oil leak

[paysaw]

I was out running my VR83 and stopped for ice cream,When I came out I noticed an oil leak under my bike.My bike never leaked anything.I did not think about it untill I got home.As soon as I turned it off,oil poured out from the middle of the kick stand area.It stopped after a few secs.I started it and it did not leak at all.Turned it off and leaked repeated its self.I have not investigated yet.Does anyone have any ideas where I should be looking?Thanks all....Ray:confused:

[mbrood]

Just in front of the side stand is the left engine side cover and the timing pickup and alternator wiring exit through a rubber grommet at the rear... It sounds like with the engine turning and the oil splashing around, it's leaking there and when you stop the bike the oil level drops below that point... you would do well to pull the middle gear cover and check... the bottom bolt has a copper washer as it's a "through bolt" into the engine so that needs to be the last bolt out and quickly put back in when the middle gear cover comes off. Yeah, you'll probably need a new middle gear cover gasket !

 

It might not leak when on the center stand or when rolling down the street, but leaned over on the side stand aggrivates the oil level on that side.

[curtised]

If it's never leaked before, and you haven't had the side cover off for stator replacement or starter clutch repair, I'd buy oil seals for the shifter rod and clutch rod (behind slave cylinder), and an o-ring for the gear indicator sending unit. Do them all while your in there.

[MiCarl]

I'll second the leaking at the grommet.

 

When the motorcycle is running the rotor and starter clutch throw oil up there. Then it takes some time to run down between the covers where it leaks out right above the side stand.

 

To convince yourself you can pull the rubber plug at the clutch slave bleeder and pack some tissue in there. Run it for a few minutes and see if the tissue comes out oil soaked.

[paysaw]

Well I checked and the leak happens after a run.It seems to be coming from under the or near the middle gear cover.Thanks for the insite.I am going to attempt to order the parts from my dealer. When I talk about my bike to them , they give me funny looks.Does anyone know if there is a kit I can buy online for this problem.?

Thanks all.

[friesman]

most of the dealers cant beleive we are still riding bikes that are over 25 years old. I dont know of a kit but you can look up what you need in the parts fiche area at www.partshark.com , here is a link to their oem parts page http://www.partshark.com/fiche_select2.asp?category=Motorcycles&make=Yamaha&year=1984&fveh=81

 

I usually look up my part numbers in here before i go to the dealer because of the hard time these dealers give me about riding an older bike.

 

Brian

[paysaw]

Thanks for your help Brian,

[MiCarl]

If your leak is indeed at the grommet you're not going to find a "part" to fix the problem. The grommet is part of the stator so replacing it is an expensive proposition. Of course you'll need the gaskets for the left side cover and middle gear cover.

 

Many leaks at the grommet are oil wicking along where the wires pass through the rubber. Use a solvent to clean the oil off (I think I used carb cleaner). The grommet should be able to slide on the wires so you can slide it along and clean the wires where they pass inside the grommet too.

 

Once everything is dry, put some RTV on the wires and slide the grommet back to it's original position. Have a beer while the RTV sets up.

 

On mine there was an additional problem: The grommet appeared to have shrunk to where it didn't completely fill the U shaped hole in the cover and left a gap at the gasket surface. On my 2nd try I caught this and solved it by putting a bead of RTV on the end of the grommet before assembly.

 

This is all way easier than the description sounds.

[paysaw]

What is RTV and where do I get it?

[mrich12000]

Black RTV, available at Canadian Tire,Carqwest,Napa, @$ 4.69 Cost..

Also Like it was said before;

 

Shifter shaft seal, middle gear cover gasket.

That was my problem. DO The shifter shaft seal to.

I had the same problem and sealed it with a new seal for the neutral switch "O" ring. go to part-shark fiche and look up the parts as it takes a week to get these parts from Yamaha's warehouse in Toronto,Ontario .. Good luck.

 

 

PS the bike needs to be raised to access the Shifter shaft, or a jack stand(placed on the engine guard) to Lean on at @ 60 deg. Lean.. Hope this helps..Michael in Calgary..

Edited August 5, 2010 by mrich12000
VRs content abuse thought I swore writing shifter lol

[friesman]

What is RTV and where do I get it?

 

I think the RTV is "room temperature Vulcanizing" rubber. Mine leaked thru that grommet and I had a bear of a time getting it stopped. I finally gave up and took it to a 1st gen friendly dealer about 2 hours from home and to their mechanic named Harley (i thought that was funny working in a yamaha dealer). What he did to stop the leak that I didnt was he put rtv on both sides of the grommet and pulled the wire back and forth thru thr grommet a few times to make sure the RTV was all the way thru the grommet. ( He also really cleaned the wires and grommet real well with some good degreaser to get rid of any traces of oil and then washed the degreaser off with a new clean rag and said he waited for it to dry before applying the RTV)

 

I hope this helps you out a bit.

 

Bria

[Flyinfool]

I think the RTV is "room temperature Vulcanizing" rubber. Mine leaked thru that grommet and I had a bear of a time getting it stopped. I finally gave up and took it to a 1st gen friendly dealer about 2 hours from home and to their mechanic named Harley (i thought that was funny working in a yamaha dealer). What he did to stop the leak that I didnt was he put rtv on both sides of the grommet and pulled the wire back and forth thru thr grommet a few times to make sure the RTV was all the way thru the grommet. ( He also really cleaned the wires and grommet real well with some good degreaser to get rid of any traces of oil and then washed the degreaser off with a new clean rag and said he waited for it to dry before applying the RTV)

 

I hope this helps you out a bit.

 

Bria

 

That is what I did to mine as well.

You have to very thoroughly clean the oil off of the wires. The wires are cloth covered and you have to get all of the oil out of the cloth. Nothing sticks to oil.

 

I used brake cleaner to flush all of the oil out of the cloth insulation on the wires, both sides of the grommet.

Let it dry completely.

Put on a liberal coat of the black RTV and work it into the cloth of the wires, both sides.

Let it dry 24 hours before reassembly.

[curtised]

Starting fluid works great to clean oil out of cloth. It also evaporates faster than almost any other solvent.

[dingy]

I am having a slight drip out of the left side on mine also. Sealing washer on bottom of middle drive cover was dry. Drip is forming on floor an inch or so ahead of bottom bolt on middle drive cover.

 

I thought I might have a leaking side cover gasket, so I got new ones for stator and mid drive cover.

 

When I pulled covers off, it was dry as a bone in behind middle drive cover. No leaks around gear indicator, shift shaft or stator & pickup wires.

 

Cleaned surfaces, no cracks or nicks found. Coated both sides of gasket with sealer, which I will regret next time I need to pull them, and replaced covers.

 

I still have the drip. Next culprit may be a leak in the oil pan. Or possibly a loose case fastener. Doesn't always drip just once in a while. Enough to be a source of irritation due to the ribbing from my Harley friends.

 

This coincidentally started around the time when I put the Harley drivers backrest on the bike. Might be a virus.

 

 

Gary

[Props]

Had the same leak at the 6 o'clock area of the stator cover and fought it for over a year... had the dang thing apart at least 10 times... there was a thread about it here somewhere...

 

Anyway... tried everything including new factory gaskets... thicker cut gaskets... double gaskets.... sealers of all types... etc. Zyglo'd the case and cover for cracks... flatness checked same... all good and still leaked. Replaced shifter seal and anything else in the area that might have contributed... still leaked.

 

Happened upon Anaerobics 2-part sealer at NAPA... really expensive... but by this time was desperate... so on the sealer went with a fresh factory gasket. Have put on about 20k miles in the last year and not so much as a glimmer of oil since... woohoo!

 

Good luck... I know how frustrating it can be... almost makes you think a HD spirit took her over!

[friesman]

I am having a slight drip out of the left side on mine also. Sealing washer on bottom of middle drive cover was dry. Drip is forming on floor an inch or so ahead of bottom bolt on middle drive cover.

 

I thought I might have a leaking side cover gasket, so I got new ones for stator and mid drive cover.

 

When I pulled covers off, it was dry as a bone in behind middle drive cover. No leaks around gear indicator, shift shaft or stator & pickup wires.

 

Cleaned surfaces, no cracks or nicks found. Coated both sides of gasket with sealer, which I will regret next time I need to pull them, and replaced covers.

 

I still have the drip. Next culprit may be a leak in the oil pan. Or possibly a loose case fastener. Doesn't always drip just once in a while. Enough to be a source of irritation due to the ribbing from my Harley friends.

 

This coincidentally started around the time when I put the Harley drivers backrest on the bike. Might be a virus.

 

 

Gary

 

 

Hi Gary

Mabbe check your nuetral switch, its in behind when you pull off the middle gear cover. Mine had a crack in and would kinda sweat oil. Also my oil level sensor switch was leaking around the oring. For a while it seemed my 85 was leaking outta everywhere.

 

Brian

[dvuch1]

I have had a small oil leak around the left side middle gear/kick stand area......leaks a few minutes after a ride.....After a decent looksie..i believe it is coming from what appears to be a drain hole in the rubber cover surrounding the driveshaft /middle gear area. On a parts schematic I see part #18 Oil seal type S part # 93101-35085-00 . http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1986/XVZ1300DS%20-%20VENTURE%20ROYALE/MIDDLE%20DRIVE%20GEAR/parts.html

 

I dont see the rubber cover on this schematic but has anyone had this seal give out and leak out of the rubber cover? 1986 Venture 1300 Thanks Dave

[frankd]

Yes, my 83 had this seal go bad. I tolerated it for several years, and when it got a little worse I replaced it. You have to pull the pinion gear out of the engine. Then as I remember Yammie wants you to measure the force necessary to rotate the pinion and then unbolt the U-joint yoke and replace the seal. Then you tighten the yoke nut back up so that it takes the same force to turn the bearing over. My bike had over 100K at the time, so the bearing was well broke in and didn't require enough force for me to measure with my inch/pound wrench. I marked the bolt andthe yoke with a punch mark. Then I carefully counted how many turns it took to remove the nut. When I put it back together, I just rotated the nut the same number of turns and lined up the punch mark. It worked for me. I also replaced the U-joint while I had it apart.

 

Frank