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New fork seals leaking

  • Thread starter Thread starter akreider
  • Start date Start date
A

akreider

Guest
I just installed new forks seals and when I took it for a ride evey time that the forks compress a little fluid would leak out. When I replaced them I pryed out the old seals without disassembling the entire forks. Then I slid the new ones down and used the old seals to set them and then reinstalled the metal clip. Is there something that I missed?

I am positive that I did not overfill them with oil but by the slight that it happened would that cause this?

Adam
 
you did not dissasemble, drain, and clean out the forks?
did you inspect for pits, gouges, or scratches?

the oil level is critical!
 
Yes I did drain out the forks and change the oil but I could not fully disassemble them because I did not have the specialty tool. There were no pits or scratches that I could see.

Adam
 
I just rebuilt my '80 GS850GLT forks and found you can make the "specialty tool" from a 3" or 4" bolt with right size head and two nuts jammed together on the other end. Put it in a socket and use long extensions with the leg in a vise. I'd have to check the one I put together to see what size nuts and bolt I used.
 
I have not replaced my seals yet, winter project), but did you double check to make sure that the seals are seated evenly? Even a little gap could let some oil through.
 
Pitting, nicks and scratches on the fork surfaces will chop out new seals fairly quickly.

The other major cause of new seals leaking is if you have worn bushes inside the forks. (In each fork, there is a bush at the bottom end of the fork tube, and another inside the top of the stanchion.) If these bushes are worn out, then there is too much freeplay between the tube and the stanchion, and it stretches the seal open to the point that it leaks.
 
tfb said:
Pitting, nicks and scratches on the fork surfaces will chop out new seals fairly quickly.

The other major cause of new seals leaking is if you have worn bushes inside the forks. (In each fork, there is a bush at the bottom end of the fork tube, and another inside the top of the stanchion.) If these bushes are worn out, then there is too much freeplay between the tube and the stanchion, and it stretches the seal open to the point that it leaks.
Click to expand...


Now that's something that never occurred to me. Good info to be aware of. I've had new seals leak before and I never checked those bushings but I'll bet that was it. Thanks !! :)
 
It's VERY common for old pitted fork tubes to immediately destroy new, soft fork seals. I work for a dealer, and when we are asked to change fork seals, we VERY closely inspect the tubes for pitting, and or a bent tube. If we observe pitts, we immediately inform the customer, explain exactly what I just explained here, and let the customer deceide if they still want the seals replaced.

I always smear a thin coat of oil on my fork tubes like once a month. Once you get rust pitting, the tubes are junk.
 
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