houseape1000 Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) Hi all, After a couple of hours riding today, as I was about to put the bike in the van I noticed a small amount of gearbox oil on the bash plate and the gbox overflow had done exactly that - but it looks kinda white where it leaves the box. I then noticed that the sight glass was showing as though the gearbox was full with frothy oil....bugger! On returning home and unloading the bike I noticed the oil level was back to normal in the sight glass - about 4mm above the bottom and didn't look frothy at all. I then checked the water level and that's ok. I started the bike and left it running for about a minute and nothing happened - no overflow. ( I know I should have let her get up to temp but I didn't ) What could have caused the overflow in the first place and should I be worried ? It does seem to froth up a little more than usual but that might just be my imagination. BTW the oil is now 3.5 hrs old after today. Edited March 3, 2013 by houseape1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jse Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi all, After a couple of hours riding today, as I was about to put the bike in the van I noticed a small amount of gearbox oil on the bash plate and the gbox overflow had done exactly that - but it looks kinda white where it leaves the box. I then noticed that the sight glass was showing as though the gearbox was full with frothy oil....bugger! On returning home and unloading the bike I noticed the oil level was back to normal in the sight glass - about 4mm above the bottom and didn't look frothy at all. I then checked the water level and that's ok. I started the bike and left it running for about a minute and nothing happened - no overflow. ( I know I should have let her get up to temp but I didn't ) What could have caused the overflow in the first place and should I be worried ? It does seem to froth up a little more than usual but that might just be my imagination. BTW the oil is now 3.5 hrs old after today. It might be the type of oil you are running. ATF, for instance, has a special anti-foaming additive. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 It might be the type of oil you are running. ATF, for instance, has a special anti-foaming additive. Jon I should have stated - I'm using Castrol ATF dexron 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telecat Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 I'd check the Overflow pipe and Make sure it does not have a hole in it close to the Breather and make sure the Breather is pushed it tight and the tube should also be a nice tight fit on the Breather. Water can get drawn in any little hole in the tube or Breather and they can be hard to spot especially if they on on the inside of the pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 I'd check the Overflow pipe and Make sure it does not have a hole in it close to the Breather and make sure the Breather is pushed it tight and the tube should also be a nice tight fit on the Breather. Water can get drawn in any little hole in the tube or Breather and they can be hard to spot especially if they on on the inside of the pipe. I will check later but the bike didn't get wet at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 With engine started and idling - normally I can see the gbox oil kind of swirling around gently but staying at roughly the same level. When giving it a few revs the oil level starts to rise a bit but usually staying within the sight glass. At the moment when giving it a few revs the oil seems to rise and fill the sight glass - as if there's too much in there. I hope the description makes sense. I thought at first that it must be the water pump seal but as the water is NOT contaminated and has NOT dropped I assume the seal is fine. Another thought was blown crank seals thus pressurizing the gearbox - don't know if it's even possible but it was just a thought. My REAL question is - should I ride the trial on Sunday as is and keep an eye on it, or should I be stripping the clutch cover off and investigating a bit further. It hasn't done this before - to the best of my knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 RIDE IT UNTIL IT REALLY BREAKS!!!!!!! If that is the only wierd thing it is doing I would ride it and try to pinpoint the cause during the trial. The only way you will see how it acts to different things is if you ride it. If it is idling odd or reving funny or things like that, that may point towards crank seals and should not ride it sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0007 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Zippy has good advice there, ride and diagnose On one other point, the crank case won't pressurize the gearbox, it would vacuum it due to the nature of the system Also, contaminated oils do have a greater tendency to foam, is this the first time you used this brand? Was your last ride a high speed road section maybe? That can move oil into the breather and then it will kind of syphon You could put an air hose in the filler and GENTLY move air through to clear out the breather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Hi, thanks for replies. I didn't do any big hill climbs or long runs or anything, just putted around as usual. Well...the water smells like water, the oil smells like oil, and the fuel smells like fuel. I will change the oil again though just to be sure, although it is only 3.5 hrs old. I will try to get out for an hour midweek if poss and then post my findings. Failing that I will ride Sunday and keep an eye on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) is it the water pump seal? Edited March 5, 2013 by nigel dabster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tape over the sight glass ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Tape over the sight glass ! Ha ha ha ha ha......can't believe I never thought of that ! I assume it works like the radio in a mk 1 ford fiesta - just keep turning the volume up to cover up the noises.....one day though you will run out of volume and then ? Bigger Stereo !!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseape1000 Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Ok, so the oil is dripping from the side case and not from the breather as first thought - the bottom of the breather pipe is dirty white but I can see clearly now that it's not got oil in it....especially as I plugged a syringe into it and sucked the air out and nothing happened...the air moved freely. Someone has put two gaskets on the side case so I presume leaking is quite common - at least for this bike. I will order gaskets next week and go from there. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 I would believe that a single gasket would seal better than two gaskets. (insert long lengthy explanation of what I am thinking involving sealing surfaces of gasket and surfaces of cases) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sting32 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I have seen and used a thicker black gasket, for the clutch cover, that seems 10x better than the crappy little paper thin gaskets. Problem is I don't know where they come from. I bet lewissport (if your in USA) can get them. Ask around where you guys have more dealers and parts vendors overseas.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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