Final Drive Seepage

[Albert]

I'm cringing at starting yet another FD thread but here goes. I changed the oil in my FD in August at around 10k miles (06 RT). Mine's an 06 that came with the "lifetime" lube that BMW later attached a shelf life to. Anyway, I replaced the oil with Mobile 1 75/90 because I've always had good luck with Mobile 1 products and I'd seen several others here who used the same viscosity. Anyway, following a 1500 mile trip in September I noticed there was a mist of oil on the FD housing. It wasn't leaking but there was definitely some weeping around the black ring in the center of the FD on the right (shaft) side. I'm guessing I'll be going back for some warranty work when the weather turns around here. Is it possible that this could be simply a problem with the type of oil and that changing to the BMW recommended Castrol could "fix" the problem? Just wondering if anyone has had a similar reaction with Mobile 1.

 

By the way, no noise no vibration, everything seems fine with the FD.

[luf]

When you take your bike in ask them about the new final drive with an oil drain plug located at the botoom of the housing. You can see and read about it on this forum, under "My final drive just went out" page 2, click on the link. Pictures are included. Is there indeed a new final drive available????

 

Jimster

[flars]

This is a known problem, and has nothing to do with the oil you put in. Apparently very easy to fix, and is a warranty item.

[Ken H.]

This is a known problem, and has nothing to do with the oil you put in. Apparently very easy to fix, and is a warranty item.

Yes, the seal can be replaced from the outside after the visible black trim ring is popped off.

 

Leaking hexheads... Sigh...

[Mike T]

I changed the FD fluid and used BMW 80W/90W that the dealer said to use and I've noticed the same misting problem. Guess I'll have to bring it in for a warranty repair.

[Jim VonBaden]

This is one reason I use 220 ml instead of 230 ml. I suspect the leak is caused by incomplete draining of the FD, and slight overfilling. My FD leaked after my first oil change, but none that I have changed with 220ml have leaked afterwards.

 

Jim

[Albert]

Jim,

Did you change the seal after the first leak or just adjust the oil level and the problem went away? I was thinking I may have slightly overfilled the housing and it might correct itself when the level drops.

[bakerzdosen]

This is one reason I use 220 ml instead of 230 ml. I suspect the leak is caused by incomplete draining of the FD, and slight overfilling. My FD leaked after my first oil change, but none that I have changed with 220ml have leaked afterwards.

How long did you let your FD drain? The first time I did mine, I think it was somewhere in the 20 minute range. However, this last time it was over 3 hours (just the way it went... I ended up doing something else). Both times I filled it with 240ml. Do you drain it warm or cold or somewhere in between?

[Jim VonBaden]

Jim,

Did you change the seal after the first leak or just adjust the oil level and the problem went away? I was thinking I may have slightly overfilled the housing and it might correct itself when the level drops.

 

I changed mine after the first leak, less than 1000 miles from the fluid change.

 

Jim

[Jim VonBaden]

This is one reason I use 220 ml instead of 230 ml. I suspect the leak is caused by incomplete draining of the FD, and slight overfilling. My FD leaked after my first oil change, but none that I have changed with 220ml have leaked afterwards.

How long did you let your FD drain? The first time I did mine, I think it was somewhere in the 20 minute range. However, this last time it was over 3 hours (just the way it went... I ended up doing something else). Both times I filled it with 240ml. Do you drain it warm or cold or somewhere in between?

 

I change it warm, after a recent ride, and let it drain at least 20 min.

 

That said, why would you add 240ml? The factory fill level is 250ml, and the drain/refill is 230ml. Adding 240ml is asking for trouble IMHO.

 

Jim

[bakerzdosen]

That said, why would you add 240ml? The factory fill level is 250ml, and the drain/refill is 230ml. Adding 240ml is asking for trouble IMHO.

Well, I think that's just what we decided at Charlie's tech daze. We drained it warm and then figured there was at least 10cc's that weren't getting back in there due to adhesion to the measuring cup and the funnel - especially since the new stuff wasn't warm.

 

I haven't had any seepage problems.