Oil leakages...

[jyrki]

Hi, I have noticed that motor is consuming quite a lot oil, about 0,5 liter per 1000 km. I noticed that rear swing arm has been quite dirty, I thought I has been due chain oil, but now I noticed that left side of the engine is wet/dirty. I made some blue circles in pictures for potential leaking points. Can main axle (drive shaft, where sprocket in installed) leak oil? Can clutch pin leak oil? Should I remove the engine and check those places and other places for potential leakage points? BR Jyrki

[Motofun]

Just a couple of ideas...The o-ring from the oil filter is still stuck on the flange.  Don't forget to remove it before reassembly.  A doubled up o-ring will leak for sure.

Clean everything before doing too much.  It looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a few decades.  Once cleaned run it for a day and then look for problems.  Right now there is too much dirt to see very effectively.

You have an oil drip on the drain plug.  This should never leak.  New metal gasket is in order with proper torque (safety wire is not a bad idea either).

Good luck

[balky1]

You have circled many/most of the possible leak places. All places you mentioned can leak, there are oil seals or O-rings at all those places. If there are no oil drips under the bike when you park it hot, oil leak is not your problem. Yes, the swing arm is oily, but, does it look like that after a 100 or 10 000 km? I think your engine consumes it, but at 0,5 L per 1000 km I still wouldn't disassemble it.
If you are very eager to fix the leaks on the engine, follow the advice from this forum. Clean everything nicely and powder the engine with baby-powder. Ride the bike until the oil warms enough and then ride a bit more. Look if the oil made a mark on the powder. You can also ride when you clean it then use the powder to detect oil leak.

[red]

jyrki,

You can also use any aerosol spray body powder (not deodorants!), to find oil leaks after a good cleaning.  It is much easier to apply the spray powder into small places.  The powder makes it easy to find oil leaks, before the oil migrates everywhere.

I clean the oil drain plug, and apply RTV to the threads to get a good seal there.  Use a new crush washer there, either aluminum or copper.  VW uses 14mm drain plugs on some models, so any good auto parts store will probably have a dozen such crush washers in a pack for you, cheap.  Take the old crush washer with you, for comparison. 

You can also get magnetic oil drain plugs,  and they may even be pre-drilled for safety wire; that is two good ideas in one piece.

Safety wire, a good crush washer,  and RTV means that you can use reasonable (not excessive) torque to keep the oil drain plug in place, without the risk of stripping the threads in the hole, losing the drain plug, or having oil leaks.

RPM here sells an oil filter adapter so you can use a car-type spin-on oil filter, instead of the messy stock oil filter.  Once the spin-on oil filter is installed, you can add a large screw-type hose clamp around the new spin-on oil filter, and secure the oil filter with safety wire through the hose clamp screw fitting, also.

[ribbert]

....drain plugs pre-drilled for safety wire...... risk of stripping the threads in the hole......add a large screw-type hose clamp around the new spin-on oil filter, and secure the oil filter with safety wire through the hose clamp screw fitting....

Red, what precipitated your mistrust of threads?

Noel

[red]

....drain plugs pre-drilled for safety wire...... risk of stripping the threads in the hole......add a large screw-type hose clamp around the new spin-on oil filter, and secure the oil filter with safety wire through the hose clamp screw fitting....

Red, what precipitated your mistrust of threads?
Noel

Noel,

After riding for these last fifty-odd years, the short answer would be the endless tales of stripped oil drain holes, drain plugs falling out, oil filters coming lose, and a lot of aircraft experience with harmonic vibration (AKA gremlins).  These bikes are reliable, but a hammer-mechanic can rip the threads out of anything, with a big enough wrench.  I do trust threads extensively, but not as a substitute for a few inches of safety wire.  Excessive torque is not the answer, because the threads can fracture one time, and then come out with the plug, the next time.  Even the very existence of oversized drain plugs is proof that extreme torque is bad choice over safety wire.

Sometimes people will look at my safety-wired oil plugs, or oil filter, and ask if I am worried that they will come out.  I always just smile and say No.  I'm an easy-going kinda guy; I can let everybody else worry about that nonsense.  .032" stainless steel safety wire is really tough stuff.  Amazon sells peace of mind for about US$15 per pound (~650' or ~200m).    

[Motofun]

Another, short answer, is...Why does every racing organization require (as a minimum) the oil drain plug and oil filter to be safety wired?  The consequences of losing oil at either of these spots is almost always catastrophic.  You will in all probability crash.  Chances of this happening are quite small but then safety wiring is easy....

[T Legg]

did you check the oil filter housing drain plug?

[Tuned forks]

Gosh, I wonder why Travis would suggest that?  Hmmmmmmm

Joe