The clutch saga

Tonight, I am re-soaking the clutch plates in SAE30 non-detergent oil. After the engine was rebuilt it sat for nearly two years before being run so I was encouraged to soak the plates again over night. I will soak for a couple days for good measure.

This evening I searched to see if I had the original gear oil we filled the engine with and guess what I found? Yamalube Utility Performance four stroke SAE 5W-30!

I know, "what the what!" as Liz Lemon says on 30 Rock. I know for sure I asked my very experienced motorcycle buddy to buy SAE30 non-detergent oil from his motorcycle store of choice and I see that the red bottle cap and the top of the Yamalube Utility Performance four stroke SAE 5W-30 was pictured in the time we filled the gear box.

Next step is to immediately drain the gear box and refill it. The engine has gone no more than 10 miles since the rebuild.

I asked Paul S. & Tom G. if the wrong oil could be an issue and the answer was it's not my issue.

Paul S. said, "having modern detergent oil would not be the cause of your problem. The reason why non-detergent oil is recommended for scooters is that they don't have oil filters. Detergent oils will tend to push particulates to the top of the oil, but on scooters, we want the junk to fall to the bottom of the oil - so it will drop out of the drain plug. Anything on top of the oil will get flung from the gears onto the clutch.

So basically, it is better to have straight up SAE 30 in there, but it isn't really going to hurt to have 5W-30. It certainly isn't going to have any effect on your clutch action at this point."