be fine if you drain by plug and replace the oil filter and oil as the owners manual requires. As for the use of other weight oils, stick to the owners manual chart for the oil to use within the temperatures you are running. Unless there has been a TSB on the use of a different weight, do not let some well meaning mechanic/ other tell you otherwise.
Engineers attend school for a long time to be able to determine bearing clearance and oil flow by pressure and volume. I have seen new engines destroyed, mostly top ends, because someone knew more than the engineers who designed them.

 

 

So in general, I am assuming that 20W40 should be used in the summer, while 10W30 is used in winter. The reason that I ask is that this is the same arrangement I use with my '93 Bayou 4x4, but it is only a 300 and is aircooled, so being liquid cooled with fan assist, and also ultramatic drive system, I was not sure what the recommendations are. As being a recent grad from Mich Tech in Mechcanical Engineering, I can totally relate to the importance of oil viscosities and the oil flow and pressure. Thanks for the info. Is Yamalube-4 a synthetic oil or a blend?

 

I am not positive on the history so someone may need to correct me. I think that I read in this forum that the older Grizzlys developed high enough pressure to push out the crank case seal in very cold temperatures while using 20w40 oil. Yamaha Engineers decided the fix was to change the grade of oil to a lighter weight in cold temps. I myself will use 20w40 in the hot weather and 10w30 in the cold. Yamalube-4 engine oil is API rated SJ, and Mobil One full synthetic is API rated SL/CF. The API prefix "S" designates oil for use in gasoline engines and the prefix "C" is for use in diesel engines. The second API letter designates the generation of oil grade or lubricity. So, if you take Mobil One with API SL/CF it will be generations above Yamalube-4 SJ, plus the Mobil is also rated for use in deisel engines. If anyone were to use Mobil One SL/CF in a Grizz the cluth would slip. As for the Yamalube-4 being a full synthetic, I do not know. I suspect it is more refined than the average oil and most likely has additives to fight corrosion, varnish and wear specific to Yamaha specs.

 

If you do an advanced search in the Yamaha section author GrizzlyMichael under date 10/10/2000 and look under posting "Oil in clutch cases on grizzly" you will see the origional post I read on the over pressure in cold temps.