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Moderate Oil Leak

8227 Views 23 Replies 6 Participants Last post by lizrdbrth, Sep 13, 2011

Nero

Discussion Starter · Sep 7, 2011

I bought this bike a little over a month ago and have been riding it regularly since. I noticed that it had a small oil leak when I got it but the guy I bought it from said that it was less severe than it actually looks. I don't know anything about motorcycles as I chose this one as my first motorcycle. I come here for help because I think maybe someone here can identify this. Maybe someone has had the same issue before. It's a 2005 model and as far as I can tell is totally stock. My brother went to school for engines and he told me from looking at it, that he thinks the leak is coming from where the front sprocket goes into the engine? If that is so then why is the head and everything below it soaked with oil. The plug, chain, and chain-guard is soaked with oil, as well as the plate that is on the bottom of the engine is holding oil and drips. It is slinging oil back onto the tire a little and I am afraid it's going to cause me an accident. Please take a look at these pictures and tell me if you think that it is going to be worth getting it fixed. I have an appointment scheduled to get it looked at by World of Yamaha but it's not until the 20th. If it's not going to be worth it to fix it (money) then I'm not going to get it fixed. I only paid $700 for it and the guy I bought it from doesn't know anything about bikes either, so I think I got a good deal. It runs good and I haven't had any problems out of it except for this and the gear will sometimes slip from 5th down if I'm really giving it hell.

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lizrdbrth

· #2 · Sep 7, 2011

I'd say it originated at the valve cover gaskets from the wind pattern. No way to tell with the motor that dirty. Clean it up with a pressure washer, get it spotlees then run it in place checking for the actual source.

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lizrdbrth

· #8 · Sep 7, 2011

Dood, your bike gots issues

.

Mostly curable, but you'll need to identify some things..

If you have oil in your airbox it shouldn't be there. That little piece of tubing with the flattened end is the drain. Put something under it, pull the tube and drain it. If it smells like gas you have a stuck float. If it doesn't, some dink over-oiled the air filter, layed the bike down for a prolonged period, or it has so much blowby that it's filling the airbox. If it's anything other than an overoiled filter you need to stop dead in your tracks and get some advice.

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lizrdbrth

· #10 · Sep 7, 2011

You don't need to remove the seat. Oil shouldn't be there and none of the potential causes are under the seat.

Drain the airbox, scrub that motor clean and get some proper tools and we can talk you through each of the issues if you're willing to try. Otherwise wait for that appointment at the dealer and don't start the bike.

Can you see the oil level in the window or is the entire thing dark?

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lizrdbrth

· #12 · Sep 7, 2011

Your crank case is most likely overfilled with gas and oil mixture due to a stuck float. The engine leaks are likely a seperate issue, but not being helped any by the overfilling.

Drain the airbox first. Do NOT try to run the bike. Since your crank case is already full of stuff that shouldn't be there we're gunna leave it that way for now.

Make sure there's a full tank. Pull the gas line loose at the carb with the petcock in the "off" position. Is there gas running out of the end of the hose?

Next, drain the airbox. Put the petcock in the "on" position and leave the bike overnight. Check the airbox for oil the next day and report back.

If there's gas or oil in the airbox overnight you have a stuck float or crud in the float bowl. Relatively easy fix and once corrected you can drain the crankcase, refill with oil and hopefully save the motor.

One step at a time.

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lizrdbrth

· #14 · Sep 8, 2011

You don't need to check the airbox by opening it up. There's a drain. You can see it in your pic of the screw, the one with your little red "square" outlining the leak. Just to the right of the square you'll see a short piece of vinyl tubing, flattened on the south end. Pull it off. Yours is brown cuz it's full of oil. It's supposed to be clear.

Whether it runs fine or not, the crank case is full of gas and oil. If you continue to run the bike with it in the crank case your motor will be permanently and irreversably turned into a paperweight. If you simply drain the crankcase and refill it with oil and continue riding the bike without fixing the carb you'll only delay the exposion by one day. Trust me.

I'm trying to keep this simple. If you doubt my diagnosis, drain the oil and watch the window clear up. A TW barely holds a quart of oil and I guaranty you'll get at least 3 quarts drained from yours. If you do as I recomend you'l know overnight whether it's a sticky float or just a case of the PO overfilling the bike with oil.

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lizrdbrth

· #16 · Sep 8, 2011

Drain it, put the drain back on and walk away. Pull the drain off tomorrow and if anything runs out of it we'll go from there.

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lizrdbrth

· #18 · Sep 8, 2011

Ok. Now read the carb thread and if you feel confident enough to remove and clean the carb and set the float you'll be back in buisiness.

Drain the oil. Lean the bike over from side-to-side several times to get as much oil/gas out of the crank case as possible. You may want to let it rest on the kickstand with the drain plug removed overnight and allow the gas to evaporate. Remove the vent line from the airbox to aid in evaporation, drain the airbox again and clean and re-oil the air cleaner.

Refill the crank case with cheap oil. Once your carb is fixed, run the bike for 15 or 20 minutes, drain the oil again, clean both filters and refill. I'd recomend repeating the process at least one more time.

Then you can tackle the oil leaks, which may diminish greatly once the overfilling has stopped.

Do yourself a favor and scrub that bike squeaky clean before you start, paricularly the engine and carb.

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lizrdbrth

· #19 · Sep 8, 2011

pgilles said:
That's your crankcase breather hose and it vents into the airbox. Possibly a dirty air filter would draw more vacuum out of that hose and suck in more oil. Possibly you have excessive blow-by causing it to vent more than usual. Take off the tube, clean it up, clean up the intake box and see how long it takes to come back.

On my second look, is the end of the hose even hooked up to anything or just a screen over it???

Classic overfilling. The piston on the downstroke pumps the excess right out the vent and into the airbox. He was lucky. Doesn't sound like it hydraulic'd.

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lizrdbrth

· #21 · Sep 8, 2011

When they're like that I use a scrub brush and what I call "Tide Soup". Good old Tide laundry soap mixed to a milky, soupy consistency. I brush it on and scrub it into all the nooks and crannies with an assortment of toothbrushes, scrub brushes and backbrushes I keep for the purpose.

Rinse it off, rescrub it with a realy foamy, concentrated mix of dish detergent and water dish and it's usually like new.

Gunk and a pressure washer usually requires multiple applications, It's easier to use, but tends to lift paint from cylinders. The secret to using it cheaply is to brush all the nooks and crannies with it as well. The problem is that it dries too quickly and you gotta work fast.

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lizrdbrth

· #24 · Sep 13, 2011

My applications for sainthood are held up in commitee. Put in a word for me, will ya?

Never hurts to put the info out there. The first time this happened to me was almost 40 years ago. I was firmly convinced that dinosaur cells were regenerating and reproducing overnight in my crank case. Some old geezer put me wise, or I'd still be scratching my head. I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

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