Final Drive overflow

[Babby]

After servicing the final drive on my RT I will lose about one oz. on a 600 Mi. ride through the top overflow plug.I had to replace the final drive at 10000 Mi. and now have 34000 Miles. I am putting in the 250ML recomended. Any sugestions. Thanks

[Stan Walker]

What weight and brand of gear lube?

 

Is your final drive over heating? You should be able to hold your hand on it after riding with no pain.

 

Stan

[philbytx]

That's weird....

Burping oil out of the top vent is usually a sign of overfilling. But if you are putting in correctly measured amounts in your rear end then something is quite wrong. There should be no abnormal foaming or pressure build-up!

Is your bike still under warranty??!!

[Wooster]

Babby

 

While refilling according to manual's stated capacity/amount is logical, I suggest only putting in so much oil as to meet the "oil level is at bottom of female threads" criterion. I'm guessing that you'll find this results in less than the 250 ml you've put in. Or in other words, your oil overflow is due to oil overfill.

 

Wooster

[T__]

After servicing the final drive on my RT I will lose about one oz. on a 600 Mi. ride through the top overflow plug.I had to replace the final drive at 10000 Mi. and now have 34000 Miles. I am putting in the 250ML recomended. Any sugestions. Thanks

 

Babby, if you are using something thick like Red Line Heavy Shockproof Gear Oil or similar you might very well be getting some gear oil spitting out the vent..

 

If the gear oil used is too thick it can bridge the vent opening in cooler weather & then get pushed out the vent opening..

 

If you are using thinner gear oil as recommended by BMW & are still spitting out the vent then look for overfilling of the oil level or not getting a full drain out at change time..

 

Twisty

[Lineareagle]

 

Is your final drive over heating? You should be able to hold your hand on it after riding with no pain.

 

Stan

 

Stan;

The final drive can be hot with no pain?

Are we talking no pain as in burn or really un-comfortable?

[Stan Walker]

Are we talking no pain as in burn or really un-comfortable?

 

Well, I just got home from work, it's a 22 mile ride, air temp is mid 60's, and my final drive is warm, but not really hot. I could leave the palm of my hand on it forever, no burn, no pain. I could measure it at work tomorrow but I don't have stuff at home to do it. IT's way cooler than the engine valve covers.

 

I'm currently running Mobil One 75 W 140 synthetic gear lube in it. Final drive has 82,000 miles on it. It was opened one time by me to replace a weeping crown wheel seal.

 

Stan

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Just a little perspective on how hot is hot.

105 deg F will feel slightly warm to the touch.

120 deg F will feel hot to the touch but no problem holding your hand on it.

140 deg F will cause you a deep reluctance to keep your hand in contact.

150 and above and you ain't staying in contact.

 

Verified many times while preparing custards and ice cream base using a stainless steel bowl in a ban Marie with a candy thermometer stuck in the liquid.

 

The rougher surface of the final drive might move that temperature range up about 10 degrees or so as the heat transfer will be less.

[sonofdennis]

I can confirm, I did use the Redline heavy shockproof gear lube in my 03 RT1150 final drive. It was fine for the winter months but then last weekend, the first long hard day of mountain riding and a 90 degree day and I got a nice stream of pink overflow out the breather. I'm back to 75-90W synthetic.

[DouglasR]

I can confirm, I did use the Redline heavy shockproof gear lube in my 03 RT1150 final drive. It was fine for the winter months but then last weekend, the first long hard day of mountain riding and a 90 degree day and I got a nice stream of pink overflow out the breather. I'm back to 75-90W synthetic.

 

Yeah, but it's so cool to see things like this with the Red Line! It wouldn't have been nearly as pretty with standard old clear gear oil.

 

 

Check out the little pink spot on the black breather cap in the pic above....

 

 

The worst part of this little disaster was trying to clean Red Line Heavy Shockproof Gear Oil off my brake rotor and pads. Blah! Actually the first clue I had that the crown seal had blown was that I had no rear brake!

 

I totally agree with the overfill diagnosis. With heavy oils like that you'll never get complete drainage, especially with a sticky synthetic like Redline, so measuring the quantity in is very likely overfilling it. The cold weather phenomenon is very likely a part of the scenario, too. My final drives never get too hot to touch, even on the hottest days after hundreds of miles, so the oil never gets very thin and doesn't drain completely. I've ridden 50 miles, pulled the plug, then left it out overnight to drain and when you look in the hole with a flashlight the next day there's still lots of oil stuck to the gears. You can use a heat gun to warm things up, too, but be careful you don't scorch the paint. Whatever you do, though, it will never drain completely.

 

Doug

[Eckhard Grohe]

Get new brake pads!

[bross]

Get new brake pads!

Aren't you s'posed to soak your brake pads before installing them? Or was that clutch disks?

[philbytx]

I use Mobil1 75w140 in both tranny and rear end for the past 4 years with nary a problem. I also use the "fill to the lip" method rather than specific quantity but found it was really close to BMW spec after lengthy drainage.

I do it annually and do it after a good ride, remove gear and rear end drains and leave it for an hour or so, then add the oil. Am I getting senile (no smartypant comments please ) or do I remember an old thread on this RedLine Shockproof issue before??

[Les is more]

I can verify the Redline stories, Philby, although what that has to do with either of us being slightly senile, I don't know. We were running the Redline Shockfproof Heavy in both final rive and gearbox. After similar overflow problems, we fouind that the Redline tends to foam up in the final drive and overflows. We still use it in the tranny but not the final drive. We fill to the small tang visible just below the bottom of the threads.

[JerryMather]

As much as I'm a fan of Redline's products..............I to was a victim of it coming out the top overflow more than a few times. That said, I'll be using something other than Redline Shockproof oil in my final drive in the KRS when I change it later this month.

[philbytx]

Thank you Les

I am always hopeful that my imagination IS my memory and not vice versa

Keep fit, well and out of trouble

[Clive Liddell]

Babby,

250ml is the "after overhaul" fill, 230ml is the "refill" quantity.

 

I support the fill to the little shiney shelf below the threads group and have always used only BMW recommended gear oil - thus, no problems ;>)

[Dave_zoom_zoom]

WOW - I find members on this board awesome with thier combined knowledge base.

 

Hats off to Twisty 1 being first to finger this problem!

 

I thought I had fairly good knowledge on these subjects. But thanks to you guys (& gals) I keep learning & learning & learning.

 

Thanks to ALL OF YOU!

[DouglasR]

Get new brake pads!

Aren't you s'posed to soak your brake pads before installing them? Or was that clutch disks?

 

Those were BRAND NEW EBC pads.... The crown seal did this two days before my son and I left for a 4000 mile ride through the Canadian Rockies. Since I live in central Wyoming and the nearest dealer is >300 miles away, I had few options for getting on the road without totally blowing the trip schedule. I chose to FedEx the crown seal in, but not replace the pads because I didn't think of it in time to have them sent along with the seal. So I cleaned them up real good with brake cleaner and heated them up good and hot with a heat gun, then rode around for a while jamming the rear brake several times. They worked fine after a few 100 miles and have been fine since.

 

BTW, there's a secret technique to removing and replacing a crown seal that takes just a few minutes... For a few bucks in gas money I'm willing to share this knowledge!

 

Doug

[Rider1200RT]

 

BTW, there's a secret technique to removing and replacing a crown seal that takes just a few minutes... For a few bucks in gas money I'm willing to share this knowledge!

 

Doug

 

 

AW, come on now,tell us it's so tough to email a good brew...

[Babby]

Thanks to all who replied on my problem. I will change the type of oil and the amount put in.