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Final Drive Oil, Choclolate Milk, Buying that Honda, and other Questions.

bmweerman

By bmweerman
in Oilheads

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bmweerman

bmweerman

Posted
Posted

OK..sorry for the overblown title.

 

Just drained the final for routine matainence before attempting another long trip and it come out looking like this.

 

96922648-M.jpg

 

That looks more like chocalate milk than gear oil to me.

Is this something to be concerned about. This is the 3rd final this bike has had on it in 80,000 miles and I'm REALLY paranoid!

 

Thanks!

 

Cameron

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Lawman

Lawman

Posted
Posted

I can't figure why there is so much variation in what is being found in the final drives. I've seen everything from oil that looks new to chocolate to metal shavings to torx tools. lmao.gif Sorry...

 

Just did mine (14,200 miles) and it really did not look any worse than the oil I put in it..It did have a somewhat foul odor but other than that it looked great.. confused.gif

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bross

bross

Posted
Posted

Wouldn't that color be water contaminated? Just reading about the FD failures on ADVRider and one theory proposed for so many GS failures was water crossings with a hot final drive meeting cool water equals sucking water into the final drive past the seals, causing the problems. Do you wash the bike with a pressure washer? Another theory put forward. Good luck.

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T__

T__

Posted
Posted

bmweerman, that is interesting.. Mine always comes out about the same color as it went in.. It could be water as that vent cap is not very high above the metal FD casting.. Even washing the bike with a garden hose with a yet warm final drive could suck in water as the cold water cooled the final drive as you sprayed water on it..

 

I ran into a guy at a meet last summer that had an 1100 RT, he had a hose on his FD vent with an automobile capped vent way up under the seat.. I just happened to be looking at it when the guy walked up (probably thought I was steeling something).. I questioned him on that unique vent set-up & his reply was; he had failed a final drive & when he took it apart there was sand & mud in the bottom of the final drive.. He said he rode a lot of muddy roads & sandy roads so decided he would improve the venting location..

I have no idea how well it worked but to me it looked like a good addition as far as remote venting went.. I know we do a lot of high venting on our off-road trucks..

 

Twisty

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bmweerman

bmweerman

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Hmmm...just got pretty much the same reply from some guys at STN...

 

Ok must be water contamination. The question then becomes...is this drive headed for immenent failure?

 

Or is there any way of knowing that?

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Rob L

Rob L

Posted
Posted
This is the 3rd final this bike has had on it in 80,000 miles and I'm REALLY paranoid!

Do you mean that you have only changed the fluid 3 times in 80k? If so, I would change it much more often. I used to think once a year was enough, now I change the fluid with each oil change at 6000 miles.

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bmweerman

bmweerman

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This is the 3rd final this bike has had on it in 80,000 miles and I'm REALLY paranoid!

Do you mean that you have only changed the fluid 3 times in 80k? If so, I would change it much more often. I used to think once a year was enough, now I change the fluid with each oil change at 6000 miles.

 

No...I mean this is the 3rd DRIVE that has been on the bike. I change the fluid all the time.

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T__

T__

Posted
Posted
Hmmm...just got pretty much the same reply from some guys at STN...

 

Ok must be water contamination. The question then becomes...is this drive headed for immenent failure?

 

Or is there any way of knowing that?

 

bmweerman, just make sure your final drive has a magnetic drain plug in it, then change the rear drive oil every couple of months for a while.. If anything sharp shows up on the magnetic drain plug start to worry,, if nothing metallic & sharp on the magnet you are good to go.. If you get a few changes without any metal (excluding gray fine material) you can probably go back to longer drain intervals..

 

Twisty

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bross

bross

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Posted
No...I mean this is the 3rd DRIVE that has been on the bike. I change the fluid all the time.

Well there's your problem right there! You obviously missed the memo about lifetime FD lubricant being retroactive for older models as well. lmao.gif

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bmweerman

bmweerman

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Looks like way too much fluid to me.

 

Hmmmm...have always just filled it to the bottom of the filler hole. Was just looking at the BMW service manual though and it says to do that for the transmission, but not necassarily for the FD...how much do you put in?

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Davis

Davis

Posted
Posted

0.23L or about 8oz, which should be to the bottom of the fill hole. It just looks like more than a cup in your photo, but it may be just we have nothing to put the pool of oil in perspective.

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opposed

opposed

Posted
Posted

ACTUALLY YOU NEED TO FILL IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MACHINED AREA BELOW THE THREADS OF THE FILLER CAP. LOOKS BOTH LIKE TOO MUCH AND CONTAMINATED WITH WATER. TOO MUCH IS A BIG NO-NO ON THIS ONE.

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bmweerman

bmweerman

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0.23L or about 8oz, which should be to the bottom of the fill hole. It just looks like more than a cup in your photo, but it may be just we have nothing to put the pool of oil in perspective.

 

OK ...Thanks!

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John Moylan

John Moylan

Posted
Posted
ACTUALLY YOU NEED TO FILL IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MACHINED AREA BELOW THE THREADS OF THE FILLER CAP. LOOKS BOTH LIKE TOO MUCH AND CONTAMINATED WITH WATER. TOO MUCH IS A BIG NO-NO ON THIS ONE.
...and then subtract enough to stop the little drip from the gaiter....I reckon about 10cc...........
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FrankT

FrankT

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Posted
0.23L or about 8oz, which should be to the bottom of the fill hole. It just looks like more than a cup in your photo, but it may be just we have nothing to put the pool of oil in perspective.

 

This has been discussed here in the past greatly. I always measure the prescribed amount when re-filling. The resultant oil level in my rear drive is well below that of the fill plug threads. FWIW...YMMV

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bmweerman

bmweerman

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0.23L or about 8oz, which should be to the bottom of the fill hole. It just looks like more than a cup in your photo, but it may be just we have nothing to put the pool of oil in perspective.

 

This has been discussed here in the past greatly. I always measure the prescribed amount when re-filling. The resultant oil level in my rear drive is well below that of the fill plug threads. FWIW...YMMV

 

I know! A actually filled the drive 3 times and drove it around a little to clear the fluid. After the last time it came out clear and then I carefully measured 8 ounces into it. I'm trusting that is the right amount.

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FrankT

FrankT

Posted
Posted
0.23L or about 8oz, which should be to the bottom of the fill hole. It just looks like more than a cup in your photo, but it may be just we have nothing to put the pool of oil in perspective.

 

This has been discussed here in the past greatly. I always measure the prescribed amount when re-filling. The resultant oil level in my rear drive is well below that of the fill plug threads. FWIW...YMMV

 

I know! A actually filled the drive 3 times and drove it around a little to clear the fluid. After the last time it came out clear and then I carefully measured 8 ounces into it. I'm trusting that is the right amount.

 

8 oz. is equal to the required 0.23 liters as indicated in a post above so you're ok.

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