oil leak

[SilentTJ]

so i walked outside the other day about to leave for class. put my gear on top of my car, and went back in the gate to bring the kat out. i noticed a small mostly dry puddle next to it. my first thought being some rain water that collected and didn't dry as fast, but then i remembered it hasn't rained in days. i looked at the side of the bike, and there was small amounts of oil apparently leaking from somewhere. i've looked, and can't quite tell what the problem is. i'm not the most mechanically inclined, but i'm certainly. i got some pics here to help show what's going on.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y202/SilentTJ823/IMG_1727.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y202/SilentTJ823/IMG_1728.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y202/SilentTJ823/IMG_1730.jpg

i can't quite tell if it's coming from the cover there, or a tiny crack i can't see. it's an 04 with about 24k miles on it. i bought it with a little over 20k back in january. any advice is helpful.

[redkatana]

I had an oil leak on my bike that I could never figure out. It is hard to find the source because the wind is pushing the oil down the bike. I replaced my valve cover gasket. The copper washer at the cam plug....I replaced it again and still had no luck. It made me so mad. If you can find the source it should be an easy fix. But that is easier said than done. Good luck.

[thetable]

If you have a UV light, just pick up some oil dye, otherwise, you should be able to pick up a kit complete with light for not a whole lot of money. Most autoparts stores will stock the dye. It should make it pretty easy to see where the leak is coming from. From the pics, it looks almost like the source is the bottom front bolt on the starter cover.

Things to remember, oil won't run uphill, but a bike does lean, particularly on a side stand. My Buell has an oil leak (yeah, I know, there's a surprise...) on the right side, that drips on the left side of the bike.

[SilentTJ]

yeah, it has to be something very small, because this isn't a major leak. it's very slowly slowly slooooooowly dripping out. the oil level has gone down a very small amount over a week now. i haven't been riding since i noticed it last week, so i don't have that problem of the wind hiding the source. i can see where it's coming from, just not the why...

also... i thought about the whole 'leaning' maybe being an issue, and so hoped maybe it was a loose drain bolt, or filter, but i've had it on the center stand a few days now, and the oil appears in the same spot. i've checked the tightness on all the allen bolts there. i'll look into that uv light and dye.

[squiggy]

If you have a UV light, just pick up some oil dye, otherwise, you should be able to pick up a kit complete with light for not a whole lot of money. Most autoparts stores will stock the dye. It should make it pretty easy to see where the leak is coming from.

That's what I'll be using. I have a small oil leak that I haven't been able to figure out where it's coming from as well. I bought a Tracerline package for the purpose of leak detection when I repaired my auto A/C. Also in the kit is oil UV dye that I'm going to use on the Kat next time I do an oil change.

[Mojoe]

imho, it is just your gasket. every once in a while you need to tighten things up a bit as gaskets will shrink a bit with heat and age...allowing for leaks. I am betting that if you snug the cover up tighter, it will stop the leak...possibly. if not, a new gasket will.

[SilentTJ]

yeah... i'm gonna go over everything and give it a good tighten, do a fresh oil change, and hope all is well while keeping a close eye on it.

[kevin2502000]

I'd put money on the cover itself or just the gasket, especially since it looks like it's been laid down on the cover.

[uno]

Deja vu! I have a very similar leak, the starter cover gasket has been replaced and fixed twice by the dealership in the past 1500 miles, and I still have the leak. However, mine only happens while the bike is running, and it likes to spray all over my shoe.

More than likely I will bring the bike back (again) next week and see what they have to say about it.

Good luck with yours.

[Islandsteve]

Same thing happened to me, the left side cover of my crankcase bubbled out oil in a spot whenever the bike was hot. I need to replace the gasket.

My bad if this is pointless, but I'm on an iPhone and it's a pain to view things but make sure there's adequate oil in the engine, take the plastics off, then bring it to operating temperature and carefully inspect every bit of that block.

[JokerZwild]

imho, it is just your gasket. every once in a while you need to tighten things up a bit as gaskets will shrink a bit with heat and age...allowing for leaks. I am betting that if you snug the cover up tighter, it will stop the leak...possibly. if not, a new gasket will.