Losing transmission oil
Posted: 01:49 pm Apr 23 2014
I took the bike (1990 E series) out for the first time yesterday for around a half an hour to try and tune in the idle adjustments (big elevations changes from my house to riding area) and to make sure everything was operating smoothly after I rebuilt my KIPS valves.
When I got home I checked a few things over to make sure everything was in working order. Topped off the coolant, pulled the plug (looked okay as far as I could tell), and checked tranny oil. Well there was hardly any tranny oil in the case. The drain plug was a little wet, but not soaked. Pulled the magneto cover and noticed a small amount of oil in the cover (which I knew of before) but nothing major. I then drained what oil I did have left and very little came out (nothing close to the .8Liters it takes).
Now I know from some research that the E series have a supposedly known problem with casing materials on the magneto side allowing small amounts of oil to seep through into the cover. It has something to do with the aluminum on one side and the casing materials being different, so one swells and creates a small oil leak (something like that). So I don't think this is the issue or the magneto side oil seal for that matter.
As far as the tranny side seal I'm not exactly sure how to tell if that would be bad, other than doing a leakdown test. But, correct me if I'm wrong, if that side seal was leaking, and I lost almost a quart of oil through it, wouldn't something have alerted me to this situation (I.e. motor issues, huge plums of smoke, etc...)?
If my memory serves me correctly the last time I checked the oil was at the end of last riding season. I know it hasn't been filled since the summer before that when I first purchased the bike. I'm going to fill it tonight and maybe ride it back and forth to work a couple times to see if I lose any more oil. I put a fresh drain plug gasket on when I put the fill plug back in last night.
Any help or insight is appreciated. Thanks
When I got home I checked a few things over to make sure everything was in working order. Topped off the coolant, pulled the plug (looked okay as far as I could tell), and checked tranny oil. Well there was hardly any tranny oil in the case. The drain plug was a little wet, but not soaked. Pulled the magneto cover and noticed a small amount of oil in the cover (which I knew of before) but nothing major. I then drained what oil I did have left and very little came out (nothing close to the .8Liters it takes).
Now I know from some research that the E series have a supposedly known problem with casing materials on the magneto side allowing small amounts of oil to seep through into the cover. It has something to do with the aluminum on one side and the casing materials being different, so one swells and creates a small oil leak (something like that). So I don't think this is the issue or the magneto side oil seal for that matter.
As far as the tranny side seal I'm not exactly sure how to tell if that would be bad, other than doing a leakdown test. But, correct me if I'm wrong, if that side seal was leaking, and I lost almost a quart of oil through it, wouldn't something have alerted me to this situation (I.e. motor issues, huge plums of smoke, etc...)?
If my memory serves me correctly the last time I checked the oil was at the end of last riding season. I know it hasn't been filled since the summer before that when I first purchased the bike. I'm going to fill it tonight and maybe ride it back and forth to work a couple times to see if I lose any more oil. I put a fresh drain plug gasket on when I put the fill plug back in last night.
Any help or insight is appreciated. Thanks