I have a 2002 Suzuki GS500 with a slight oil leak. I'm thinking of getting it fixed sooner rather than later, because last year a small leak turned into a huge leak right on the middle of a ride, covering the lower half of my right leg in hot oil for pretty much the entire ride home!

After that episode, the head gasket and some other gaskets were replaced, and the engine was resurfaced to provide a good seal for all the new gaskets. Now I have a slight oil leak on the left side of the bike. It's between the crankcase cover and the shifter. The leak comes from up in this ~1x2" opening, which means I can't get a good look at exactly what is leaking.

It's a long shot, but maybe someone can give me some info. Here are my pics:

The red arrow shows where the oil comes down from. It then drips and rolls down to the bottom of the crankcase cover, plus blows all over the frame rail and oil pan.



And here's a view from underneath the bike. Not much to see from this angle but it shows the opening I'm talking about.



Can anyone make a reasonable guess as to what this is? Like what seal may have gone bad?

Thanks!

Have you pulled the front sprocket cover off yet? Most likely a shifter seal or excess lube/oil coming off you chain.

If it's not coming from around the shifter, then it's probably your generator cover gasket- will need replaced but not a terribly big deal.

Nope, haven't pulled anything apart yet. Just cleaned it all up, only to find the source of the leak wasn't actually visible. I'll be happy if it's a shifter seal or generator cover gasket. Sounds better than the two month long, $500 fix for the last leak!

I don't think it would be excess lube though - it's bright gold oil, and I use a Belray way lube on the chain.

Thanks

Just an update...

I've pulled the front sprocket cover a couple times, and after cleaning out the rat's nest remnants  I think I spotted the source of the leak. I'm pretty sure it's the seal that's running vertically right there on the engine cover. Which would be the generator cover gasket I believe.

Will take care of that this fall. 

Hope your fix goes well!

I have a similar leak on the left side of my bike. After doing some investigating, I *think* it's my shifter seal, which other people seem to agree with. I'm finally hoping to replace next week.

My mechanic said the seal was on back-order from Japan all summer, and just finally came in. I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I documented some of this here: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56398.msg638338#msg638338

 


Can anyone make a reasonable guess as to what this is?
Thanks!
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Sure , I'll give it a shot....from the pics I'd say the leak is Castrol, maybe Valvoline....I'd have to smell and taste it though, to be sure.....


Cookie

i would name it mike

Quote from: Janx101 on September 08, 2011, 04:05:42 AM
i would name it mike

I agree...."mike" it is..... I had a different leak once...That was "george"..

Cookie

Quote from: kininja on September 07, 2011, 07:45:07 PM
Hope your fix goes well!

I have a similar leak on the left side of my bike. After doing some investigating, I *think* it's my shifter seal, which other people seem to agree with. I'm finally hoping to replace next week.

My mechanic said the seal was on back-order from Japan all summer, and just finally came in. I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I documented some of this here: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56398.msg638338#msg638338

Hey thanks for the link! Your pics actually helped me quite a bit, basically by ruling out a shifter seal leak. My front sprocket stays perfectly dry, and there is no oil in that little dip underneath the shifter.

Where my leak is would be at the top left corner of your first picture. It drips down right along there.

Hope you get yours fixed! I had a terrible time getting all the seals I needed last summer for a bigger leak (head gasket and some other stuff.) Now my local shop is no longer a Suzuki dealer, which is why I've just been pushing this job back.

Tastes like Mobil1. 

Finally a good name suggestion! Yes, I'll name it Mike. 

Quote from: elvis on September 08, 2011, 12:42:43 PM
Hey thanks for the link! Your pics actually helped me quite a bit, basically by ruling out a shifter seal leak. My front sprocket stays perfectly dry, and there is no oil in that little dip underneath the shifter.

Where my leak is would be at the top left corner of your first picture. It drips down right along there.

Hope you get yours fixed! I had a terrible time getting all the seals I needed last summer for a bigger leak (head gasket and some other stuff.) Now my local shop is no longer a Suzuki dealer, which is why I've just been pushing this job back.

I'm glad the photos helped.

I finally got my leak fixed a week ago. I think it must have been the shifter seal but the guy working on my bike replaced "all of them"  (except for one; don't know which one) and I haven't had any spots of oil on the ground. Perhaps it's one of the other seals on your bike that needs to be replaced?

It took all summer for these seals to come in.