AJS & Matchless Owners Club

I understand the engine oil copasity for the 250 is 2.5 pints. Is there a way to check what is in the sump before toppong up.Or is it a drain and refill?

cheers
John

You should be able to see the oil level if you take the filler cap off. When was the oil last changed? If you're not sure drain and refill. When you fill up make sure the level is about 1 inch below the little return hole, you should be able to see this just below the filler hole. Just a little advise, check the gearbox oil also and make sure this is always topped up full. It's been mentioned on here many times that if you let the gearbox oil go a little low the gears don't pick it up as they are situated in the top of the box and you knacker the box if it's a little low on oil.

Sorry but this is not quite correct - the engine oil level should be 1 inch below the FILLER CAP ORIFICE, NOT below the return hole! You'll find that the correct oil level is usually about the same level as the return hole. I use an old, wooden lolly stick with a mark on it to check the level.

Full information about oils, etc, is contained in the owner's manual, which can be downloaded from the archives.

It is indeed VITALLY important to check the gearbox oil level very regularly, especially if it leaks, like they all do!

Use straight SAE 30, 40 or 50 oil, not multigrade and change it regularly too - the oil in the Lightweights runs very hot as there's not much of it and it's kept nice and warm as it nestles inside the engine cover. Clean the oil filter too at regular intervals.

Al

quote:
You should be able to see the oil level if you take the filler cap off. When was the oil last changed? If you're not sure drain and refill. When you fill up make sure the level is about 1 inch below the little return hole, you should be able to see this just below the filler hole. Just a little advise, check the gearbox oil also and make sure this is always topped up full. It's been mentioned on here many times that if you let the gearbox oil go a little low the gears don't pick it up as they are situated in the top of the box and you knacker te box if it's a little low on oil.
Edited by - BigAl350 on 26 Feb 2012 11:44:49 PM

If you mean oil thats in the crankcase - nope, if you think there might be a significant amount just run the engine until the level stabilises then top up. Or drain everything and start from scratch.

All advice above very good stuff but its always usefull to have the correct Handbook as a good starting point.
Oil system is dry sump , so unless the motorcycle has been standing for a long while there should be very little in the (true) sump
What you can see when you take the oil filler cap off is in actual fact an oil tank that is part of the crankcases/engine cases, it is seperate from the sump.
Once the engine is run the oil that is in the sump (it may have drained there whilst the engine was standing) is scavenged by the pump and returned to the oil tank. If you watch the small hole about one inch down in the oil tank you will see the oil being returned, this is usually an intermittant flow, when everything is working OK. this is when the level should be checked in the tank.
DO NOT fill the tank up unless you have started the engine and made sure that the return to the tank is intermittant. If you do you will probably overfill the engine which is NOT GOOD.