2016 C650 Sport Check Oil warning intermittant.

[husafreak]

Kind of an FYI here, I don't see this discussed on the forum, but I didn't look too hard. On the test drive of my C650S the check oil warning came on. I told the salesman that was a no go. He was embarrassed and back to the shop it went When it came out an hour later the light was gone they said it just needed topping off. I bought the bike and on the way home the warning came back. So I went back to the shop and they apologized profusely, claimed it was a finicky thing. I checked the oil level myself and it was in the allowed range. They worked on it and I drove off again. Now one week and a couple hundred miles later I can say it comes on about half the time, the warning. I ignore it and it usually says Oil OK the next time I run it. I took it back by the dealer today and said they really need to address this warning, it is annoying, I don't want to buy a bike and have a warning light going on and off all the time.
The shop manager said there is a computer update for this issue and I would have to leave the bike for a couple hours as a bunch of plastic has to come off to do the update. They will do it free of charge, naturally, but this is the same gentleman that "fixed" the problem the day I bought the bike, I think he should have offered to do this then. Just kind of fishy. Has anyone heard of this problem?

 

[motomanjim]

Kind of an FYI here, I don't see this discussed on the forum, but I didn't look too hard. On the test drive of my C650S the check oil warning came on. I told the salesman that was a no go. He was embarrassed and back to the shop it went When it came out an hour later the light was gone they said it just needed topping off. I bought the bike and on the way home the warning came back. So I went back to the shop and they apologized profusely, claimed it was a finicky thing. I checked the oil level myself and it was in the allowed range. They worked on it and I drove off again. Now one week and a couple hundred miles later I can say it comes on about half the time, the warning. I ignore it and it usually says Oil OK the next time I run it. I took it back by the dealer today and said they really need to address this warning, it is annoying, I don't want to buy a bike and have a warning light going on and off all the time.
The shop manager said there is a computer update for this issue and I would have to leave the bike for a couple hours as a bunch of plastic has to come off to do the update. They will do it free of charge, naturally, but this is the same gentleman that "fixed" the problem the day I bought the bike, I think he should have offered to do this then. Just kind of fishy. Has anyone heard of this problem?

I believe that the diagnostic plug for your bike is located inside the right panel next to the battery and that would take all of 10 minutes to access if the technician is familiar with the location of the fasteners. And with respect to the oil warning light, the oil pressure sending unit may be faulty or just dirty. If it’s the latter, then the sending unit could be removed and cleaned with an electronics spray cleaner. I had this to happen on my R1150RT while traveling through Charleston, WV, on my way to Columbus, OH. I had washed the bike the day before and that may have had something to do with the problem. The use of a diagnostic code reader such as the Motoscan or GS911 to see if a fault code was generated could provide a starting point for the repair. With your scooter being a 2016, things like this tend to show up. I wish you the best in getting this sorted out.

 

[husafreak]

Thanks for the usefull info, I'll post when the work is done and they tell me what they did.

 

[Ceesie76]

Motomanjim is correct, the plug for the scanner/programming tool can be accessed in a few minutes.
The oil level has to be checked, if you want to do it manually, 'just so' in accordance with the user manual instructions. From memory you need to let the bike sit for quite some time before taking a reading. The warning light on mine came on intermittently for a while and, again from memory, it did need just a bit of top-up. I did not have to replace or clean the sensor and the warning light no longer comes on. Now when I change the oil and filter, I am extra careful about how much oil I put in, it's rather sensitive to that.

 

[moodleman]

I have got a 2018 C650GT, and have recently had the same problem. Usually the warning comes on after the motor has been running for at least a few minutes, so I do not think it would be the oil pump being faulty. I check the oil - always OK (I am very careful about the amount of oil used in an oil change). Sometimes the light goes out after a while. Sometimes it stays on for the rest of the ride. The Motoscan does not indicate any problem. It's pretty frustrating - and incidentally the high temperature warning light does the same thing - sometimes comes on as soon as the motor is started but still cold! One day I will take the plastic off and check the temp sensor. Where is the oil sensor located, I wonder? Might clean it too!

 

[motomanjim]

I have got a 2018 C650GT, and have recently had the same problem. Usually the warning comes on after the motor has been running for at least a few minutes, so I do not think it would be the oil pump being faulty. I check the oil - always OK (I am very careful about the amount of oil used in an oil change). Sometimes the light goes out after a while. Sometimes it stays on for the rest of the ride. The Motoscan does not indicate any problem. It's pretty frustrating - and incidentally the high temperature warning light does the same thing - sometimes comes on as soon as the motor is started but still cold! One day I will take the plastic off and check the temp sensor. Where is the oil sensor located, I wonder? Might clean it too!

Using the workshop manual as my reference, the coolant-temperature sensor is located on the right side of the bike. And it’s to the right of and slightly above the infamous cam chain tensioner. The oil-level/oil-temperature sensor is on the left (alternator) side. Accessing both sensors requires removal of the panels with more extensive removal on the left side which includes the running foot board.

 

[husafreak]

I took my bike back today and left it for an hour. The shop said they would update the software and adjust the oil level. The shop manager said he thinks it needs to be slightly overfilled. On the way home I stopped for gas and -you guessed it- pulling away from the pump the check oil warning light returned. I'm super annoyed but I think the shop is too. They have worked on this three times now. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I checked the oil level myself and it was two marks below FULL on the dipstick. So I brought the oil level up to the FULL mark. It did not take much oil, 4-6 oz maybe. Basically I did what the shop manager said he was going to do, LOL. Maybe the mechanic in the shop is reading the oil level with the bike on its side stand? That would raise the oil level. The manual clearly states center stand. Fingers crossed.

 

[Ceesie76]

Afaik the owner's manual says to wait quite long before taking the dipstick measurement.

 

[husafreak]

Once the motor is hot with the bike on center stand it says run for one minute then take reading.

 

[husafreak]

So, after the shop worked on the bike twice, the day I bought it, I checked the oil level (by the book) and it was at the LOW mark. I brought it back twice more (to include some sort of computer update) and with the Check Oil Warning still coming on I checked it myself again to find it two marks out of five above LOW on the dipstick. Still less than halfway between LOW and FULL. I carefully added oil to bring it up to the FULL mark exactly. Since then I have logged at least twenty driving cycles with no warning light. It appears to need to be filled to the FULL mark. Why the shop had so much trouble with this is a mystery to me.