Oil light flashing

I just put in 10/40 semi synthetic oil by mistake the oil window is full when off and half full when running. When I rev the bike the oil light is flashing but on idle it doesn’t. Would this be beciase of the semi synthetic oil I used? I just read the manual again and it says 20/40 so I screwed up twice.

 

stop running bike drain out some oil . 10 40 would be ok in colder weather
oil light is a low oil light doubtfull it has any thing to do with oil type


how much oil did you put into bike?

when reving bike oil is pumped into motor and back to gear box which may by why light comes on because sump is low


what bike are we talking about?

 

oil level is checked with bike on centerstand there should be an air bubble at top of sight there are full marks on sight or casing.



oil
dry 7.6 pints
oil filter and change 5.9 pints oil
oil change 5.2 pints
grades
20/40 above 40 degrees F

10/30 below 60 degrees F

 

I would not put any type of synthetic oil in it can cause clutch slippage and starter clutch problems . Occasionally the low oil qty transmitter needs to be pulled out and cleaned ( oil change is best time ) or drain some but not all oil pour sea foam in engine and run for a few minutes but DO NOT RIDE IT and drain engine and fill with fresh conventional oil and see if light stays out. Kmoe has a good thread on types of oil.

 

best time to add seafoam is just before you change the oil. read can for quanity to add

 

oil light comes on in 2 ways
1 when starter button is pushed it is a test for the bulb
2 when oil is low

there are 2 kinds of switches so depending on your bike
style 1 is closed making ground when oil is low this is mostly on maxims
style 2 is closed when full of oil this style is on bikes with the atari package mostly 650 and 750 seca exception would be 82 750 maxim as it has the atari package.

so depending on what bike you have you could be looking for an intermitent short to ground , or intermitent open wire.
check motor vin to frame vin to ensure what motor you have in bike in case someone swapped motor

enter short vin on motor into this link for motor id
http://www.dissingermoto.com

 

It’s a 750 seca and everything was running fine before. I replaced the clutch so had to drain the oil I then replaced it with synthetic by mistake that’s when the oil light came on. I have drained it all out now and replaced the oil filter I will be putting regular 10/40 in tomorrow. Hopefully this was all it was fingers crossed.

 

it could be your switch is just gummed up a little the first step after adding correct amount of oil is some seafoam to clean the switch it will be about an ounce of seafoam
it will not hurt to leave the same oil in mixed with seafoam as it will evaporate quickly

with the seca your switch closes when full and could be just stuck midway or you did not have enough oil in there depending how much oil was left when you drained it for the clutch.

 

Synthetic oil should not be a problem. I’ve run it in all my bikes for years with no problems. My XJ700 has 18,000 miles on it; 40,000 on my Honda Shadow; 18,000 on wife’s Shdow; and 8,000 on my Rebel.

 

Why did you drain the oil, to work on the clutch?
Bike lent over, as far as is safe, clutch cover can come off with minimal oil loss?
I've used semi and fully synth, and dino oil with NO problems.....also, 10-40 is not for cold weather......it just acts as a thinner start up oil, when the engine is cold regardless of ambient temperature.....where (allegedly) 80% of engine wear occurs...I've successfully run 5-40 ,( thats just me being anal about cold start oil circulation)....though it DOES give the starting circuit a much easier time..... though 10 is probably fine !!

 

I drained the oil because i wasn’t sure how much oil would come out after cover was removed. It was an oversight I guess knowing what I know now.

 

that blinking light is really Morse code telling you what the problem is, sometimes mine blinks
-.-. .... .-. --- -- . / -.. --- -. .----. - / --. . - / -.-- --- ..- / .... --- -- .
and it's right

 

... --- - .-. ..- .

 

Well I have an update.... it turns out I done everything correctly and the blinking light on the acewell Speedo/ tacometer was infact the rev limiter flashing its little red light at me. It was set to 1400 rpm yup I feel like a idiot

 

at least you found it before removing oil sensor switch.

 

I got to remove it soon because I have a slight leak and need to replace the o ring. I will do that when I fit new exhaust system. No point in taking everything off twice.