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Doh! Not another one!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roostabunny
  • Start date Start date
R

Roostabunny

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Hey all -

OK, some of you know I declared war on my oil leaks when my valve cover gasket let go a couple of weeks ago. Since then I've replaced those gaskets, fixed the tach sender, and just today rebuilt the cam chain tensioner (thanks again, Bwringer). Great results. Cleaned everything up and it's looking good, and I'll be able to see future leaks clearly.

Oh, and speaking of which, the topic of my post...

Now I'm getting a drop at the bottom of the ignition cover. I took a look in there - not too bad, just a slight pooling of nice clean oil draining out the drain hole at the bottom of the case. So what gives? I'm biting my lip that it's a crankshaft seal, and that I need to split the cases or something similarly complicated to fix it. Any thoughts? 8-[

BTW, the pic's from right after I cleaned the engine, I'm just showing where the drop would be if it were there. Right at the seam under the bottom ignition cover screw.
 
Pull the cover and have a look inside. Oil on the ignition pick up coils (or points as the case may be) is not good.
 
Nessism said:
Pull the cover and have a look inside. Oil on the ignition pick up coils (or points as the case may be) is not good.
Click to expand...
What am I looking for? Just checking to make sure those parts aren't getting fouled or gummed up? I did look inside, and it seems like it's not on the electrical parts.
 
Picture

Picture

Nessism said:
Pull the cover and have a look inside. Oil on the ignition pick up coils (or points as the case may be) is not good.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the quality here - might be hard to see that the electrical parts are pretty much dry as a bone. But you can see the oil. Seems to be coming from behind the electrical parts.
 
Swab out the oil and watch to see if more accumulates. Could be the oil got into the cover from the other leak you just fixed. Never hurts to hope. :)
 
It it were mine, I'd pull the ignition side cover and run the bike with it off, looking for the source of oil. If you wanted to get just a little fancy, you could add a little engine-oil-dye
to the crankcase and, with the help of a UV LAMP ("black light") it'll show right up. The UV reactive dye is used by many pro mechanics and they might sell you a small amount or Google similar sources. Often, just cleaning surfaces with some brake cleaner and blowing dry prior to running will show up the leak by eye without anything further.

P.S. Most of the snake-oil treatments supposed to "fix seals".......don't.
 
Nessism said:
Swab out the oil and watch to see if more accumulates. Could be the oil got into the cover from the other leak you just fixed. Never hurts to hope. :)
Click to expand...
Oh - hope springs eternal :) and I had the same thought, so I did that before I posted. Something's leakin'.
 
SPARKSS said:
It it were mine, I'd pull the ignition side cover and run the bike with it off, looking for the source of oil. If you wanted to get just a little fancy, you could add a little engine-oil-dye
to the crankcase and, with the help of a UV LAMP ("black light") it'll show right up. The UV reactive dye is used by many pro mechanics and they might sell you a small amount or Google similar sources. Often, just cleaning surfaces with some brake cleaner and blowing dry prior to running will show up the leak by eye without anything further.

P.S. Most of the snake-oil treatments supposed to "fix seals".......don't.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've had my bad experiences (and a terrific past mechanic who threatened to kill me a couple of times when I tried some of them on my car) with snake oils and such.

I'll have to swab it out in there and run it again, but my money's on the crankshaft seal. Are there any other oil seals in that compartment?
 
850G.gif


It appears that if it is the crankshaft seal it can be replaced without splitting the cases. See #22
 
IF you take the cover off you can remove the retarder and back plake very easily with the electronic ignition type GS's. One 14mm bolt and three philips screws gets you straignt to the crank seal.

Then you can really get a good look.

Never changed one on the bike only when the crank's out. You may be able to tell when the ignition/back plate are out.

Suzuki mad.
 
chef1366 said:
850G.gif


It appears that if it is the crankshaft seal it can be replaced without splitting the cases. See #22
Click to expand...
Sorry to ask a pair of dumb questions - but, 1.) I guess this is the view from the front? 2.) What makes you say this picture makes it look like the seal can be replaced without splitting the cases? Is it because the shape looks like it might press in place?

Also, here's a better pic till I have a chance to pull the ignition.
 
I could tell by looking at the seal. Take off the ignition and have a looksy. You'll see. You can remove the old seal by screwing a long screw into the EDGES of the old seal. Be careful because if you go in near the center you can bugger the bearing.
 
chef1366 said:
I could tell by looking at the seal. Take off the ignition and have a looksy. You'll see. You can remove the old seal by screwing a long screw into the EDGES of the old seal. Be careful because if you go in near the center you can bugger the bearing.
Click to expand...
You're making my day by telling me I can get the old one out without splitting the cases, Chef!

I'm going to pull the ignition parts off so I can clean out any oil and get a good look, then put it back together so I can idle the bike with that cover removed and confirm the flow's coming from there.

Any tips on getting the new one in?

What's going on, anyway? :-s After replacing valve cover gaskets, tach sender seals, and cam chain tensioner seals, I thought I'd be leak-free for a week or so. Oh well. My sense of humor is intact and I'm having a blast learning this machine. Besides, chances are the crankshaft seal's been dribbling all along and I just didn't notice it till I took care of those others. :)

** Edit - I'm going to order OIL SEAL, RH (PN 09283-30021) Sound like the right part? Just paranoid.
 
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I did it about 15 years ago on a gs550. Screwdriver (carefully) will get the old seals out. Find an old socket or something that is about the same size as the new seals, and use that to try and knock them in, making sure you try and get them in square.
Patience and a swearbox, you'll be fine.
 
Headphase said:
I did it about 15 years ago on a gs550. Screwdriver (carefully) will get the old seals out. Find an old socket or something that is about the same size as the new seals, and use that to try and knock them in, making sure you try and get them in square.
Patience and a swearbox, you'll be fine.
Click to expand...
Sounds good, thanks Headphase. Do you have a part number for that swearbox? :-D

Seriously though, is it what I think? A stand-in frustration receptacle that helps protect the bike from... me?
 
Make sure your crankcase vent is working properly (on top the valve cover). If it's pluged, the crankcase will pressurize which blows out seals.
 
Nessism said:
Make sure your crankcase vent is working properly (on top the valve cover). If it's pluged, the crankcase will pressurize which blows out seals.
Click to expand...
Is it also referred to as the "breather"? I know it's clean inside (just changed the gasket last week) - will I be able to feel the pressure at the airbox end of the breather tube while the bike's running if it's working right?
 
Nessism said:
Make sure your crankcase vent is working properly (on top the valve cover). If it's pluged, the crankcase will pressurize which blows out seals.
Click to expand...
Beat me to it.
Make sure the hose going from the breather to the airbox is free from caked oil and flows air freely.
 
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