Oil Leak from HELL! SOLVED (by Srinath and 3imo)

[tussey]

My bike has an oil leak which was spawned from satan himself 

I'm trying to kick its ass.

Background:

1.What began as my first routine oil change went sour. Oil sprayed out the oil filter cover. After several retorques I went out and bought a new rubber gasket. That seemed to help, for a few weeks at least.

2. Upon arriving at work smoke is coming everywhere from my bike. Oil was streaming from the oil filter cover and since I was on the highway it managed to soak my entire underside of the bike and cover the rear wheel with oil (which is why I felt slipping that day on turns  )

3. After driving home safely I went out and bought "Hi-Temp RTV Gasket sealant". I took it easy on my first application and refilled on oil. Gave it 24 hours to cure, started her up and BAM! oil leaking everywhere.

4. Round 2 with RTV. I applied it liberally to oil filter cover and engine block this time. Torqued down the cover and now I'm giving it 24 hours to cure. I put enough RTV that it squeezed out the sides and some dripped off. If this doesn' work I may just lose it. 

Anyone else been through this? Or have a better suggestion if this RTV doesn't work.

[The Buddha]

WTF .... you can lose oil pressure enough to ruin the top end ...
In any case ... somehting is cracked maybe or case has a divot in it ... RTV isn't the answer ... put gascacinch (AKA rubber cement) and just glue that O ring in place ... you'd need a new O ring ... hope that's what you mean by gasket ...
And torqueing it ... you ahve bad threads in it, you'd torque it and it may not even have seated fully ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[3imo]

do not RTV the oil filter cover 

Identify the problem before applying a solution.

if you used the correct O-ring then SOMETHING is wrong. find out what is wrong first.

it should seal properly with the o-ring (every single one of use ride with it, you should too)

how much are you torqueing the nuts? check the bolt threads visually, are they shiny? flat?

[tussey]

do not RTV the oil filter cover 

Identify the problem before applying a solution.

if you used the correct O-ring then SOMETHING is wrong. find out what is wrong first.

it should seal properly with the o-ring (every single one of use ride with it, you should too)

how much are you torqueing the nuts? check the bolt threads visually, are they shiny? flat?

Not torquing the bolts much. Just a bit beyond finger tight. Threads are good. I don't think tigthening more will help. It's on pretty tight. SOMETHING isn't sealing so I dunno know.    The o-ring is brand new so I don't know why it doesn't seal. The engine block (place where the oil filter cover goes) is clean and flush, no visible cracks.

Also 3imo can you explain why RTV on the oil filter cover is bad?

[garciabooboo24]

rtv is silicone base and so is the oil so it will never work dunno

[3imo]

it is not exactly bad.

It is just not supposed to be a permanent seal.  you are to be able to remove the cover replace the filter, wipe the oil off and replace the o-ring(new) tighten the bolts and be done with it within minutes.

it is not meant to be sealed forever. same with the cam cover. it has a rubber seal specifically because it is meant for maintenance.

When it comes to working with engines you have to think about the design of the part you are working on.
How it was designed and for what. When you do a repair job that goes against the original design, you have to be sure you are addressing a problem not a symptom of a problem.

an oil leak is a symptom of a problem. RTV in a place that is not to be permanently sealed is a solution to the symptom of an oil leak.
find out why the oem design is not working and fix that.


~~~~
I don't mean to lecture you. Sorry if I came off snappy or snobbish.  

[3imo]

rtv is silicone base and so is the oil so it will never work dunno

sorry dude.  RTV is designed for sealing engines. its great stuff.

Gasoline will turn it into a gummy mush. so do not use on gastanks and carbs.  but on engine cases its ok.

[coll0412]

Hmmm, maybe some will know the answer to this, does the oil from the pump go through the filter first then into the cavity that the filter sits in, then to the engine

or does it go into the cavity, then have to pass throught the filter, and then into the engine, cuz if it hgoes this way and something is plugged that is bad.

Did your oil pressure light come on at any time?


This just came to my mind, what if the stud had come out a little bit, and when you are tighting you are running out of room in the capped nut and that is what is stoping it from tighting any further(hence the bad seal).

Try taking the cover off, then putting the nuts on the studs and tighting gently to see if the studs had backed out a bit...just a thought

[tussey]

Hmmm, maybe some will know the answer to this, does the oil from the pump go through the filter first then into the cavity that the filter sits in, then to the engine

or does it go into the cavity, then have to pass throught the filter, and then into the engine, cuz if it hgoes this way and something is plugged that is bad.

Did your oil pressure light come on at any time?


This just came to my mind, what if the stud had come out a little bit, and when you are tighting you are running out of room in the capped nut and that is what is stoping it from tighting any further(hence the bad seal).

Try taking the cover off, then putting the nuts on the studs and tighting gently to see if the studs had backed out a bit...just a thought

Oil pressure light never came on.

[ukchickenlover]

When you put in the oil filter gasket did you smear it with oil first as this helps to get a better seal.

[mp183]

You might have pinched the oil seal.
Remove and inspect it.
Put in some grease into the grooves to help hold the seal in place
when you put the cover on.  The grease does not help with the sealing
but will help with keeping the seal in place when you put the cover on.
Unless the cover is cracked or warped the seal should keep the oil
from leaking.  If the seal looks good I would try another one.
Some of the ones that I got with an aftermarket filter were on the thin side.
If it's good one you can reuse it at least once.
The other thing is to make sure you are leaking from the oil fileter cover and
not somewhere else.

[Kasumi]

I don't own a GS but in this i am presuming the cover and the surface it meets are flat, or meant to be.

I would check for warping or twists in the cover and the surface it meets when the cover is on. Take it off and find a flat surface/make sure both are clean. Lay the cover on, it should sit flat to the surface without wobbling, even a slight difference would ruin the deal. Next take some stiff and flat plastic sheet or metal surface and make sure the surface the cover bolts onto is also flat, look for gaps around the hard board your using. Also as said above rub the seal in oil or grease to make it stick better and get a better seal.

I had this problem with the liquid cooling gasket on my bike except the coolant leaked in to the engine. As the gasket got old and flattened it stopped sealing properly and due to some imperfections in the cylinder head coolant leaked in. Not a problem when the gasket was new though.

[tussey]

Ok, I'm pretty sure I have the problem solved. 2 out of the 3 threads are stripped. It's very visible but I didn't notice it before. Even though the nut caps were tight the seal was ruined so I have three threads and nut covers on order from BikeBandit. Should arrive Tuesday. I'll post if it fixes it or not. Thanks guys for the help.

[3imo]

SRINATH called it on the first post!!!

[bbanjo]

SRINATH called it on the first post!!!

Haaaaaa! That's because he knows ALL. how're the flanges coming He should be on the Suzuki Board of....um....Guys Who Make Very Important Choices Involving Technical Stuff!i don't mean to be a pain in the ass i just want this carbon piece of art beneath my ass in the worst way

[tussey]

SRINATH called it on the first post!!!

Yup he did, you helped to 3imo! I realized when you said if the OEM design didn't work SOMETHING was wrong. So I replaced all 3 studs, got 3 new caps, and a new gasket. Cleaned the seal put in the new gasket, put in the new studs, put the oil filter cover back on finger tight and viola no leak. So thanks guys. 

[Kerry]

[...]I replaced all 3 studs, got 3 new caps, and a new gasket. Cleaned the seal put in the new gasket, put in the new studs, put the oil filter cover back on finger tight and viola no leak. [...]

That's good news!  Still, I suggest that you give the nuts maybe 1/10 to 1/8 of a turn past "finger tight".    (This is one item you do NOT want to vibrate off as you're riding down the road.  )

I use a 1/4"- drive socket wrench to help me avoid applying too much torque.

[The Buddha]

viola  

Viola ... Viola ...    OK Viola it is ... makes some decent music even though it sounds a bit girly ...   
Cool.
Srinath.