| Author | Message | ||
     Labully |
Hey Guys, I got a '97 S1 6 months ago and about a month ago I did the 10k servicing on it and also got the carb cleaned. Now, since the servicing and carb clean, whenever I get off the freeway after a 15mile trip traveling between 70 - 80 mph I'll find myself and the bike completely covered in oil. It seems to be blowing the oil out of the breather bolts and I've been told that a "horseshoe" breather bolt kit might fix a possible vacuum issue that may be causing this but I wanted to see if any of you had any insight into this issue. Aside from this the bike has no issues and it only happens after a sustained ride at those speeds. | ||
| Blks1l |
What do you have for a crankcase breather on the bike, what is attached to the breather bolts? Just a little oil can make a lot of mess, might need to install a catch can. | ||
| Hootowl |
It's very common for dealerships to overfill the bike with oil. Not over the marks, mind you, but still overfilled. Ride the bike until it is nice and hot. Stop, shut down the engine, get off, and immediately check the oil with the bike upright. The oil level should be no higher than half way between the low and high marks. Any higher than this, and it'll puke oil out of the breathers. I've yet to hear an adequate explanation of why this happens. | ||
| Hootowl |
If by "horseshoe" breather, they mean the one that connects both breathers together with a tube over the carb, stay away from them. The oil that escapes past the umbrella valves in the heads has nowhere to go but down and out the breather bolts. If you make that oil run uphill to a vent...it won't. It'll just make a plug in the line until such time that enough crankcase pressure builds up to blow the plug out. Not a good solution. Ideally, there's vacuum on those breather lines, which helps with ring sealing. In reality, there's nothing you can do to prevent the blow by and having oil mist coming out of the breathers. Best bet is a downhill path from the bolts to a catch can. The "oil all over the bike' situation is not normal breather misting. You're probably over filled. | ||
| Labully |
@Blks1l The heads actually breath right through the bolts themselves. I put in these aftermarket breather bolts and eliminated the tube that the previous owner had snaked around to the left side of the bike. @Hootowl I originally thought that was the problem, and it was in fact overfilled so after a 5 mile 10 min ride I drained it so the oil was just barely above the minimum mark but It's still doing this. It's spitting out a couple ounces each time. This last time it did it there was oil all over the frame, battery, tail/side fairing, exhaust heads, rear tire (which started kicking it up onto my backpack, and then came back in the morning to find a good sized puddle on the ground. | ||
| Akbuell |
Um, might want to sit the bike upright and pull the clutch inspection cover. If oil runs out, the crank seal has most likely started to leak. Engine oil overfills the primary, primary blows the excess out, and oil gets onto all of the items you mentioned. | ||
| Bluesboy |
Rocker box gasket failure will cause oily mess | ||
| Alfau |
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| Labully |
Hmm I'll open the clutch inspection cover tomorrow and see if oil spills out, then I'll update you guys. It really is quite impossible to tell exactly where the oils coming from. Pics: http://imgur.com/Y2ocfqy | ||
| Hootowl |
It does look an awful lot like it's puking oil from the tranny vent. | ||
| S1owner |
Yep tranny vent Check the end it runs up under the battery tray and up to the back. i bet you see slot more oil up there. Also once fixed really degrease your tire!!! | ||
| Charger22 |
Just had mine done. Seems like the right diagnosis. | ||
| Reepicheep |
There is a link to a 3d model for the install tool kicking around here somewhere. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
And sometimes the only way to figure out where a leak is coming from once the engine is already a mess, is to spend a while cleaning everything as well as you can, then wait for it to leak again, which in your case would mean getting back on the highway and pulling over every couple minutes so you catch it as soon as it starts, and see where it's getting messy before the whole engine gets covered. | ||
| Harleyelf |
Your transmission case should not be pressurized, oil flowing out of the vent hose indicates the crankshaft oil seal has failed. If you ignore it, the next step is oil pumping out of the clutch cable onto your handlebars and left arm. Great picture, Al! '97 used the old single-flange seal that looks like metal from the outside. Getting it out is facilitated by drilling some holes in it (grease the bit to catch the chips) and using self-tapping screws to give yourself something to pull on. Do not seat the new seal too deep or it will immediately fail again. |
