2002 LT Oil Leak

I have a 2002 LT with 93K miles. For the past 20K miles or so I have changed my own oil and filter without any problems. After my last oil change I have developed and oil leak in the seal just in front of where the center stand connects. If I run the bike and let it warm up I can see the oil bubbling out of the seal area. After sitting for a while there is a small patch of oil about 2"x2" below the leak. This bike has never leaked a drop of oil prior to this. Could it be a wrong filter? Awful strange this developed after this oil & filter change. The oil is NOT leaking anywhere near the drain plug or filter cover. Anyone ever experience this problem?

martytx

My K100 previously used synthetic oil but when it got to around your mileage, it began to weep a bit of oil. Switched to dino oil, the problem was no more and the bike is now about 156,000 miles.

Thanks Paul that could be worth a try.

Based on the location where you said the oil leak is coming from, sounds very much like a rear main seal failure. Google "dreaded rear main seal leak" for info.

Bubbling is not a typical observation for a rear seal leak. An amount as large as described would often result in significant clutch slippage by this time. The location described is not a 'seal' ahead of the centerstand. It is the two machined surfaces of the transmission and bell housing coming together. Sounds like you have oil puddled in the bell housing, and as I noted, this amount usually will have resulted in a fouled clutch by now. Perhaps it is a 'sudden' failure of the rear main seal. Based on your description, it is engine oil and not gear oil, or it would be foul smelling, right? The link to the rear main seal failure is what you need. It is a doable job if you have the space, tools, help, Clymer, and Shop manuals. It is quite expensive to have the shop do it.....but, do it now before your clutch gets fouled as that is about $450 all by itself....

My guess - is oil pressure sending unit. We need a good photo of the leak to identify the source and how to fix it.

Thanks for the responses guys. Definitely oil leaking. Stopped by the shop the other day and pretty much confirmed rear main seal is bad. With 95K miles and bad ABS unit sounds like a good time for a new RT or GTL. Anyone interested in a slightly used 2002LT?