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OIL LEAK - GS850L

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

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I have an oil leak that I can't seem to determine where it's coming from.
Brought the bike in last year to the dealer and mentioned the oil leak to them.

Was brought in for valve adjustment and carb sync. They couldn't see any oil leak. After about and hour ride you can see the oil around the fins in the front and running down the center of the motor. It looks like it's coming from one of the larger air holes near the left hand inside cylinder. Drips off the exhaust fins.

It's not a bad leak, in other words it dosen't pool under the bike, maybe a very small drip if I don't wipe the small amount of visible oil off the front of the motor.

I got the shop to retighten the valve cover and retorque the head. There is no sign of oil leakage around the head gasket or valve cover gasket. Oil breather tube is okay and no leakage anywhere else.

The bike has 26,000 kms and the engine has never been touched other than valve adjustment and carbs syncronized.

Could this be a small crack in the head between two cylinders? I hope not but I'd like to get an opinion on this.

If any of you owners out there have had a similar problem let me know.

I hate a dirty engine.

:?: :cry:
 
mine was leaking from the tach cable i would ck there if you had a cracked head it would probobly be loosing compression in one or mor cylenders,the tach cable will leak when you are driving down the road and not when you are sitting down idleing
 
Thanks, I checked for that - even put a new O ring in there just to be sure.

I'll check the compression to see if all are about the same. BTW - what should the compression be and how much varience on each cylinder is acceptable?

The leak must be in the front because I'll get a little seepage in the back too, right on the fins near the left inside carb. Oil being forced to the back by the air while driving.

If it's not a cracked head, then could the head gasket be leaking somewhere in the center and not showing on the outside edges?

I'm stumped, other than to pull the head off to see what's happening. Don't want to go there though. Not yet, love to get the summer out riding not in the shop.

:(
 
Did you get both the o-ring and the seal for the tach cable? That still seems like the most likely candidate for this leak. They all do this eventually, and if you don't replace both the o-ring and the seal it will continue to leak.

Is the leak above the head gasket? Seems that way from your description, but it's hard to tell without seeing it myself.

If the valve cover bolts are over-torqued, the valve cover will leak from the center front section -- this is a bit of a problem area.
 
bwringer said:
Is the leak above the head gasket? Seems that way from your description, but it's hard to tell without seeing it myself.

If the valve cover bolts are over-torqued, the valve cover will leak from the center front section -- this is a bit of a problem area.
Click to expand...

Both The O-ring and seal were replaced on the tach cable - no oil anywhere near that section of the engine.

Yes, the leak is above the head gasket and below the valve cover gasket in the center - actually between the middle cylinders.

I think you might be right that the leak is in the "center front section" of the valve cover. This would explain the oil in the back by the carbs as well.

I'm going take the tank off and check if I can see around the center section of the valve cover gasket. This just might be the case.

Now, if I find the leak is in this section, what's the remedy? Replace gasket and properly torque down bolts? Or lossen all bolts and then retorque?

:?: :)
 
I have the same bike (1982 GS850L) and the same leak. I just run with it since it doesn't drip, but I would still like to know what it is.
 
It may be the head gasket leaking a bit, wind can move oil up, and make it look like it's coming from somewhere it isn't.
 
If you remove the valve cover, you'll find the 2 front and center nuts that hold the head on, these have an O-ring on them, this is most likely the source of your leak, you can remove them and replace the o-rings without removing the head, retorque to 25.5-29 ft.-lbs.
 
I have the same symptoms. I beleive my problem to be my fork seals blowing oil onto the engine block. I do know that they are leaking.
 
daveo said:
If you remove the valve cover, you'll find the 2 front and center nuts that hold the head on, these have an O-ring on them, this is most likely the source of your leak, you can remove them and replace the o-rings without removing the head, retorque to 25.5-29 ft.-lbs.
Click to expand...

I believe these 2 front and center nuts just have a copper washer not an 'O ring"

There dosen't seem to be any oil leakage around these nuts but is there oil that comes up through these rods that hold the head on?

framemaker - yeah, the leak is not bad and there's no drip, but after a while a lot of dust and dirt accumulates on the oil and it looks like hell.

From the replies in this forum, this oil leak dosen't seem to serious and I'll wait for the end of summer and try and replace the head gasket, the "O rings on the head bolts and valve cover gasket. hopefully that will cure the leak.

Thanks guys, good info.
:)
 
The nuts I'm talking about, are labeled 'B', the o-rings are '#2'

site1171.jpg
 
I agree. I like a clean engine too. I will probably wait until the end of the riding season before I dig in to it. This must be a common leak among these bikes. Air cooled, runs hot, gaskets and O-rings become brittle.

Ken

P.S. Where did you guys get the dancing bannana icons? Thats kinda amusing.
 
Daveo - Now that reply I can understand - a picture is worth a thousand words.

Now I can understand why the oil leak is so hard to dertermine where it is. I suspect new "O rings" should clear up the problem and it's nice knowing that the head doesn't need to be removed.

Framemaker - I'll be like you - wait until the end of season - not to big of a job to do - grab a 6 pack and away we go eh.

Thanks all !
 
I would consider leaking from the cam chain tensioner blowing forward.
 
knelson said:
I would consider leaking from the cam chain tensioner blowing forward.
Click to expand...

I would have to disagree what that as the chain tensioner is lower in the back and the oil will flow back towards the rear of the engine at highway speeds.

I do have a bit of oil below the carbs on the fins in the back but it's above the tensioner and I feel that it's oil being pushed back from the front while riding.
8)
 
What the heck is THAT a picture of?

Those special nuts with the o-rings don't look like anything I've ever seen on the three GS850 engines/cylinder heads I've dissected. (An '80, '81, and '83).

Some of the cylinder head studs use copper washers as oil seals, since oil is pumped up along the stud passage and onto the cams. Some just use ordinary washers, since they're just there to hold the cylinder head on. The outside nuts use nice looking chrome acorn nuts as shown, and the inner ones that are hidden use regular nuts.

But that special nut with the o-ring just ain't there in reality or on any microfiche that I've ever seen.

Enlightenment and/or corrections, please.
 
bwringer said:
What the heck is THAT a picture of?

Those special nuts with the o-rings don't look like anything I've ever seen on the three GS850 engines/cylinder heads I've dissected. (An '80, '81, and '83).

But that special nut with the o-ring just ain't there in reality or on any microfiche that I've ever seen.

Enlightenment and/or corrections, please.
Click to expand...

My bad...the pic is only good for a 16 valve 1100 or 750, the 850 ain't got 'em!
 
Man, I thought I was going crazy for a minute there! I was all set to go home tonight and stare at my GS850 cylinder head for a while.

The point about the copper washers is a good one, though -- if one of those doesn't seal, you could have a hard-to-track leak in that area. If the nuts are properly torqued, I can't imagine how the copper washers could leak -- the copper isn't going to get old and brittle over the years like a rubber o-ring (is it?).

I suspect we're not going to find out until he tears into it this fall, though. It's time to riiiiiiiide!
 
And I will disagree with the disagreement. My cam chain tensioner was missing a bolt (head broke off) and it was leaking oil. The oil made its way to the front fo the head, 2 or 3 fins up from the cylinder-to-crankcase gasket, right in the middle. The oil looked for sure like it was coming from the front of the engine but even at highway (and more) speed it was seeping forward through the passage in the center of the cylinders from back to front.

Also the bike ran horribly, rough idle, racing etc. until this was fixed, probably just enough slack in the cam chain to allow for valve timing fluctuation but not enough to skip a tooth. I think the least amount of slack in a dual cam setup is enough to throw things off kilter...
 
I'm glad we got that straight about the pic as I was a tad perplexed as well.

Now don't get me wrong but I really can't see oil travelling up the back of the engine from the cam chain tensioner and rolling toward the front at a much higher level. It just dosen't seem natural.

I realize the cylinders are not perfectly perpendicular and are slanted forward at a slight angle but to say oil will flow up and backwards, just say it aint so.

I'm checking the cam tensioner for loose bolts tomorrow morning.

Anything's possible I guess and I won't rule out any weird happenings from you all. I've been riding bikes for almost 40 years and thought I've seen it all, but then along comes something like this.
 
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