Need oil leak advice for R1100RT

[perniculous]

My bike is bleeding and I'm not sure which bolts are safe to retorque. From the pics below can anyone see what I might try? FYI the bike is '98 and has 17,000 miles on it.

Tankz

add: the sight glass is usually gunked up with oil, as well as the shiny 6 sided head at the bottom of that tube on the lower rh corner of the pic. I had wiped them off.

[perniculous]

And another shot:

[queretaro]

It looks like a problem at the gasket between the cylinder head and the block. see part 10 on: http://maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/MainDiagrams.asp?mospid=48862
regards,
Mark

[perniculous]

It looks like a problem at the gasket between the cylinder head and the block. see part 10 on: http://maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/MainDiagrams.asp?mospid=48862
regards,
Mark

Thanks man. So tighten those and I'll send the valves out of whack huh?

Ok, well, deferred winter project!

[queretaro]

Valves are easy to adjust. But before you torque the head bolts take a look at the upper connection of that oil line. That connection is probably behind the fairing. The leak may be there.
regards,

[DrPaul]

You've received some good ideas. But you now need to determine exactly where the leak is. Clean the area very thoroughly using a good degreaser that won't damage rubber or plastic parts. Then dust the area with talc. If the leak is pressure-induced, you may have to start her up and let it warm up to operating temp to find it. The oil temp (or is it pressure?) sending unit just to the right of the sight glass was a source of a very slow leak on my '02 R1150RT.

[perniculous]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Any merit to adding some dye to the oil to find the leak? Never used that stuff before, would I bleed off some oil then add more with the dye in it?

[John Brase]

I recently had a similar oil accumulation, though not as bad as yours. Mine's an RS though so it is not hidden behind the fairing and I probably just noticed it sooner.

My leak was traced to the oil sight gasket and replacing the sight glass cured it. I see in your picture that your sight glass gasket seems to sit flush with the outer edge of the casting. Mine sits 2mm deep measured from the casting to the surface of the gasket.

Is your sight glass trying to escape?

John

[bikerfish1100]

You've received some good ideas. But you now need to determine exactly where the leak is. Clean the area very thoroughly using a good degreaser that won't damage rubber or plastic parts. Then dust the area with talc. If the leak is pressure-induced, you may have to start her up and let it warm up to operating temp to find it. The oil temp (or is it pressure?) sending unit just to the right of the sight glass was a source of a very slow leak on my '02 R1150RT.

This is the only advice that i would follow in this thread. Not much sense in trying to fix a leak when you don't really know where it is, right? Every other recommendation (sight glass leak, oil line leak, cylinder base gasket leak, etc) is just supposition, based on their own experience- but those conditions may have no bearing whatsoever upon your situation.

talc after a thorough cleaning should work fine; i would not bother with an oil dye.

[flars]

Looks like the oil pressure sending unit is leaking, but you need to clean the mess off. Restarting the engine for a second or two will probably show where the leak is, but you may need to a little talcum powder on the area to be sure.
The sending unit just screws into the block after pulling the wire off, so it is a two minute job to replace. I had the same thing happen to my RS.

[BluegrassPicker]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Any merit to adding some dye to the oil to find the leak? Never used that stuff before, would I bleed off some oil then add more with the dye in it?

I tried UV dye and never could see anything. ( maybe I'm colorblind to it )

[perniculous]

Ok, I degreased the crap out of that thing tonight. P - U. :rocker

Leak, I shall find thee and smite thine porous countenance.

[tkbaker4]

The sending unit just screws into the block after pulling the wire off, so it is a two minute job to replace. I had the same thing happen to my RS.

Looks like my oil pressure sending unit is leaking also on my RS. Should I tighten? Teflon tape it and reinstall? Replace? Inquiring minds want to know.....

[lazywizard02]

Ahem, be prepared for a head gasket failure. Breathe deep, its not that big a deal. On your second picture, the upper inside corner is the weakest area of the gasket. The new gaskets are improved.

My humble opinion, once it has leaked, change it. There are lots of threads on methods but as you do it, you also get a shot at uprating your cam tensioners, if needed, as well as the intermediate o-rings. It is also a great time to inspect and change the timing belt even though your miles are low.

These problems often erupt if the initial head torque at 600 miles did not take place. But do not despair. A tech session or experienced friend and a couple of 6 packs and you'll have a very fresh well tuned bike.

Oh, yeah, even though you are breaking her down a little early on the clock for it, change the fuel filter and tune the TB sync.

Another 19,000 miles and she will be broken in and you can switch to synthetic and 6k oil changes.

[breyfogle]

Looks like my oil pressure sending unit is leaking also on my RS. Should I tighten? Teflon tape it and reinstall? Replace? Inquiring minds want to know.....

If it is torqued correctly and it is still leaking, the only repair is to replace it with a new one.

[tkbaker4]

If it is torqued correctly and it is still leaking, the only repair is to replace it with a new one.

I'll check the torque. I assume it's listed in the Clymer or Haynes. You don't know it off hand, do you?

[perniculous]

Ahem, be prepared for a head gasket failure. Breathe deep, its not that big a deal. On your second picture, the upper inside corner is the weakest area of the gasket. The new gaskets are improved.

My humble opinion, once it has leaked, change it. There are lots of threads on methods but as you do it, you also get a shot at uprating your cam tensioners, if needed, as well as the intermediate o-rings. It is also a great time to inspect and change the timing belt even though your miles are low.

These problems often erupt if the initial head torque at 600 miles did not take place. But do not despair. A tech session or experienced friend and a couple of 6 packs and you'll have a very fresh well tuned bike.

Oh, yeah, even though you are breaking her down a little early on the clock for it, change the fuel filter and tune the TB sync.

Another 19,000 miles and she will be broken in and you can switch to synthetic and 6k oil changes.


Well after a thorough degrease and observation after riding, the leak is definitely coming from the head gasket. It looks to me as I look at other areas around the head that there is squeeze out like it wasn't a cut gasket per se, but some kind of liquid gasket. I'll keep an eye on the other areas but they were completely dry.

I would guess many of you know this, but I used regular degreaser to get the major stuff off, then switched to electric contact cleaner which took off the degreaser leftover "shine." My preferred degreaser, CRC heavy duty, is no longer allowed to be sold in Michigan.

[flars]

"..Looks like my oil pressure sending unit is leaking also on my RS. Should I tighten..."
They usually leak around the internal diaphragm, so tighening it ain't gonna work so you will have to replace it.