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Oil leak - don't know how serious - pics


marriedman

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After finding and reading the How-To on oil change and coolant flushing posted here I decided to go ahead and get started learning my bike. First issue to come to light is that the fairing screws are in need of replacement. Second discovery, I didn't have any clips to remove so I need to find those too.

Now, to the meat of my problem. After getting the fairings off, I was just looking at every nook and cranny. You know, the thing you should do before you buy a bike? I notice it is really greasy/oily, but discount it as maybe chain oil being flung around. So I look under the bike and I see that there is fresh oil seeping. Immediately anger level jumps to the point of irrational thought. I wanted this bike so bad I wasn't my usual thorough self and I may has seriously screwed the pooch.

Anyway, here is the first sight when the fairing is removed:

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Move in a little closer:

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And a different angle:

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Needless to say, I stopped the oil change before it started. No use putting new in if the damn thing is going to be taken apart. I just stopped, took some pictures and came inside. I didn't even try to see if they were just needing tightened. I cannot move forward until I get some direction. I am a computer nerd for godssake!

Any help would be appreciated.

Paul

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I just got a reply from an email I sent to the PO. He said that he used gear oil on the chain and that is most likely what I am seeing. WTF? Why would you use gear oil on a chain?

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Honda recommends gear oil For the chain on the owners manual.

It's probably off the chain. Clean the area, change the oil, and watch and see if the "leak" reoccurs.

I've not heard any rampant tales of leaking countershaft sprocket seals on Vfrs.

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What I would do is degrease the area thoroughly, take it for a ride and see if more oil appears or put it on the side stand and let it sit and see if more appears. How wet is the chain? Gear oil isn't unusual at all for rear chain lubrication, that's what I use, but that amount looks excessive. It almost looks like it might be leaking around the shift lever oil seal.

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I guess my first move would be to wipe it all down with an old rag and make sure I got everything nice and shiney. Keep riding it for another few days and then have another look. You still might see some residual gunk dripping slightly but I wouldn't expect to see the mess he apparently created there. With a little luck, an old rag or two might be the only cost in "repairing" this problem.

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Almost guaranteed to be from the chain being a little over oiled. Gear selector shaft leaks are very rare. Simple test, smell the oil, gear oil smell is very distinctive. Engine oil will have almost no smell.

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I'd go a step further, take the front sprocket cover off and clean all the crap out(and everyhing else), if you don't it's going to run out and make you think it's something else. It doesn't look like anything more than too much chain lube.

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OK, I have stepped away from the bike and walked the dog to calm down.

First thing to do is clean the hell out of the area. Got it, I can do that. I can be so retentive about cleanliness its not funny.

Clean the chain and re-lube it properly. Got it.

Go ahead and do the oil change. OK, I'll do that too.

I will report back after doing that stuff.

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Are there oil spots on your driveway/parking spot? If you engine is leaking, there is a good chance there will be evidence of it on your driveway.

Gear oil stinks. Give that stuff and whiff. That area gets real dirty and oily. Mine looks waaaaaaay worse, but then again, I stopped washin my bike a long time ago :). And no, no oil in my parking spot.

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OK, I have stepped away from the bike and walked the dog to calm down.

Dude, seriously? You want something to get mad at, choose things like bent valves or fried stators.

Even if you *had* a mid oil leak - and I don't think you do - they can be fixed easily enough. Don't stress!

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I just got a reply from an email I sent to the PO. He said that he used gear oil on the chain and that is most likely what I am seeing.

If it was oil leaking from the crank case then it would be pitch black. This looks like fresh oil to me, and gear oil works very well for lubing chains.

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Are there oil spots on your driveway/parking spot? If you engine is leaking, there is a good chance there will be evidence of it on your driveway.

Gear oil stinks. Give that stuff and whiff. That area gets real dirty and oily. Mine looks waaaaaaay worse, but then again, I stopped washin my bike a long time ago :). And no, no oil in my parking spot.

+1.

My 98 is my daily driver so I don't stress too much about how she looks and wash it whenever I get around to it. Even been thinkin about doing the Timmy paint job eventually. However, I do make sure that she is 100% mechanically sound. I tried many different waxes and stuff on the chain and I just settled on 90 weight. That area becomes a big mess in between the times that I actually wash and clean the bike. The 90 weight will drip down from the chain and side cover exactly in that area. Like others have said, smell the fluid and you should be able to figure out what kind of oil it is. Also, in the 30 + years I have been riding bikes I ave yet to see one leak around the shifter shaft. Clean it up and see what happens from there.

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Also, in the 30 + years I have been riding bikes I ave yet to see one leak around the shifter shaft.

Come look at my xr and I'll show you a leaking shifter shaft. Not common but it can happen

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OK, I have stepped away from the bike and walked the dog to calm down.

Dude, seriously? You want something to get mad at, choose things like bent valves or fried stators.

Even if you *had* a mid oil leak - and I don't think you do - they can be fixed easily enough. Don't stress!

I am a computer nerd, plain and simple. The fact that I am even attempting to do any work on my bike is hilarious to my friends and wife. I wanted a VFR so bad I wasn't as thorough as I should of been in my inspection and my haggling. I saw this gunky mess and fresh oil and feared the worse. Complete engine tear down or something along those lines.

Dammit, now I sound like a drama queen. This bike is just so much more complicated than mu Nighthawk!

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Also, in the 30 + years I have been riding bikes I ave yet to see one leak around the shifter shaft.

Come look at my xr and I'll show you a leaking shifter shaft. Not common but it can happen

Kind of what I was trying to explain. Not a very common thing to happen.

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OK, I have stepped away from the bike and walked the dog to calm down.

Dude, seriously? You want something to get mad at, choose things like bent valves or fried stators.

Even if you *had* a mid oil leak - and I don't think you do - they can be fixed easily enough. Don't stress!

I am a computer nerd, plain and simple. The fact that I am even attempting to do any work on my bike is hilarious to my friends and wife. I wanted a VFR so bad I wasn't as thorough as I should of been in my inspection and my haggling. I saw this gunky mess and fresh oil and feared the worse. Complete engine tear down or something along those lines.

Dammit, now I sound like a drama queen. This bike is just so much more complicated than mu Nighthawk!

They really are not that complex. Just get a factory service manual and it will walk you through most of the things you need to do to the bike. For things that you are not sure of this forum and web site will get you all the answers you need. Anyway, clean up that mess really good with some degreaser and ride it for a couple of weeks while keeping an eye on your oil level. I would bet that you will not see any oil accumulation.

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I am a computer nerd, plain and simple. The fact that I am even attempting to do any work on my bike is hilarious to my friends and wife.

LOL I'm a huge computer nerd too. But unlike a lot of nerds I guess I also love mechanical things.

Nerds are good for working on wiring harnesses and fuel injection too; most guys here focus on machining and construction (hi Seb!) but I focus my energies on what makes the bike decide to squirt fuel and when to make it go bang. Mind you I can strip a bike down to the frame and rebuild it so I guess I have some mechanical ability. It's all self-taught too, starting in about 2001 when I first pulled the carbs off my VT250.

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Speaking of service manuals, you can download a PDF version here at VFRD.

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Speaking of service manuals, you can download a PDF version here at VFRD.

http://www.vfrdiscus...l-part-a-and-b/

Yep, I got the owners manual and service manual. I combined the two part service manual and also did an OCR scan to it so that I am able to do searches on it. Enlightenment is only a CTRL+F away!

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If you pull the sprocket cover off pay attention to where the bolts go. One of them is ever so slightly shorter than the others and will strip threads if used in the wrong hole. DAMHIK!

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And watch for the clutch slave cylinder sneaking out of its bore when removed. Put a zip tie around the whole thing to keep the piston in place while it's removed and hanging there.

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Ok, thanks to this Guide: http://www.vfrdiscus...ush-oil-change/ I got both the oil change and radiator flushed this evening after doing some considerable cleaning on the areas I showed above.

First step was the cleaning.

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I cannot believe how much gunk I scraped off. Then the degreaser made more fall off. I had to degrease the toothbrush I was using several times. Next step was cleaning with dish soap & washrag followed by a gentle rinse from the garden hose. Just to be safe, I used compressed air to dry much of it.

The guide was wonderful, the pictures were incredibly helpful for me. I am not going to lie though. It was like watching Chaplin working on a motorcycle. Shit was splashing, getting knocked over, I was filthy, the driveway is even more filthy. I must have gone through 7 or 8 shop rags. In the end though, I think I did a good job. When I put it back in the garage after running it a while, it looks like I need to add some more oil, but I will wait until sunlight. I will also need to try burping it as I read that somewhere else.

The only bad thing is that by the time I was putting antifreeze mix in the reservoir. The sun was setting and the line I was looking at was a shadow and not coolant level. Will this hurt anything if it is above the top line? Do I need to siphon some out somehow?

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Remember that the oil level on the bike is checked when the bike is vertical (stand it up straight or put it on the center stand). If the bike is leaned on the side stand you will not get a true level.

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