FD boot seep?

[capjim]

Just noticed a bit of oil at the FD boot connections on the 2002 1150RT, i.e. both ends. The boot is fastened with cable ties. The boot does not appear to be broken or cracked and the leak seems like more of a slow seep and it looks like its been there for awhile. Is this a relatively normal thing?

[marked23]

(I'm no expert, other's advice may override mine)

 

Hi Jim,

My parents live in CC.

 

I just had my RT in the shop and they noticed that seeping. They said to keep an eye on it and next time I had $400 to burn they would pull the FD off and replace the boot. Their feeling was that I'd be OK for a few months so long as I keep an eye on it.

 

Next time they have a winter sale on service, mine's going in for tires and that, and a couple other things.

 

 

 

[oldyam]

Maybe you can save yourselves a few dollars here, I asked the same question some trime ago and was told that they all do that.

 

However I was advised to pull back the boot and to check that it wasn't coming down the inside of the swing arm from the gearbox rear seal.

Then to clean out the few drops of oil I would find inside the boot and to keep an eye in the progress of the "leak" ....... as it could be repaired by replacement of the rear drive input seal but was unlikely to stay leak free for long and that the best option was to monitor oil usage.

 

So far the "loss" has been unnoticeable in the last two oil changes.

[ltljohn]

Maybe you can save yourselves a few dollars here, I asked the same question some trime ago and was told that they all do that.

 

However I was advised to pull back the boot and to check that it wasn't coming down the inside of the swing arm from the gearbox rear seal.

Then to clean out the few drops of oil I would find inside the boot and to keep an eye in the progress of the "leak" ....... as it could be repaired by replacement of the rear drive input seal but was unlikely to stay leak free for long and that the best option was to monitor oil usage.

 

So far the "loss" has been unnoticeable in the last two oil changes.

 

+1 .

[philbytx]

If it is the rear gbox seal, you can try using a mixture of 50pct Mobil1 75w140 and 50pct of THIS. Worked on a rear selector seal leak in my 5spd Getrag manual box on my BMW cager and on the rear seal on my R1100R

[capjim]

Thanks to all for the quick responce.

 

jim

[Bologna]

Mine seeps after a hard ride and I clean it up and check FD level and all is good. 48K on my '02 and going strong!

[RT Russ]

My 02 has been drooling for over a year and a half. Seems to be most noticeable after spirited riding sessions. Level never seems to get low when checked......a little gear oil makes a big mess......

[Yoho1]

non-synthetic seems to weep less on my 99R11RT. Reduce fill to 2mm under threads to stop. Remove boot to clean up. Normal issue.

[Jerry Duke]

I had the same problem on my 2001 R11S. I didn't buy a BMW to drip oil on my rear wheel and the garage floor, so I sent it to Anton. Good thing, even though it had over 75,000 miles on the FD, the pinion gear seal was leaking. Anton also found the gear mesh was too tight which was probably the cause of the seal going bad and could have ruined the gear set.

There are too many problems with FD's on BMW's for me to take a chance. I paid him less than $400 but now I have peace of mind, and a non leaking BMW FD.

[NumbHands]

My '02 has 100K miles and weeps a bit. Switched back to dino to see if it will make a difference. Certainly not losing sleep over it.

[gthorpe]

I have a similar problem with my '04 1150RT. It first happenend with 17,000 miles with streaks of oil on the FD housing, but not enough to get on the tire or rim. Saw it again today at 18,500.

 

Definitly is coming from the FD, not the transmission.

 

Has anybody ever changed the rear drive input seal ?

 

 

 

[Boffin]

The FD input seal is not a simple change. It requires heat and special tools to strip and rebuild the input shaft. I have had three FD input seals replaced whilst the bike was under warranty. In all cases the seal started to weep again within a few thousand miles. I have heard that this is not uncommon. Once the bike was out of warranty, I just kept an eye on things and cleaned it up now and then. I find non-synthetic 75W90 leaks less. I also use tight cable ties on the boot which reduces seepage.

 

It is important to check the shaft tunel from time-to-time to ensure the transmission output seal has not joined in with the leaking. The transmission output seal is a straightforward change once the swingarm is off - which is also straightforward.

 

Andy