Oil disapearing

[matdrefs]

Hey,

I got a 390 Duke with a major issue.

The bike runs perfectly well for 30min (no loss of power), but after about that time the "low oil pressure" sensor lights up and i have to stop the bike.
At first i thought it was a deficient sensor, but after checking the oil level (on a cold motor) i have a huge loss of oil (about 300mL).
I can't run my bike anymore as it happens every time.

The thing is :
- there isn't any smoke
- there isn't any oil on the floor of the parking
- there isn't any oil on the motor carter
- i use the right oil (i've checked several times)

I'm going to do a compression test in a few days to check if the motor is getting some oil in there (do you happen to know what the right compression value is ?), but i think there won't be any surprise because the bikes didn't lose any power, and the garage did a compression check several months ago and it was fine.

Do you have any idea of where the oil is going ?

Thank you.

 

[rideontt]

low Oil pressure comes up when internally it's at one quart of oil \1.1 liters from 1.7liter's total
Oil level to be checked when the engine is at operating temperature...

390s are known for Oil being consumed or its seeping through the valve cover or Left side case cover.




either way, check the centre case also (below the engine) if there is any seepage.


if the low oil pressure shows up every 500-900miles after topup and there is no seepage or leak then its a problem.

 

[matdrefs]

There isn't any seepage anywhere and it's a lot less than 500-900miles... i don't think the consumption is normal.

 

[rideontt]

 

[yoheysmo]

Hey,

I got a 390 Duke with a major issue.

The bike runs perfectly well for 30min (no loss of power), but after about that time the "low oil pressure" sensor lights up and i have to stop the bike.
At first i thought it was a deficient sensor, but after checking the oil level (on a cold motor) i have a huge loss of oil (about 300mL).
I can't run my bike anymore as it happens every time.

The thing is :
- there isn't any smoke
- there isn't any oil on the floor of the parking
- there isn't any oil on the motor carter
- i use the right oil (i've checked several times)

I'm going to do a compression test in a few days to check if the motor is getting some oil in there (do you happen to know what the right compression value is ?), but i think there won't be any surprise because the bikes didn't lose any power, and the garage did a compression check several months ago and it was fine.

Do you have any idea of where the oil is going ?

Thank you.

You are not alone or crazy! I too am having the EXACT same issue. I purchase in the USA a KTM 390 Adventure. About a month of riding. Logged 1000km. I performed the first service. No oil drained out...only a few ml. I scratched me head. What the heck. I never checked the oil level in the first 1000km. I just bought the bike! I made one of two assumptions. The dealer never put oil in the bike as part of the new bike set up or the bike burned 1.5L of oil in 1000km. Bike never overheated. I never got red engine oil light. The engine oil light is a pressure sensor not a quantity indicator. Apparently, the engine maintained excellent pressure. My bike is at the dealer. The dealer has to contact KTM. A compression value is not in the shop manual. I cannot find one either. I will post the dealers findings.

 

[Formula390]

I will post the dealers findings.

The odds of the motor jabbing ZERO oil (just assembly lube) and living 1000km is ZERO. Motor would have blown LONG before! Did you check both oil drain plugs? Was the bike on the sidestand or a center stand?

 

[yoheysmo]

I picked up the bike from the dealer. The mechanic checked the compression. The mechanic contacted KTM. Normal compression is 100-110 psi for a KTM 390 Adventure. My PSI was within range. As for the oil...the mechanic said it could have been under serviced. I can honestly say...I did not check it until the 1000km service...bad on me. I pulled two drain screens and filter while on a side stand. Less then a 120ml’s drain out. Some pics attached. It happen to another guy on this forum.

 

[Formula390]

There is a second drain for oil, and the bike needs to be level, not on the side stand. There's still oil in there. If you only had 120ml of oil in the motor, the crank would have seized and piston would have cracked in half.

 

[akhand0083]

You are not alone or crazy! I too am having the EXACT same issue. I purchase in the USA a KTM 390 Adventure. About a month of riding. Logged 1000km. I performed the first service. No oil drained out...only a few ml. I scratched me head. What the heck. I never checked the oil level in the first 1000km. I just bought the bike! I made one of two assumptions. The dealer never put oil in the bike as part of the new bike set up or the bike burned 1.5L of oil in 1000km. Bike never overheated. I never got red engine oil light. The engine oil light is a pressure sensor not a quantity indicator. Apparently, the engine maintained excellent pressure. My bike is at the dealer. The dealer has to contact KTM. A compression value is not in the shop manual. I cannot find one either. I will post the dealers findings.

Dude! I had the exact same issue! They ended up rebuilding the engine at 3000kms! Then I took it for a long 1000kms ride! No oil consumption, but again after 2000kms, the same issue is back! at close to 7000kms I am looking at getting the engine rebuilt again! No one can actually track down the issue, I put my bet on the faulty oil pump, but we are yet to see if that's right or not!

 

[petrolhead]

I've had the same issue , my rc390(2022) got her first oil change at the 1000km mark (motul 7100 1.5L). At 4500kms i took her in for her 2nd service , only to see that the engine oil had reduced to about 900ml.

Today, i got an oil change , but this time it's 1.7L.
Will update after 3000kms.

Meanwhile, any insights are more than welcome.

 

[randycastell]

Just as a data point: I've got 750 miles on my 2022 rc390 mostly commuting since my first service and I've added .25L /250ml oil. I check oil level every few hundred miles on my motorcycles as a rule. :^)

 

[boganll]

Hi all. I'm new to the forum. I bought a new 2022 rc390 about two months ago and I'm now encountering this oil consumption issue.

There were no problems during the break in period of 625 miles, did the first oil change myself (the dealership said it would take them a month to get it back to me!) following the service manual exactly and I'm now around 1800 miles. I noticed the oil was low yesterday and topped it up before riding around 30 miles this morning. Oil level is back down to the bottom of the sight glass after today's ride.

No apparent leaks, no oil burning smell, and operating temperature has never gotten high. Was wondering if others having this issue have found the problem and/or solution?

 

[sacbiker]

I've had the same issue , my rc390(2022) got her first oil change at the 1000km mark (motul 7100 1.5L). At 4500kms i took her in for her 2nd service , only to see that the engine oil had reduced to about 900ml.

Today, i got an oil change , but this time it's 1.7L.
Will update after 3000kms.

Meanwhile, any insights are more than welcome.

Is there an update?

 

[B7ACKTHORN]

Let me share a few anecdotal remarks me and my team have observed here. The oil consumption is way out of spec post the 2019 manufactured bikes, especially the ADV Series. Every single ADV/390 out there is plagued with oil consumption with less than 5k kms on the odo, it's insidious and sinisterly well managed by KTM, in making sure the owners just don't know a thing when the engine can throw a rod and it's very much possible. Sad! My observation is that the design of the entire piston is different from that of the old piston purely due to cost cutting and this is when issues have started to pop-up.

Back then for older 390s KTM recommends 60 to 70 ml every 1000 kms as normal beyond that it's other checks and vagaries. Unfortunately the current gen consume upwards of 150 to 200 ml every 1000 kms and I've personally witnessed many ADVs and Dukes with no light in sight, with nothing but folks carrying a can of oil with them and top it whenever necessary.

Cheers!

 

[sacbiker]

Let me share a few anecdotal remarks me and my team have observed here. The oil consumption is way out of spec post the 2019 manufactured bikes, especially the ADV Series.

That's bad. I saw a few cases of Adv 390 owners facing unusually high oil consumption.
My 2017 390 also had a bit of oil consumption from time to time.(300ml every 1000km)
I pinpointed this to the oil I was using. The Motul 7100 was getting burnt or evaporated in excess for a lot of others as well. Once I changed to another oil, the oil consumption is negligible(50-100ml every 1000km).

 

[B7ACKTHORN]

In fact, switching to another brand of oil than Motul comparatively reduces the oil consumption. I've always been fervently advocating that the Motul 300V especially is an oil destined to vapor out to thin air with negligible performance. Matter of fact KTMs perform better with good quality semi synthetic than a fully synthetic, especially ester based which all Bajaj made and Bajaj-collaborated products -- they simply hate 300V and there's a reason. Motul 7100 just hangs in here.

Cheers!

 

[sacbiker]

In fact, switching to another brand of oil than Motul comparatively reduces the oil consumption. I've always been fervently advocating that the Motul 300V especially is an oil destined to vapor out to thin air with negligible performance. Matter of fact KTMs perform better with good quality semi synthetic than a fully synthetic, especially ester based which all Bajaj made and Bajaj-collaborated products -- they simply hate 300V and there's a reason. Motul 7100 just hangs in here.

Cheers!

Wow. That's sounds promising. I am currently running on Shell Advance Ultra 15W50.
About using semi synthetic, KTM themselves had suggested to use a Semi Synthetic oil in their manuals.
But, I'm quite scared to experiment with this since the 390 engine runs extremely hot and I doubt if a semi synthetic would be able to hold its film strength.
Which semi synthetic do you suggest for a 390?

 

[B7ACKTHORN]

Wow. That's sounds promising. I am currently running on Shell Advance Ultra 15W50.
About using semi synthetic, KTM themselves had suggested to use a Semi Synthetic oil in their manuals.
But, I'm quite scared to experiment with this since the 390 engine runs extremely hot and I doubt if a semi synthetic would be able to hold its film strength.
Which semi synthetic do you suggest for a 390?

Let me tell you, there's more to this oil consumption issue. There's lot of metallurgy change involved with new the piston, the oil ring themselves compared to the 2013-2016. This issue only aggravated post 2017-end models the following ADV and 390 models. Now, which semi-synthetic is good? Any semi-synthetic that is MA4 and falls in the right gradation, i.e. 10w50 15w10 or 20w50 is a good enough oil with 15w50 being the best. Another point to note is, all internal combustion engines will consume a set amount of engine oil at set intervals of KMs which is somewhat higher upwards of 20k plus kms where they actually start to manifest, albeit ever so slightly. With the current gen, there are cases as low as 5k kms. All thanks to the crappy piston and oil ring design in the name of cost cutting, they end up consuming vehemently higher than KTM's internal standards and if left unnoticed can induce a partial to full engine seizure. Sad!

 

[sacbiker]

Thanks for the explanation.
If it's safe to use SS oils, I feel like using a SS with 2k interval. I guess it makes more sense since they cost half of a FS oil.

 

[rideontt]

Let me share a few anecdotal remarks me and my team have observed here. The oil consumption is way out of spec post the 2019 manufactured bikes, especially the ADV Series. Every single ADV/390 out there is plagued with oil consumption with less than 5k kms on the odo, it's insidious and sinisterly well managed by KTM, in making sure the owners just don't know a thing when the engine can throw a rod and it's very much possible. Sad! My observation is that the design of the entire piston is different from that of the old piston purely due to cost cutting and this is when issues have started to pop-up.

Back then for older 390s KTM recommends 60 to 70 ml every 1000 kms as normal beyond that it's other checks and vagaries. Unfortunately the current gen consume upwards of 150 to 200 ml every 1000 kms and I've personally witnessed many ADVs and Dukes with no light in sight, with nothing but folks carrying a can of oil with them and top it whenever necessary.

Cheers!

I carry it(1lt/quart) when on tour. did not have to top up, fortunately .
more often top-up happens
when i commute
like 50 to 150 km /31 to 93mi ,
top-up requirement happens around 3300 to 4000km/2100 to 2500mi
about 150-300ml (5.2-10.50 oz). these are rough estimates,

I check it Oil level at end of the day switch off the engine wait for 5mins and then check the level for consistent reading