'85 K100RS Coolant in oil?

I am a brand new member and proud (I hope) owner of a 1985K100RS. I just got it on Jan 20th. I noticed this today. A whitish color substance running down the face of the oil sight glass.




So I drained the oil and saw these whitish streaks.




I have actually never seen coolant in oil before, neither car nor bike, so I am assuming this is what it is?

Tom

Maybe. Or maybe just moisture from condensation. I would change the oil and cautiously operate the engine to see if it repeats itself. If so it screams head gasket. Did the bike perchance overheat recently?

Hard to tell from the second photo just how much "white gunk" is actually in the oil. I've seen small amounts of moisture in the sightglass of several bikes, but it's typically just condensation, as Paul mentioned. A good hard run that gets the oil hot will burn that off (PCV vents the steam into the intake tract).
Obviously if there's lot of water in there, something else is in play.
The coolant and oil get close to each other at a number of places. One of them is the pump that pumps both fluids. There are two impellers, each pumping one of the fluids, on the same shaft. Two seals separated by a weep hole keep them apart. I can't make a case for how the two fluids meet each other off the top of my head, but I've seen a lot more pump failures on these Ks than I have head gasket issues.
Keep us posted.

Thanks, guys. There actually isn't much. I can't take the bike out for a ride due to winter in Canada and it also needs an out of Province inspection before hitting the road. At best I can run it for a few minutes at a time and rev it a bit or hold it on a fast idle for brief moments. I'm going to fill it up with fresh oil and see if it reappears.

I remember on my previous Hyundai Tucson, a 2006, it use to accumulate crud (white/creamy stuff) on the underside of the oil filler cap. I was told that that was due to constant city driving and not taking it out on the highway where that stuff gets burned out of the crankcase.

I appreciate the help and will deal with what comes up. Only 30,000 miles on the bike.

Tom

Since it's going to be a while before you can get out, and you realllly wanted to know what's going on, you could consider sending a sample to Blackstone Labs. They would break down how much water and antifreeze (if any) is in the oil. Turning the bike on for a few minutes, even at fast idle, is going to cause condensation, so it seems it's best to just let them sleep until spring comes.

drneo66 said:

Turning the bike on for a few minutes, even at fast idle, is going to cause condensation, so it seems it's best to just let them sleep until spring comes.

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Is that correct? I was thinking that is was good to start and run them once in a while on a warmer day for a few minutes. Maybe to keep the fuel system functioning properly. Is it better to just let them sit during the winter?

jconway607 said:

Is that correct? I was thinking that is was good to start and run them once in a while on a warmer day for a few minutes. Maybe to keep the fuel system functioning properly. Is it better to just let them sit during the winter?

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Absolutely let them sit. In winter do not start the bike until you are prepared to ride it for 20 or so miles to get everything totally warmed up. If you have stabilizer and maybe some HEET in the fuel there is no need to run the pump or injectors at all.

PGlaves said:

Absolutely let them sit. In winter do not start the bike until you are prepared to ride it for 20 or so miles to get everything totally warmed up. If you have stabilizer and maybe some HEET in the fuel there is no need to run the pump or injectors at all.

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...after you've made sure the stabilized fuel as made its way thru the whole fuel circuit.

I've known guys who dump some stabilizer into the tank after their last ride and call it done.

JeffDiCarlo said:

...after you've made sure the stabilized fuel as made its way thru the whole fuel circuit.

I've known guys who dump some stabilizer into the tank after their last ride and call it done.

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Well it does absolutely help to actually think about what it is a person is doing. Some do. Some don't, to their own peril.

I have an '85 K100 I've owned since 1990. Has ~ 180k very happy miles on it. Had to replace the oil & coolant pump a couple years ago. The common shaft was suffering from corrosion and in my case was causing a very slow coolant drip, but could have just as easily been leaking into the oil. BMW wanted over $500 for a new one, so I initially bought a used one on eBay. Ha! It had the same shaft corrosion. So I knuckled under and paid the factory price for new. If your water in the oil problem continues this spring when you can get out and put some real miles on (to eliminate condensation as a cause), then I'd suggest taking a close look at the pump. It's not difficult to remove or disassemble to the point you can check the shaft for corrosion.

-Doug Pratt
'75 R90/6
'85 K100
'94 R100 GS

In an earlier post I mentioned a failed head gasket as a possible cause. In a moment of memory lapse I had completely forgotten the oil pump / water pump as a single assembly using a common shaft and two seals. Upon reflection I would forget the gasket notion and almost assume it is a pump seal issue. Folks have had mixed results in rebuilding these pumps. I have messed up a couple due to corrosion I ignored. Given the age of the bike a new pump is probably in order, and at least all new internal parts will be needed.

There is maybe a 10mm separation between the water and oil seals on the pump shaft that forms the cavity that drains from the bottom center front of the oil sump. That is the part of the shaft that corrodes first and when it progresses to the seals, your leaking starts. I don't think it is very possible for coolant to get into the oil system from the water pump seal, or vice versa unless the drain hole is completely plugged and the pressurized fluid has nowhere else to go.

Frank

51797 said:

There is maybe a 10mm separation between the water and oil seals on the pump shaft that forms the cavity that drains from the bottom center front of the oil sump. That is the part of the shaft that corrodes first and when it progresses to the seals, your leaking starts. I don't think it is very possible for coolant to get into the oil system from the water pump seal, or vice versa unless the drain hole is completely plugged and the pressurized fluid has nowhere else to go.

Frank

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What he said.

BMW obviously saw the potential problem of driving coolant and oil with one pump, and took steps to keep them apart. That gap between the two seals is intentionally vented out the bottom of the bike. So worn seals or a corroded shaft will cause a drip to emerge from the engine, but as I mentioned initially, I can't come up with a scenario where one fluid infects the other.

I showed the photos I posted here to the bike shop where I buy stuff and it is their opinion that, because there is so little, it's sort of white and quite wispy, that it was just condensation/moisture in the crankcase.

jconway607 said:

Is that correct? I was thinking that is was good to start and run them once in a while on a warmer day for a few minutes. Maybe to keep the fuel system functioning properly. Is it better to just let them sit during the winter?

Click to expand...

During storage you don't want to start any bike and let it idle, without taking it for a ride, long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. All you are accomplishing by starting and idling is create condensation in the engine as it won't have a chance to burn it off.

The way I've always stored a bike is to change the oil & filter in the fall, start it to make sure it has oil pressure, then shut it off and don't start it again until the spring when I'm going to be riding it. As far as the gas tank goes, either leave it full with a non ethanol gas and an additive for storage ( this is fine for shorter storage periods like a couple of months/ over winter ) if you are going to store the bike for longer than about 6 months drain the tank. Some of this also depends if it is a fuel injected bike or a carbed bike. Carbed bikes you can leave the gas tank full for short term storage, but you should drain the carbs and dump the fuel bowls, blowing air through the jets etc ( I do this with my airhead).

If you don't have a battery tender, get yourself a good one that cycles on and off and if you are not going to be riding the bike, put the battery on the tender. Most bikes have clocks or computers that draw a small current from the battery even with the key off, and will completely kill a battery within 2 months. Also if your battery is testing 12.6 or less, replace it. Poor batteries cause no end of grief with the charging system.

Water

It’s going to take more than a few minutes to boil off any condensation in the oil. With recip airplanes they recommend at least 30 minutes with oil at 185 degrees. Since airplanes often are just parked the condensation is a real problem. Short trips are hard on cars as well as motorcycles, they never get up to proper running temps.