Engine of New Motorcycle Had to be Overhauled due to Fake Lubricant

Regret always comes late. Many motorbike users were not aware that they had used fake lubricant oil because they bought it without checking.

DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI

The condition of the motorcycle engine which is suspected of using fake lubricant which was once handled by the Nugroho Parts Workshop in Bekasi Regency, as shown on Wednesday (5/10/2022). The machine is filled with oil which turns into a gel..

They realized something was wrong with the lubricant they bought after the motorcycle engine had broken down.

Ade Mulyana (42), a resident of Bogor City, West Java, is actually quite disciplined in maintaining his motorcycle. He is never late in changing his motorcycle engine oil. The motorbike he had just bought three months prior was damaged due to the use of a counterfeit lubricant.

In May 2019, Ade bought a Honda Beat Street motorbike for around Rp 18 million (US$1,200). Because it was still under warranty, he went to an official repair shop for regular maintenance, including lubricant replacement.

Sometime in September 2019, Ade’s friend asked to borrow his motorbike. Ade asked his friend to change the lubricant, considering it was the time to replace it. As the free repair service at the official repair shop had run out of lubricants, his friend went to a repair shop in Ciomas, Bogor.

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Three days later, Ade was shocked when his motorbike suddenly made a noise. He ignored the noise and kept using it. “Gradually, the noise grew louder. When the engine of the motorbike started, noise could be heard,” said the owner of the welding and wood workshop, when Kompas met him at his home in Bogor on Thursday (20/10/2022).

Ade gave up. He took his motorbike to a repair shop near the house. The motor's automatic drive section (continuously variable transmission/CVT) was disassembled and checked, but the source of the noise was not established.

The engine of the motorbike had to be overhauled. "When the engine was disassembled, it was so sticky inside," said Ade.

According to the workshop mechanic, it was an indication that the machine had been "poisoned" with counterfeit oil. All parts of the engine block had been damaged and had to be repaired. Ade also chose to immediately sell his motorbike, even though he had just used it for just less than four months.

Before being sold to the buyer, he replaced a number of engine block components, such as the bearings and gaskets (sealing on the engine block). Adding to the cost of disassembling and changing the new oil, Ade had to pay Rp 500,000 for the repair service, which was due to the use of fake lubricant.

JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA

Ade Mulyana Setiawan (42) and his Suzuki Skywave motorcycle at his home in Harjasari, South Bogor District, Bogor City, Thursday (20/10/2022).

Ade was reluctant to ask for responsibility to the repair shop where his friend bought the lubricant for a routine replacement. According to Ade, asking the repair shop to take responsibility would only make a fuss instead of finding a solution. In the end, he spread the information as widely as possible so that his acquaintances would not use the repair shop's services.

Overheating and Noise

In Bandung regency, West Java, Pailo Rizky's (22) Yamaha Byson motorbike was also allegedly damaged due to the use of a counterfeit lubricant. The janitor at a bank said that in late October he replaced his motorcycle’s lubricant at a repair shop in Cingcin, Soreang District.

The price for a special sports motorbike lubricant with a volume of 1 liter plus oil replacement services was Rp 60,000. Pailo glanced at the lubricant bottle before the mechanist put the contents into the motorbike's engine. "Very similar to the original," he said.

The pull is slow, as if there is no power.

After that, the motorbike rested at home for three days. Pailo later drove it to Jl. Pelajar Pejuang 45 Bandung, which is about 15 kilometers from his house. On his way home in the evening, Pailo was surprised because the engine of his motorcycle was so noisy.

The temperature of the engine also suddenly rose dramatically, which evaporated the raindrops quickly when they touched the surface of the machine. "The pull is slow, as if there is no power," said Pailo.

The next morning, when warming up the motorbike, Pailo was surprised because the clicking sound on the engine did not go away. He was worried, so he contacted the owner of the repair shop where he subscribed to for a consultation. He was advised to remove the lubricant and check it.

ARSIP PAILO RIZKY

Pailo Rizky (22) and his supermoto version of a Yamaha Byson motorbike, Sunday (11/13/2022), in Soreang, Bandung Regency, West Java. Just three days after changing the oil at the end of October 2022, his motorcycle engine failed.

Pailo suspected that his motorbike fell victim to counterfeit lubricant. Only a few days after it was filled into the engine, the oil was very thin like water and very dirty. Usually, the oil that has been used for a month is not that dirty. "It's like sewage water," said Pailo.

Moreover, he had only traveled about 30 km since changing the oil. He then drained the oil chamber and filled it with genuine lubricant. Pailo believed that the engine had to be overhauled and the spare parts replaced. Pailo estimated it would cost about Rp 500,000.

Evaporating quickly

A private employee in Jakarta, Fajar, also suffered losses due to the use of a counterfeit lubricant. He had to pay about Rp 800,000 for the cost of disassembling the engine and for the replacement of engine components.

Fajar said that one day in February 2021 he left for work from a boarding house in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, to East Jakarta. “Arriving at the Pancoran flyover, the motorcycle engine suddenly stopped. Finally it was taken to a repair shop in Tebet," said the 2014 Honda Vario 125 driver.

After checking, it turned out that the engine lubricant had run out. In fact, there was a seepage or leaks in the oil seal. The last lubricant change was about 1 to 1.5 months before the incident. "The repair shop owner said that the cause could be due to the use of counterfeit oil because counterfeit lubricant usually evaporates faster," said Fajar.

A number of repair shops have handled cases of motorbikes with engine problems or even breakdowns on the road, allegedly due to counterfeit oil. One of the shops is the Nugroho repair shop in Cikarang, Bekasi regency.

The repair shop owner said that the cause could be due to the use of counterfeit oil because counterfeit lubricant usually evaporates faster.

Naufal (25), a mechanic at the Nugroho repair shop, said, in March 2022 an automatic motorbike owner came because the motorcycle broke down on the road. At first, he thought the problem was electrical.

However, after checking, the condition of the battery and the motorcycle fuse turned out to be normal. Naufal then took the initiative to open the engine oil cover. After the engine was disassembled, the oil in the engine turned into gel. "I immediately suspected, really, there was a lot of liquid, like glue. Where did it come from? Finally, I pierced the oil hole with a screwdriver. Yes, finally the gel came out," said Naufal.

Naufal believed that the lubricant used on the Honda Beat motorcycle was fake. Moreover, the motorcycle was only about four months old. It was unlikely that the oil clot was caused by anything else.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.