What's dripping

[HenryS]

I'm a K-bike newbie, and looked at a 90 K100 this weekend. After my test ride there was just a couple drops behind the engine and in front of the tranny, at what looks like a drain hole. It was oily water. Is this indicative of a bad seal or a bad pump and what would it cost to fix?

HenryS

[deilenberger]

I'm a K-bike newbie, and looked at a 90 K100 this weekend. After my test ride there was just a couple drops behind the engine and in front of the tranny, at what looks like a drain hole. It was oily water. Is this indicative of a bad seal or a bad pump and what would it cost to fix?

HenrySHenry,

I think you have to look a bit closer, and perhaps do some wiping up.

Has the bike been ridden through water or in the rain recently? The hole under the clutch assembly is a drain for the clutch housing. I suspect it was put there so water that got in could get out. If the bike had been washed recently - that also could have been where the drips came from.

It is not unusual to see on a K with some years on it - a drip or dampness around the clutch weep hole.. it can drip (lightly) for a very long time before anything (like an oiled-clutch) goes bad. It's not usually the engine seal that leaks - it's an O ring behind the big nut that holds the clutch assembly to the output shaft of the engine.. it dries up and shrinks a bit, causing the leak.

The oil pump is on the very front of the engine - with it's own little weep hole - which will drip oil if the pump seal or water pump seal is going bad. If the leak was bad enough, I guess some water from the cooling system might blow back towards the clutch housing, which is why I suggest cleaning up the area, take for a ride, and then look again.

HTH,

[gurniel]

I'm a K-bike newbie, and looked at a 90 K100 this weekend. After my test ride there was just a couple drops behind the engine and in front of the tranny, at what looks like a drain hole. It was oily water. Is this indicative of a bad seal or a bad pump and what would it cost to fix?

HenryS
When I bought my "C" four years ago I had a coolant drip from the front. It turned out that a 50 cents O-ring had hardened up. This O-ring is between the water pump and the block. It was very easy to fix and no more drips.

Regarding the oil, it is easy to have a weep of oil from the crankcase cover (oil pan). This can blow back and appear to come from the drain hole below the clutch. This can happen if a jack is used to lift the bike by pressing on the crankcase cover. The solution to that type of drip is to take the crankcase cover (oil pan) off and use silicone to make a new gasket.

[HenryS]

Thanks guys, it was more water than oil. The guy had washed his bike before I saw it, but I would have thought that water would have cooked off.

HenryS