Bevel box oil leak.

[King Herald]

Morning all. 

This morning I was going out for a ride, got to the bike….. and there’s a small puddle of black oil on the ground directly under my bevel box. And some drops under the box itself.  
 

I feared the worst, but hoped it was the drain plug or crush washer, as there’s no oil on the rim, or the disc, but after wiping it up and going out for a 20 mile ride, its definitely the seal, oil is now on the disc centre, and drips onto the rim when on the kick stand. 
 

I’ve drained the oil, run it through a paint filter, as DR actually mentioned on the thread I read a while ago. There’s no metal in it, apart from just two tiny silver specs, so hopefully the bearing is still good. 

 

I’ve found the oil seal I need part # 33127663482

And  the O ring for the casing #  33111241257

1997 r1100r

 

I shall call and order them on the morrow. 
 

Is there anything else I should get too?  It looks like a fairly ‘easy’ job to do, from the video I watched. I just hope once it’s all apart the bearing isn’t feeling rough or screechy….. 

 

[dirtrider]

20 minutes ago, King Herald said:

Morning all. 

This morning I was going out for a ride, got to the bike….. and there’s a small puddle of black oil on the ground directly under my bevel box. And some drops under the box itself.  
 

I feared the worst, but hoped it was the drain plug or crush washer, as there’s no oil on the rim, or the disc, but after wiping it up and going out for a 20 mile ride, its definitely the seal, oil is now on the disc centre, and drips onto the rim when on the kick stand. 
 

I’ve drained the oil, run it through a paint filter, as DR actually mentioned on the thread I read a while ago. There’s no metal in it, apart from just two tiny silver specs, so hopefully the bearing is still good. 

 

I’ve found the oil seal I need part # 33127663482

And  the O ring for the casing #  33111241257

1997 r1100r

 

I shall call and order them on the morrow. 
 

Is there anything else I should get too?  It looks like a fairly ‘easy’ job to do, from the video I watched. I just hope once it’s all apart the bearing isn’t feeling rough or screechy….. 

 

Afternoon King Herald

 

The seal can be replaced without removing the side cover. Just be very careful in how you remove the old seal as you can use that as a driver to dive the new seal in. 

 

Personally I usually do remove the side cover then pull the spool out of the cover, then clean & inspect the crown bearing. In a lot of cases the seal leaking is an indication of the bearing starting to fail. If you remove the spool then be careful that you don't loose the thin bearing shims.

 

If you find a bad bearing post back as installing that (correctly) is a bit more involved as you need to shim the preload correctly

[King Herald]

Morning DR,

thanks for the advice, I’ll open it up and check the gear and bearing thoroughly. etc.

I’ve also ordered the pinion seal, as I found oil in the gaiter last time I had it apart to change pivot bearings. I shall change that too if I can manufacture the special tool that I believe is necessary to get it apart. 

[King Herald]

The new seals have arrived, but even though I’ve done 50++ miles since I changed out the oil there’s not a single drip under the bevel box. Not even when I wipe my finger underneath. 
Maybe it’s just not got hot enough to leak…. or maybe it was the drain plug leaking, though I used the same old crush washer when I put the plug back in, as I knew it would be coming out again very soon…..

 

I shan’t be sending the seals back, that’s for sure. 

[dirtrider]

33 minutes ago, King Herald said:

The new seals have arrived, but even though I’ve done 50++ miles since I changed out the oil there’s not a single drip under the bevel box. Not even when I wipe my finger underneath. 
Maybe it’s just not got hot enough to leak…. or maybe it was the drain plug leaking, though I used the same old crush washer when I put the plug back in, as I knew it would be coming out again very soon…..

 

I shan’t be sending the seals back, that’s for sure. 

Evening  King Herald

 

There are few reasons the leak is gone or at least suppressed.

 

Possibly the new oil has more seal conditioner in it than your last gear oil did. 

 

Or possibly the vent was plugged or bridged forcing pressure build inside the drive.

 

Or possibly your crown bearing is starting to fail allowing a piece of the ball separator to temporarily get caught in between the seal & the spool.  (keep an eye on the wheel lateral wiggle as that will eventually point to a bearing going out if the wiggle increases)

 

Or possibly it only leaks with the motorcycle parked with a load on the wheel in a certain place.  

[King Herald]

Morning DR,

I shall monitor it closely. The old oil was pretty black and smelly, I can’t remember exactly what type I put in, but I think it was mineral oil. The new stuff is mineral oil, and is grey/silver colour, Motul 80/90 gl-5.