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DIY: Royal Enfield Himalayan oil change

15th April 2021, 17:36 by Chirag Moro

Though not a tough job, having the right tools and parts help. Should help DIYers on how to replace the engine oil of your Himalayan in your home.

BHPian VijayAnand1 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Election day off, coupled with a few parts availability at the right time meant it was the right time for the oil change, which was overdue.

Though not a tough job, having the right tools and parts help. Should help DIYers on how to replace the engine oil of your Himalayan in your home.

Quick Stat on the Bike

RE Himalayan BS IV Snow White
KMS clocked 9k KMS

Parts required

New Oil Filter 1 Nos
New Oil Filter Cover Gasket 1 Nos
Drain bolt copper washer 1 Nos

Filter comp, Engine oil

PART NO: 574297/D

Gasket cap oil filter

PART NO: 574672/A

Steps

1. Start off by warming up the engine, this helps the oil to be less viscous. This process helps especially when you live at places where ambient temps are less than 19 deg C. Case in point, I live in Ooty, hence the engine was fully "warmed" up before draining the oil.

2. Tools required: 21 mm ratchet and 8 mm T handle or 8 mm 1/4 ratchet set. I have used a T as you can see from the image.

21 MM ratchet and extension to remove the main drain bolt.

8 mm T or ratchet to remove the smaller bolts of both the oil filter cover on the right and the drain cum strainer cover bolts on the left.

In the image below, you can see the two 8 mm bolts on the left and right, and the main drain bolt 21 mm in the middle.

Pro Tip: Always remove the main drain bolt first, drain the oil. Then remove the 8 mm bolts to access the strainer. Removing the 8 mm bolts directly will result in a royal mess.

After removing the drain bolt, tilt the bike towards the left to make sure the engine oil smoothly flows into the drain pan. You can see the mess it had created due to me dropping the drain bolt due to the heat of the oil. Oil is hotter than what the engine feels to touch. Once drained, remove the two 8 mm bolts holding the strainer cover as discussed above, removing this results in access to the strainer which is kept on the paper, as you can see in the image below.

A closer look at the strainer. Gotta say, pretty impressed with the muck filtration. 101% clean. Thoroughly surprised and impressed. No wonder RE topped the charts in clean manufacturing. You believe it when you see it. Well, I gotta say I witnessed it today. More on that here:

A more closer look. Nope, nothing. Absolutely not a grime. Happy soul to say the least:

A closer look at the drained oil. Quick insight about the oil, the bike was lubed with Motul 7100 10w50 then. Though the performance was good, Motuls always have a tendency to become watery. No complaints here, the oil served for more than 4,000 km without a fuss with occasional hard shifts here and there, which is a sign your oil is used up.

Moving over to the right side of the trouble. Here we undo the three 8 mm bolts to access the oil filter.

Pretty neat oil filter to say the least. Again no complaints here.

Pro Tip: Always make sure you replace your oil filter irrespective of when you change the oil. Oil filters are cheap and they help your engine last longer, its cleaner and the pros outweigh that laziness to go to that ATM machine. New oil filter goes in along with new oil filter cover gasket (that triangle gasket). Oil filter costs Rs. 99 and the triangle oil filter gasket is Rs. 10. Yes, you read that right. I bought a pack of two and it was Rs. 10 for two. So, parts are cheap, ain't they! Moreover, with an RE, you definitely need peace of mind.

Pro Tip: Make sure you pre-lube the oil filter before installing. My practice is to dunk the filter for a few seconds, immediately install it back inside the recess to where it belongs. Helps during start up. Here's me dunking it in!

Process 2

The refill process. RE recommends 2 liters of engine oil every consecutive oil change, which was followed religiously. Make sure you replace the copper washer for the drain bolt.

Here's the bike's sight window after pouring in exactly 1 liter of fresh oil after draining every ml of possible old oil, the best I could.

1 liter being poured in:

Sight window after pouring in exactly 1 liter of fresh engine oil:

In goes another one liter (making it two liters):

Tada! That's full two liters of fresh engine oil, with the oil filter pre-lubed and the bike on the center stand and that's how the sight window looks. Satisfying! That's how it all looks after everything's cleaned and filled in.

PRO TIP: And last but not the least, make sure you take additional 15 mins to clean the portico, so that you don't get poisoned for lunch by wifey later.