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Oil leak, just got to find where.

miairhead

New member
I got home a couple of weeks ago, from a 1000 ride. Rain and bad back has kept me from riding. Not one issue except the rain for the first two days. Today, I figured it was a day for a ride. I going to guess is oil cooler gasket. Sam ran great on the trip to vintage day at AMA, and in southern Ohio. Checked oil on fillups and all was good. Never see any oil before on floor.

I started Sam (84 R100RT), I did not notice anything strange. Second stop sign I smelled oil. Right side I see oil on the exhaust. No oil light on. I just drove home and parked it. I will look later to see If I can determine where the leak is, when I can bend.

Life sucks, unless you ride

Today just sucks.
 
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Ok So..

Throw something on the garage floor to lay on and if your as old as me get a good strong light and start looking. Just did the rear main, and oil pump door on my '84r100rt along with the tranny seals, before going to Redmond for the rally. If your not hooked up with a Airhead group, find one. The brothers and sisters have tons of knoledge and love to help.
 
Oil leaks can be tricky... I have one bike that is completly dry and another that has some leaks... What I did is clean everything up real good and dried it all off. Then I have been riding and laying under the bike after a good run (easy for me since I ride about 100 miles a day). I lay back underneath the bike with a good flashlight and look for oil residue... look for a wet spot. One drop off oil can make it look like you have a major leak. You probably also want to smell the oil before cleaning it up to determine weather it is engine oil or transmission oil. You may also want to check your oil levels... maybe the bike is using some...

I have found the following oil leaks, but none dropping on the ground: 3 push rod seals are seeping oil, I have an oil cooler line seeping oil; I also have a shifter seal that is leaking and that one is dripping on the ground. I already have the seal on order and once it comes in, I will replace it... with the other ones... well, as long as it does not drip on the ground it is okay... at some point the push rod seals will be replaced...

It may not be as bad as you think... have you ridden through any new construction lately??? You may have picked up left over oil residue too...
 
Found---Oil cooler

I finally got around to looking for leak, it is coming for oil filter head. Leaks at the top by the screw. Wonder if there is a gasket installed? I did not change the oil only have about 1000 miles since change. I think it was leaking all along, but just so little it did not matter too me until now.
 
Beware of just installing a gasket under the cover -- the extra thickness may be enough to allow oil to bypass the white o-ring and go straight to the sump, depriving the main bearings of oil pressure. Better to find the reason for the leakage and fix it in this case. Search on the $2000 O-ring, and you'll get volumes explaining the issue.
 
Too bad to ride

I guess that is what I get for the dealer doing a change, never again with local dealer
 
I change my oil and never use the gasket. On my 95 R100RT (sold like an idiot), I once kinked the $2,000 oil ring. Not enough to cause any damage, but enough to leak around the cover. I found this after a 100 mile ride and noticed a few drops on the floor.

I replace it and never had any more leaks or damage from it. I would drop the cover and see if the white oil ring is installed right. You will only lose a few ounces of oil.
 
Be sure and research this as Mark suggested...the use of gasket is only required in certain situations. Use it wrongly and you may compromise the oil pressure. It requires measurement of the depth of the canister. If the measurements say you don't need a gasket and it leaks, then you've got some other problem.
 
Be sure and research this as Mark suggested...the use of gasket is only required in certain situations. Use it wrongly and you may compromise the oil pressure. It requires measurement of the depth of the canister. If the measurements say you don't need a gasket and it leaks, then you've got some other problem.

http://largiader.com/tech/filters/
 
It must be catching - my R65LS just developed an oil leak coming back from the RA rally - it appears that it is the oil pressure switch - not a hard thing to fix, but a nuisance nonetheless. And yes, a little bit of oil will smear a long way along the side of the engine and frame at 70 MPH..
 
Gasket

I found the issue. Gasket, I have not been installing this gasket when I do change.
I had 'Sam' in for a head bearing, front tire replacement, while there I said change oil. I should not of said that but having a 150 dogs (rescue), I justified as would work on something else instead of oil change.
 

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Torn gasket

I think the mech---no the guy installing filter torn the gasket, it did not leak when he check it perhaps, but with riding, it was just a matter of time. Just a little clean up of the oil and 'Sam' will be ready for a ride today. I guess I just going to have to retire so I can do the work myself.
 

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I think the mech---no the guy installing filter torn the gasket, it did not leak when he check it perhaps, but with riding, it was just a matter of time. Just a little clean up of the oil and 'Sam' will be ready for a ride today. I guess I just going to have to retire so I can do the work myself.
The big question is whether you *need* the gasket - you should measure the depth of your filter canister to make sure the added thickness of the gasket is preventing the white o-ring from being preloaded enough.
 
Gasket removed

I just removed the gasket, went for a 100 mile ride. Not one drop of oil after a car wash cleaning. This is my second 84 R100RT, I never used the gasket I always figured one more thing to go wrong. It is the white Oring that does the sealing.
 
It is the white Oring that does the sealing.

That's correct. However, the cover is what creates the pressure for the o-ring to seal. Too little pressure by the cover and oil pressure drops in the canister-filter area. Too much pressure by the cover can cut the o-ring resulting in too little pressure...see previous sentence.

Nominally, the canister is around 3-3.5mm deep in the engine cavity. That configuration creates a reasonable good pressure on the o-ring to seal without cutting it. If the canister is less than 3mm deep, putting the cover on is going to put too much pressure on the o-ring...a gasket is used in this situation. If the canister is nearer 4mm or more deep, then putting a gasket on is going the wrong direction...it reduces the pressure on the o-ring. In this situation, you have to put in multiple shims to get the pressure back on the o-ring again.

That's why it's been stated you need to know what the canister depth is to figure out if you need the gasket or how many shims you need. Early on in this thread, a link to Anton's site gave the information to figure out what would be needed.
 
I wonder how many have measured the depth of the filter?

The filter should be the same dimensions, within tolerances. It's the filter canister that needs measurement. I measured mine and it is 2.8mm below the engine case. I use the gasket and one shim. That gets me a compression factor between 10-25%.
 
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