2000 GS500 Oil Leak... HELP!!!

[AUSgs500]

Ok, I just got myself a 2000 model GS500 with around 40,000 on the clock for $2000 Australian.
Here's my problem, the bike has an oil leak from the left side of the engine its pretty messy at the moment but as far as i can see the bulk of the oil is around the gear lever area (i will get pics up soon). The leak is big enough that there is oil on the bottom part of the frame, the stand, gear lever and it's starting to fling back towards the rear tyre.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as all my funds have gone to the bike, gear, licence etc.
I am fairly familiar with bike engines but this is my first road bike, due to the lack of funds a link or some diagrams of the engine would be sweet.

Cheers
Jon

[Shepa]

Check the inside of the front sprocket cover for the chain lubricant+dirt accumulating.
I had the same problem when I bought my GS, so I presume it's the same thing.
No leak, just lack of maintenance by previous owner.

[the mole]

Could be a seal on the countershaft (behind the sprocket) or on the gear selector shaft. you need to give the area a good clean with kero or degreaser or WD40, then check where its actually coming from. How many ks on the bike? Where are you?

[mister]

That area and I assume... accumulated lube dripping down, being mistaken for engine oil leak. It's the exact same location as you describe.

Need to start with a clean slate to see where it is actually coming from.

Have you changed the oil and filter yourself? Changed the parkplugs? By doing both with your New To You bike, you then know for sure it has been done and what oil has been put in it. Or'd you buy it from a dealer?

Where abouts in Aust are you? Syd, Melb, Bris, The Gong, The Goldie, elsewhere?

Michael

[AUSgs500]

It has 40,000 klms on it, im in canberra.
Are the countershaft and/or gear shaft seals easy to replace??
Does anyone have any pictures or diagrams to show me what to start pulling off?
Thanks for the quick replies guys, much appreciated

[the mole]

I grew up in Canberra (Curtin) and am now in Byron Bay. Getting a bit chilly down there yet?
Don't start pulling it apart until you figure out where the leak is. You should take off the cover over the sprocket and give that whole area a good clean, leave it overnight and see if there's a leak. If not, put the cover back on and run it a few ks, have another look. When you work out where its leaking from, get back to us. Neither of those seals are a 5 minute job, but if you're competent with mechanical stuff you'll be OK. Don't panic yet, wait till you diagnose the problem.

[AUSgs500]

haha yeah its gettin cold, especialy at 6.30 in the morning doing 110 klicks on the way to work!!
Sounds like im workin on the bike after work tomorrow lol,
btw the oil leak is about 150-250 mls after riding to work and the same after riding home.
Also can anyone tell me the amount of oil ill need to do a full oil change?
Thanks again for the advice guys, this forum sums up why i use them, its 9pm here and im getting instant advice

[lucifer_mr2]

I'm in Canberra too.

Was going to suggest the front sprocket as well, but if you're losing oil from the engine and have to top it up there might be something more to it.

My bike (07) gets an oil leak big enough to drip down on the frame and I also have a nice black patch on my boot from where my gear selector touches. When I first saw it I thought I was going to have a big repair bill for my gearbox, but it was just oil and debris in the case.

That reminds me, it's starting to get a bit annoying now, I'll probably have to do something about it soon.

[the mole]

Lucifer, the engine and gearbox use the same oil. If its leaking around the sprocket area, that's still engine oil.

AusGS, if you're losing that much engine oil each day, that's a significant leak. You shouldn't need to run it much once you've cleaned it to see where its coming from. Full oil change is about 2 1/2 litres, maybe leave it till you've tracked down the leak as you might have to drain the oil to replace a seal.

Did you hear about the penguin who was riding his GS500 when it started leaking oil. He stopped at the next town to check it out, but it was summer and he was very hot, so he bought himself an ice cream. A passer-by stopped and asked "Have you blown a seal?". The penguin looked at the drips of ice cream on his chest and replied " No, its just ice cream."

[AUSgs500]

ok, first things first, i put a piece of cardboard under my bike at work for the day to see how much oil ended up on it and i think i may have overestimated, there wasnt even enough to soak thru to the other side of the cardboard its just spread spread out along the frame.
I took the sprocket cover off and damn... the gunk was about 3cms thick!! after about half a can of degreaser and some serious work i managed to get it all clean. I also gave all the engine bolts a once over and found that a couple of the left side bolts and a couple of bolts on the bottom of the engine were loose, could that have caused the leak?

cheers,
jon

[the mole]

Yes, maybe. Tighten the bolts, get it all really clean and look for any more leaks.

[burning1]

AUSgs500,

Most likely, the previous owner was overly liberal with the chain lube. When the engine heats up, the chain lube that accumulates under the countershaft sprocket cover will melt and run down the side of the bike. You'd be amazed by how much chain lube accumulates under there -when I replaced the counter shaft sprocket on my old GSX-R 600, I found a ball of chain lube and grime that was the size of a tennis ball.

Ride the bike to your local steam cleaner, take the cover off. Have him thoroughly clean the bike. Then look for oil leaks. The first step of finding an oil leak is to clean the damned bike.

[mister]

Mole,

Unrelated to the thread. If you do the Kyogle to The Channon (Stoney Chute Rd, Koonorigin rd) and then The Channon to Mullunbimby and then Mull to the highway, THAT is a nice run.

Also, From Highway (Ocean Shores, say, for reference) to Mull, then around 7 clicks out of town is Goonegerry rd or whatever it's called. Hook a right there, follow through Federal, right at the first T you are forced to turn left/right at to the direction of Lismore, left at the 3 way intersection with the church at Eureka, come out before Clunes. Right, into Clunes, a few hundred meters out of Clunes hang a left into Eltham for lunch at the pub. Farkn fantasic run that one. Low/no enforcement (I've never seen any), low/no traffic. Except the 24hr speed camera at Clunes. Twisties - tight and extended - galore. This is is http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=-28.51433,153.529644&daddr=Coolamon+Scenic+Dr+to:Goonengerry+Rd+to:Federal+Rd+to:Eltham+Rd&hl=en&geocode=%3BFaykTP4drmMmCQ%3BFTC4S_4dpFAlCQ%3BFeTwSv4dvnwlCQ%3BFbo3Sf4dd5okCQ&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=15&via=1,2,3&sll=-28.522927,153.52355&sspn=0.030505,0.055747&ie=UTF8&ll=-28.683962,153.38974&spn=0.487326,0.891953&z=11

Michael

[AUSgs500]

ok time for an update. I have narrowed the leak down to somewhere under the sprocket cover and will be wrenching away this weekend to find the source. also while i was checking the sump bolts, one just fell out  (previous owner had snapped it then glued it back in!!!) so after some "quality time" with a drill and an easy-out i managed to get the remaining piece of bolt out without having to pull the sump off or anything. the bolt with the easy-out still attached are on my shelf as a trophy 'cos it was my first encounter with the art of the easy-out and ive been told that they are hard to use.
Then being a saturday afternoon i called the local suzi dealer to order the bolt.... my mistake as an error in communication wound up with them ordering an engine mount bolt about a foot long!!
anyway the right bolt arrived yesterday and i put it straight in. now im considering ordering a full gasket kit and set of bolts to give it the once-over and tidy it all up? this is my first road bike and i dont know if 40,000 kms is a lot or a little or what? any ideas?

also for anyone interested, my baby has been treated to a new set of drag bars, tank pad and some nice new grips (pics soon)

[the mole]

40,000km is not a lot for a GS, especially if it has had regular oil changes and hasn't been thrashed.

Michael, missed your last post, yes I know those roads quite well! Last Monday had to go to Southport, came back down the Numinbar Valley to Mur'bah, then over the Burringbar Range. Took 20min longer than the highway, but I was grinning for the rest of the day!

[marcusk]

I used to love those north coast roads.  I used to drive from lismore to nimbin to bris every couple of weeks. 

[NeMeSiS07]

Sorry for digging up an old thread but I'm looking at my first ever bike. A 2000 GS500 with 65000km's on it.

Everything looks good to me. nice and tidy except for what i think is an oil leak. I did some research when i got home and stumbled over a few forums that suggested the leak was only excess chain lube and gunk but i havent really seen any photos to make me feel certain. So i've posted up a photo that i took and hopefully you guys can tell me when you think. Should i be worried? Or does it need some elbow grease to clean it up? To be honest, this is the only thing that's holding me back from buying it.

[Dizzledan]

If this is the only thing keeping you from buying it, take a 7 (or 8, can't remember)mm, and 10mm socket with you to go check it out. The 10mm will remove the gearshift lever, the 7/8 will remove all visible bolts on the sprocket cover (where the clutch cable comes out at the top). Easy peasy.

Also, next time, start a new thread. Much time can be wasted reading through a thread to answer a question, only to find out that not only has the question been answered, but 2 years ago as well.

Welcome to the forums, good luck with the bike/sale 

[Paulcet]

It could be chain lube, but it seems a little too far forward to me.  I wouldn't let it bother me too much... I have a slightly worse leak on the other side, and it will require splitting the case to repair it.  So, I'm just going to watch it for a while.  When it gets bad, I'll dig in.  ( have been watching it for 10,000 miles!)

[adidasguy]

Get engine cleaner and get it spotless.
Then you can watch where it is coming from.

Could be under the clutch cover - push rod seal or excess chain oil.

Otherwise, could be the stator cover gasket.

Either of the above are easy to fix.

I feel more likely those things than leaking from the two halves of the engine case.

You'll know more when you clean things off and see where it is originating. If you have trouble telling, sprinkle baby powder all around it. The origin of the leak will show very clearly as it gets into the baby powder.