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oil smell and steam/vapor after ride?


RT Russ

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Recently did my 42K service. Lots of work on the bike. HID light, wiring for USB power port, oil change, valve check etc. all the normal stuff. I even replaced the Fuel quick disconnects (again). I had bought the Beemer Boneyard kit months ago but had been running with brass barbed connectors since the last time the tupperware was off. Getting the brass barbed fittings out was a bear. The plastic pipe going to the fuel regulator is a lot looser than before. Having had so many fuel leak issues with this RT, I am paranoid so trust me, I check it well for leaks and saw none. I used a nylon/velcro strap to secure the fuel lines/disconnects to the frame and put all back together. I rode back and forth to work for a full week. Smelled oil/hydrocarbon smells every time I got off the bike. Yesterday there was an oil spot under the bike when I came out of work. Probably was there from someone else' car. Checked for leaks at each stop on my errands, no spots. Rode hard on the twisty road the 14 miles to home. When I got in the garage, the oil smell was there as normal. I went in the house to put my helmet and jacket down and came back out to other items out of my cases. I saw a vapor rising from the middle of the bike, steam? Smoke? I don't know. I opened the garage door and got down to look around for anything leaking bud did not see anything. Seat off etc. No evidence. Paranoid.....I pulled the right side tupperware, a little shiny evidence down the engine case but did not smell like gas and was not actually wet. Could have been from before? Looked closely with a flash light. I see shiny wetness on the top engine case forward of the Cat. Conv. Got my finger in there but it did not smell like gasoline. Oil? Fuel? I don't know.....but I am paranoid. Since the one fuel pipe to the regulator was looser than the other two, I was worried that I damaged it and that I was leaking fuel No fuel smell.....more like an oil smell. What the heck could the steam/vapor have been? Wasn't wet out yesterday but I did ride in a pretty heavy hail storm the prior day. no oil spot under the bike this morning and no fuel smell. Am I just paranoid?

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Did you flush your brakes? Your description sounds like overflowing brake fluid. Also, the clutch slave cylinder can give these symptoms when it leaks. Try holding (Strapping) the clutch lever against the handgrip.....If, after 10 minutes or so, it is not longer holding pressure against the clutch, that may be it.

 

Or it could be a small oil leak. But, since you cannot ID it, it makes me think brake fluid, since it evaporates, and smokes like mad when it hits the cat. DAMHIK.

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Did not flush the brakes. Tie-wrapped the clutch lever in for over an hour tonight, no issue there. Rear wheel stills turns when in gear. Maybe rear seal leak? Sunday I tore into the bike and rechecked the fuel lines....no sign of a leak. Crawled around looking at everything I could. Saw oil staining on the center stand. Looks like fluid of some sort on the engine ahead of the Cat. converter. Can't tell where it's coming from. Rode the bike and saw no evidence of further leaking so.....I rode it to work today. Oil smell when I parked it. Rode 1/2 way home and stopped at store. The bike smoked visibly when I got off of it. Rode the rest of the way home and again, visible smoking coming from rear of engine/cat converter area. Oil level is still good. Drained the airbox, maybe a tablespoon of oil came out. I dread something serious........

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It's not a huge job to remove the can and cat. Why not take a look underneath the engine with a clear and unobstructed view? It seems to me that whatever is smoking is dropping onto the cat. I'd take a look.

 

Did you change out your gearbox oil? Have you checked the tightness of your oil filter?

 

Linz :)

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Thanks, I did not do the gearbox oil this time and I have looked at the oil filter and drain plug. Both are tight and dry........I will plan to pull the exhaust after work tomorrow, probably the starter as well so I can swab for oil in the clutch housing.

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Too much oil results in the excess getting along the engine breather-tube into the airbox. There are drain holes in the airbox so I guess the oil is draining somewhere onto the exhaust system.

 

Ian

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So, tonight I pulled the exhaust can. Doesn't look like the oil leak is coming from the rear area after all. Near as I can tell, the leak is coming from somewhere under the battery box. What is under there that could leak oil? The thermostat manifold? Can I get the battery box/bracket out without pulling the ABS Hydro unit? I still plan to pull the starter to make sure that the rear seal is (hopefully) ok. Anyone have pictures/graphics of the area under the battery? Thanks in advance...

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Andy, thanks for the reply. The source appears to be on the other side of the engine. The oil is likely motor oil due to the thickness of it. No signs of servo leak and fluid levels are good. Tonight I hope to get the battery/servo bracket out to see what's going on under there.

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Check the airbox drain plug, which is on the lower-lefthand side of the airbox, ner the bottom of the battery box.

 

Andy

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Thanks......already checked that. The leak is above the engine, somewhere under the battery/servo and drains down the side behind the injector, down around the starter and back.

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Clean up the oil, keep the tupperware off, go for a 5-minute run, stop and check. It should be fairly straightforward to figure it out.

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Clean up the oil, keep the tupperware off, go for a 5-minute run, stop and check. It should be fairly straightforward to figure it out.

 

Sounds simple... I've got the tupperware off and can see that it appears to be coming from under the battery tray. I just need to get that out so I can see what's under there that could be the source.

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You mention the hard fuel line from the regulator is loose.

My money says it's broken, although it normally does move some.

BTDT...you have to take the tank off, if you have ABS remove the ABS pump, also remove the battery and battery box to get to the fuel regulator.

Mine had a very small leak that sounds exactly like yours.

Depending on where the leak is, you can sometimes circular cut the hard line and attach fuel injector hose. But my leak was where the hard line attached to the fuel regulator, so I had to replace the entire assembly. I also replace the fuel regulator with a K bike model to richen up the fuel.

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Pulled all of the nuts and bolts holding the battery tray tonight and got it lifter far enough to see that there is no oil leaking under there. I did however see that there is oil around most all sides of the starter. Didn't have time to pull the starter tonight. I've got a big project going on at work and have limited time right now but.......I'm thinking rear oil seal.....I have a feeling that I'll be joining the "Tail in the air" club real soon!

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Are you sure it is not seeping from the bottom of the Lefthand cylinder where it goes on to the block? I have seen many weep from there and blow backwards & upwards over other stuff.

 

Andy

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Starfighter

On the left side of my '04 is a hard oil line with a banjo fitting...runs to the oil cooler and I have heard of seeping leaks along this line.....

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Thanks, I had hoped for something simple like that but I'm fairly convinced that it is a rear seal at this point. Big job ahead......I just ordered the imfamous "Ted's spline lube DVD".

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If you take the starter motor off (Isolate battery), It's an easy job. You can clean and service the starter motor, so not a wasted effort. Then you can use some sort of long swab to get down to the bottom of the housing to see if there is oil in the bottom of the housing (as opposed to just muck). A worthwhile investigation.

Andy

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Make sure you oil breather hose isn't disconnected. You didn't overfill the oil by any chance? Is the level in the center of the sight glass? Also, I had an oil leak once coming from my oil temp switch which is located under the gas tank on the upper right side of the engine (not far from where the breather hose attaches to the engine.

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... I had an oil leak once coming from my oil temp switch which is located under the gas tank on the upper right side of the engine (not far from where the breather hose attaches to the engine.

 

Yes, worth a look.

Andy

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Afternoon Hawk

 

I guess I have to question the timing of your “NEWLY developed” oil leak.

 

You didn’t seem to have it before the service and now after the service seem to have an oil leak. First rule of new failure is to go back to the last thing done and start looking there.

 

Difficult to tell much from your postings above but it seems you think you “might” have a rear main seal leaking or maybe a front trans seal.

 

Did you change oil type to maybe one of the new high mileage getting synthetic oil’s? If so maybe go back to your old oil choice. Nothing synthetic wise will cause an oil leak but some of the energy saver synthetics contain less seal conditioner to lower engine seal drag and improve MPG. Something like the older Castrol 4T or GTX or similar does have a lot of seal conditioner so that might somewhat dry up a weeping rear main.

 

I know you can’t seem to conform the exact leakage area but a major place of oil seeping after a valve adjustment is the little inner rubber donuts between the valve cover and spark plug well. That makes a mess with a difficult to determine origin.

 

If you just can’t seem to find your oil leak and can come up with a black light (any old Hippies in the family) trip on down to your local auto parts store and buy a small bottle of leak finder. Just pour that in the oil then ride the bike, keep checking with a black light (in the dark helps) and that oil leak will stand out like a lightning streak.

 

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"newly developed", hard to say. I've been smelling the hot oil smell for a lonf while but nowhere near as prominent as it has been this week. Oil is the same 20W-50 it's been since I've owned the bike (near 3 years and 34K miles). I do not see any oil in the cylinder area but it is quite evident on top of the sump ahead of the Cat. It seemed to be running down from behind the left throttle body but with further investigation , it looks more like around the starter. I'll take a closer look at the plug donuts tonight.

 

I do appreciate all of the support and advice, Thanks to all. I do like the black light idea.....I'll have to look for the old black light, it's probably in the same box as my lava lamp :thumbsup: wherever that got put.

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Ok oh wise collective......tonight I put back together most of what I had already taken apart. I then sprayed diluted Simple Green degreaser on the engine areas that had oil on them. Down behind both throttle bodies, all around the starter, up around the top of the sump, center stand, everything that I could get to. Scrubbed it all with a nylon brush and rinsed it off. I cleaned up the cat and can with the same regime (wow, it never looked like that before). Time for bed now as I'm still committed to 12 hour days at work for the next week and a half. Tomorrow I hope to put the tank and seat on and run it to see it I can find anything leaking. Question......can I run it without the cat and can for this test or should I put that back on? Thanks again for all of the advice!

 

Hawk

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Unfortunately I have to stand behind my diagnosis. After cleaning everything up last night, I put the tank and pipe back on today and took it for a ride. All was well for the first 10-15 minutes. When it was good and warmed up, I rolled on from 4K RPM and the clutch started slipping pretty badly. I put it on the side stand at home and before I got my jacket off there was a 2" spot of oil under it. I revved the engine a bit and there was a puff of smoke from the cat area. Looks to be leaking oil around the starter. When I get some time, I'll pull the starter to confirm that there is oil in the clutch housing :cry:

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There's really no reason to confirm anything more by removing the starter. You have a leak prolly at the engine rear seal, or possibly the possibly the gear box seal. Both of these actions require removing the gearbox to inspect and repair.

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