Oil leak from... Now with updated pic!!!

Mini-update: Bike is in the shop! One of the things I really like about the guy working on it is that he sends pics/updates as he works. I gave him the go ahead to replace all the seals, gaskets, and 0-rings so that, hopefully, this never has to be done again!

I'm also hoping he can find out why the bike veers slightly to the left when I take hands off the bars... :oops:


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Mini-update: Bike is in the shop! One of the things I really like about the guy working on it is that he sends pics/updates as he works. I gave him the go ahead to replace all the seals, gaskets, and 0-rings so that, hopefully, this never has to be done again!

I'm also hoping he can find out why the bike veers slightly to the left when I take hands off the bars... :oops:


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That's a familiar sight 😁 Does he have an estimate for when he will be finished?
 
So! Parts arrived the other day and have been put in place. My mechanic said the oil seal was a pretty big leak and was corroded in place. Said he was surprised there wasn't coolant contamination. Thank the heavens for small favors, I suppose! He's going to get it all back together, take it for a spin, and let it sit overnight to check for any leaks. Naturally, this puts it into Sunday so I'll be picking it up on Monday at the earliest.

Just over two months since I last rode! Haven't gone this long without since I started riding!

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So! Parts arrived the other day and have been put in place. My mechanic said the oil seal was a pretty big leak and was corroded in place. Said he was surprised there wasn't coolant contamination. Thank the heavens for small favors, I suppose! He's going to get it all back together, take it for a spin, and let it sit overnight to check for any leaks. Naturally, this puts it into Sunday so I'll be picking it up on Monday at the earliest.

Just over two months since I last rode! Haven't gone this long without since I started riding!

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Glad he got it done for you! That's a long time without the bike for sure!

Got you a good long ride lined up for Monday?
 
Glad it's back together! Enjoy riding again!

I have about 2500 miles on mine since the repair and no leaks and the oil pressure measures good as well 😁
 
Just got back from an 80+ mile ride with plenty of WOT and... it felt glorious! Payment was quite the chunk at 1k even but... well, I'm just happy to have her back in my garage! We've had barely a drop of rain since the bike has been down, so naturally the next several days are... rainy. :rolleyes: 😆

Pics of the job and video of his ride after repairs are up at https://www.facebook.com/people/Dragon-Worx/100057489818717/

Glad you got it back and got a good ride in!

Given the cost of the parts and the amount of time he put into it I think you got a good deal. In my area I think the charge would be closer to $1500. I certainly spent 10 to 12 hours doing mine. His pictures and video brought back some memories haha.

Your bike looks great!
 
Glad you got it back and got a good ride in!

Given the cost of the parts and the amount of time he put into it I think you got a good deal. In my area I think the charge would be closer to $1500. I certainly spent 10 to 12 hours doing mine. His pictures and video brought back some memories haha.

Your bike looks great!

Thanks! And that's good to know re: pricing! When he started describing what he did and how he did it, I knew I made the right choice!

No doubt! My two most memorable jobs were: 1. Replacing the timing belt and water pump on my turbo Forester, and 2. the valve adjustment on my F4i. Three days into the Forester job, I cried "No mas!" and had to have it towed to a local shop. I got it 90% complete but couldn't get one of the cams (I think) to stay in place when I released the clamp I had on it. I was terrified I was going to blow the engine, my hands were a wreck, and I was spent! A few days later, I was beyond incredulous when my father in law said "Well, why didn't you just clamp it one tooth back so when you released it, it'll be correct?" D'oh! The valve adjustment went relatively smoothly but trying to line up those cam marks "evenly" while the motor is on a slant and the frame was in the way was... fun? 😆

Anyway, happy to be back on the road instead of on the sideline! Summer has now "officially" begun!
 
Thanks! And that's good to know re: pricing! When he started describing what he did and how he did it, I knew I made the right choice!

No doubt! My two most memorable jobs were: 1. Replacing the timing belt and water pump on my turbo Forester, and 2. the valve adjustment on my F4i. Three days into the Forester job, I cried "No mas!" and had to have it towed to a local shop. I got it 90% complete but couldn't get one of the cams (I think) to stay in place when I released the clamp I had on it. I was terrified I was going to blow the engine, my hands were a wreck, and I was spent! A few days later, I was beyond incredulous when my father in law said "Well, why didn't you just clamp it one tooth back so when you released it, it'll be correct?" D'oh! The valve adjustment went relatively smoothly but trying to line up those cam marks "evenly" while the motor is on a slant and the frame was in the way was... fun? 😆

Anyway, happy to be back on the road instead of on the sideline! Summer has now "officially" begun!

Getting valve timing set correctly can definitely be a pain!
 
Thanks for the info fellas! About to dive into this one myself. Did both of you guys decide to do the whole water pump and seals as well as the drain tube o-rings? If not, how’d you decide to just do the drain tube? I’m thinking about just putting it back together with new drain tube o-rings and seeing if that’s the issue but there’s no visible damage to them. Although the drain tube didn’t appear to be seated well into the bottom of the pan. It stuck to the engine when I dropped the pan. Also, @Doc Samson where did you end up taking the bike for the work? I live down in Louisa so not too far and sounds like you’ve got a great deal up there. Last question, the oil level gauge gasket, were you able to find a separate part just for the o-ring? All I’ve been able to find is the assembly with the gasket already on. Thanks for the time!
 
Thanks for the info fellas! About to dive into this one myself. Did both of you guys decide to do the whole water pump and seals as well as the drain tube o-rings? If not, how’d you decide to just do the drain tube? I’m thinking about just putting it back together with new drain tube o-rings and seeing if that’s the issue but there’s no visible damage to them. Although the drain tube didn’t appear to be seated well into the bottom of the pan. It stuck to the engine when I dropped the pan. Also, @Doc Samson where did you end up taking the bike for the work? I live down in Louisa so not too far and sounds like you’ve got a great deal up there. Last question, the oil level gauge gasket, were you able to find a separate part just for the o-ring? All I’ve been able to find is the assembly with the gasket already on. Thanks for the time!

Pretty sure jwarden replaced all o-rings, seals, and gaskets. My mechanic did as well. I had bought the stuff I thought was mostly likely to be the problem but he said given the PIA it is to work in that area, it would be foolish to not get everything taken care of while already there. Especially if something was part of the problem that wasn't visible to the eye.

I took my bike to Dragonworx in Martinsburg, WV. He is on FB and puts up posts documenting his work. He also will text with any questions or updates on what he finds. I did talk with a couple of mechanics a little closer and they seemed knowledgeable but their backlog of work was even longer...
 
Pretty sure jwarden replaced all o-rings, seals, and gaskets. My mechanic did as well. I had bought the stuff I thought was mostly likely to be the problem but he said given the PIA it is to work in that area, it would be foolish to not get everything taken care of while already there. Especially if something was part of the problem that wasn't visible to the eye.

I took my bike to Dragonworx in Martinsburg, WV. He is on FB and puts up posts documenting his work. He also will text with any questions or updates on what he finds. I did talk with a couple of mechanics a little closer and they seemed knowledgeable but their backlog of work was even longer...
I saw your link to their page right AFTER I asked you the question. So sorry about that. It looks like they’re about 2 hours from me so not terribly far. Might be a good backup plan if I can’t get this right.
Everything I’ve done so far with pulling the pan and cleaning the gasket surface (mine was MESSED up and clearly seeping around the edges) hasn’t been hard at all. Seems like pulling the water pump really makes the job the PITA so I’m trying to avoid it if possible but also don’t want to regret it later. I haven’t lost anything but maybe 2 hours as of now with disassembly. I’ve heard you need a press and some other specialty tools to really do the water pump seals. If either of you have any additional info on how hard the pump disassembly actually is, I’d appreciate it.
Also, and this one is just a repeat of the last question from my last post, were you able to find the oil level gasket without the assembly? Or did you order yours as a whole (or just not even touch it at all)?
 
I saw your link to their page right AFTER I asked you the question. So sorry about that. It looks like they’re about 2 hours from me so not terribly far. Might be a good backup plan if I can’t get this right.
Everything I’ve done so far with pulling the pan and cleaning the gasket surface (mine was MESSED up and clearly seeping around the edges) hasn’t been hard at all. Seems like pulling the water pump really makes the job the PITA so I’m trying to avoid it if possible but also don’t want to regret it later. I haven’t lost anything but maybe 2 hours as of now with disassembly. I’ve heard you need a press and some other specialty tools to really do the water pump seals. If either of you have any additional info on how hard the pump disassembly actually is, I’d appreciate it.
Also, and this one is just a repeat of the last question from my last post, were you able to find the oil level gasket without the assembly? Or did you order yours as a whole (or just not even touch it at all)?

If you have oil leaking out of the drain tube it is the oil seal in the oil/water pump assembly and not the drain tube o-rings.

Are you asking about the oil level sensor o-ring? Yes, I bought all new o-rings and gaskets.
 
Another option to save you having to remove seals and/or bearings in the pump is just to buy a new pump assembly. I think they're about $250 at partzilla and all that is required is to swap the assembly. Still a bunch of o-rings and the pan gasket to buy of course but no work required fixing the assembly itself.
 
I’ve heard you need a press and some other specialty tools to really do the water pump seals. If either of you have any additional info on how hard the pump disassembly actually is, I’d appreciate it.
Also, and this one is just a repeat of the last question from my last post, were you able to find the oil level gasket without the assembly? Or did you order yours as a whole (or just not even touch it at all)?

My guy said it was not fun. I like doing as much as I can on my own, but I'm glad I didn't try this job. I think there would have been more than a couple of curse words and probably some throwing of tools... 😆

That gasket (0-ring?) was one I did not worry about. I knew it wasn't leaking from there and, if/when it does leak, I could take care of it myself. You can check Partzilla or Ron Ayers for schematics and should be able to order just the gasket from either of them.

Check out the attached service manual as well for part #'s...
 

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