I have:
- a V-Star 1300, 2008
- Owners Manual V-Star 1300
- Yamaha XVS13AW(C) XVS13CTW(C) SERVICE MANUAL
- Clymer YAMAHA V-STAR 1300 2007-2010 Maintenance - Troubleshooting - Repair
In the Clymer manual, the oil change instructions begin on page 52 about half way down the right column. The itemized instructions begin on page 53 at the top of the left column. We get to item 3, the second sentence says... "Remove the oil drain bolt (A, Figure 21)" and we look at Figure 21 on page 52 and are directed to a bolt head clearly only a couple inches from the oil filter. THIS IS THE WRONG BOLT! THIS BOLT IS NOT THE OIL DRAIN! We have now looked under the engine and have identified the "oil drain bolt" as shown in "(A, Figure 21)" so we don't notice the discrepancy in the rest of the sentence "...from the left side of the crankcase." The bolt pointed to in the picture is NOT on the LEFT side of the engine. We remove the bolt shown in picture "(A, Figure 21)" with a 12mm wrench and get maybe a pint of oil. We wait the step 4 "at least 15-20 minutes." At this point I must admit that I was obviously not paying attention because it didn't register that not enough oil had drained out until after I had replaced the filter and refilled it with 3.59 qts of new oil. When I was cleaning up and draining the oil from the drain pan, the light finally went on and I realized that I didn't have anywhere even close to enough old used oil in the drain pan. At that point I went to the computer and Googled for some help. Google was NOT helpful which is the reason why I am writing and posting this. At that point, I had almost double the correct amount of oil in the engine, it needed to be drained down to the proper amount and at that time, I still hadn't found the real oil drain plug. I got the extra oil out and what remained was about half old oil and half new oil. Later, after I had calmed down a little, I was able to figure out what went wrong. About two weeks later, I rechanged my oil and filter again to get to a status of all new, clean oil.
I will lightly criticize the Owners Manual and the Service Manual as they both contain exactly the same drawing and that drawing does not convey as much confidence as the Clymer photograph about being sure of the bolt's location. If however, one of these was the only source of information, then a person would be adequately directed. I obviously did not notice nor compare the two different locations, 1) the location indicated by the Yamaha books vs. 2) the different location shown in the Clymer picture. Anyone who does this comparison will certainly notice the discrepancy. We are not expecting a problem on a simple task like changing the oil. We look where the picture indicates and find a bolt right where shown that has a brown washer. We remove it, it is short, we get oil, all the indicators are correct. Except it is the wrong bolt!
I am not aware if there have been different versions of this Clymer Manual printed and if there are, which versions contain this mistake. If you have a Clymer Manual, please be advised of this problem and compare these two locations before removing any bolts. Once a person is warned, the difference becomes obvious. It is unfortunate that this wrong picture was published. The Clymer book is an excellent reference. It is written in a style that works exceptionally well for those of us that only occasionally become mechanics and the manner of presentation is vastly superior for non-professional mechanics. Even having the Service Manual, I will continue to reach for the Clymer Manual for reference because of the better style of presenting information to non-professionals. If you work on this motorcycle, then I highly recommend that you get a copy of this Clymer manual. This web page documents an error, but overall this book is a very valuable information resource that you should have available.
The correct oil drain bolt is relatively close to the side stand.
The correct oil drain bolt head fits a 17mm wrench.
Check the picture on page 6-12 in the Owners Manual, the oil drain bolt is NOT close to the oil filter.
Check the picture on page 3-12 of the Service Manual, the oil drain bolt is NOT close to the oil filter.
See my photos below that show the real oil drain plug that is near the side stand.
The wrong bolt head is close to the oil filter, the real oil drain bolt is close to the side stand.
The wrong bolt head fits a 12mm wrench, the real oil drain bolt fits a 17mm wrench.
from front left looking towards back, notice the side stand. The tire that is behind the word "Plug" is the back tire.
from back left looking towards front, notice the side stand. The tire just showing on the left edge of the picture is the front tire.
The Yamaha Owners Manual front cover and page 6-12 that shows the drawing to identify the oil drain bolt. (the exact same illustration is used in the Yamaha Service Manual.)
Notice that the location of the Oil Drain Plug is close to the side stand. This drawing is shown from the right side of the bike looking across underneath and slightly towards the front. If the drawing was wider, the front tire would be on the right and the rear tire would be on the left. (My engine photographs, above the Owners Manual pictures, are taken from the other side of the bike.)
The 5 pictures below are from the Clymer Manual
Figure 21"A" below points to the wrong bolt head!
Clymer Manual page 52 "(A, Figure 21)"
shown above points to the wrong bolt head!
