SuzukiSavage.com - Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak here?

allerretour

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Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak here?
08/22/10 at 20:48:34

I pulled my bike out of 13 years of storage and have it running, but there is an oil leak right here:

It looks pretty clean in that photo because I cleaned it off with engine cleaner so I could better see how fast the oil was leaking, but if I drive down the road for just 3 or 4 miles, I can see a noticeable amount of oil seep out and start to spread onto the cooling fins.

At first, I thought that this might be due to the oil plug under the head cover that everyone is always complaining about. That might still be the problem, but when I pulled the head cover, that plug appears to be fairly snug. It's not askew or loose to the touch, although I suppose it could appear to be OK, but still leak. But I also think that I've read that, when that oil plug starts to leak, the oil seeps out the front of the engine (and frequently falls on the exhaust pipe). Mine is leaking out the back. I'm really not very experienced regarding motorcycle repair, but nothing looks obviously wrong to me under the head cover.

Any educated guesses on what might be causing a leak in this spot?

By the way, it's an 88 Savage. Thanks.

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« Last Edit: 08/23/10 at 06:54:40 by allerretour »

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Jive--FSO Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Posts: 80 Beckley, WV	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #1 - 08/22/10 at 21:04:16 I noticed I have a bit of oil in that spot as well. Interesting to find out where it is coming from.
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28884 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #2 - 08/22/10 at 21:07:21 it takes rtv to seal it up. there's a lot of pressure due to the breather, so once oil gets around the plug, it gets blown out. 2nd possibility, you're about to fix. bad seal around the head cover. 3rd, there's been one case where a pore opened up in the casting.
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BurnPgh

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Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he
Reply #3 - 08/22/10 at 21:08:57

Had the same thing. Plug leak. When you're revving the plug leaks more and when you revving you're moving and all the leaking oil gets blown through that little tunnel. The plug might be snug but it needs RTV sealant to do its job. Especially those old style "shot glass" plugs. The newer ones are much more substantial.

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RTC Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 260 El Paso, TX (Ft. Bliss) Gender:	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #4 - 08/23/10 at 07:15:51 i had oil there too before i did the plug leak fix. my plug was snug as well, but as said, it opens up when reving. it's a quick easy fix once youre in there.
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allerretour

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Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he
Reply #5 - 08/23/10 at 07:17:09

Thanks for the replies.

So, if I understand correctly, the most likely candidates are that plug leaking (even though it appears snug) and a bad seal on the head cover (which I'll have to seal up when I put the cover back on). So if I replace that plug and do a good job of sealing it and the head cover, I've got an OK chance of fixing it, right? I'll give that a try. Hope it works. Thanks again for the replies.

By the way, I do have the "shot glass" style plug, so I'll get the newer one when I replace it. They are interchangeable, right?

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28884 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #6 - 08/23/10 at 08:51:56 yes interchangeable.
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allerretour

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Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he
Reply #7 - 08/23/10 at 16:20:17

OK, I'm ordering that plug through the internet (local dealer didn't have it in stock) and I'm going to run to the local O'Reilly's to buy the RTV silicone. After reading through the forums, I think that the Permatex Grey should work for me (besides, their website says it works in high-vibration environments, which sounds like it was made for the Savage

)

Still a question on where I put the sealant though, while I'm waiting for the plug to arrive.

I'm going to put a thin line of the grey silicone down (after a thorough cleaning

) everywhere that I've marked in yellow. I'm not going to put it where there is red. And I'm not sure about the blue part, but I think it's no. Can anyone confirm this?

Also, I read a few things about putting the engine at TDC, but a) I don't know how to do this, and b) I haven't touched the timing chain, so I think I can just replace it without any changes. Please give me a heads up if I'm making a fatal mistake.

Muchas gracias.

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28884 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #8 - 08/23/10 at 18:27:23 do all, not so much as it needs to sealed (blue does, red doesn't) but to be even. apply a thin coat, install and hand tighten only, let set, then torque to requirement.
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ralfyguy Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 932	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #9 - 08/24/10 at 04:56:58 Dang that bike was really sitting for 13 years?
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #10 - 08/24/10 at 05:02:14 The sealer crushed out & the valve clearances went to about ZERO. Watch out.
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allerretour YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 9	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #11 - 08/24/10 at 07:30:07 ralfyguy wrote on 08/24/10 at 04:56:58: Dang that bike was really sitting for 13 years? Yep. I had a job out of the country that I thought would last a year or two, so I put it in my brother's garage. A year or two turned into 13.
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allerretour YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 9	Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he Reply #12 - 08/24/10 at 07:31:03 justin_o_guy2 wrote on 08/24/10 at 05:02:14: The sealer crushed out & the valve clearances went to about ZERO. Watch out. Sorry, but I don't know anything about valve clearances. Is there something I should be doing? How can you tell from the photo above?
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verslagen1

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Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he
Reply #13 - 08/24/10 at 08:56:01

allerretour wrote on 08/24/10 at 07:31:03:

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 08/24/10 at 05:02:14:

The sealer crushed out & the valve clearances went to about ZERO. Watch out.

Sorry, but I don't know anything about valve clearances. Is there something I should be doing? How can you tell from the photo above?

I think he's referring to the instructions I gave you for the sealer.

Quote:

apply a thin coat, install and hand tighten only, let set, then torque to requirement.

And he's mistakenly said valve when he meant cam.

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allerretour

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Re: Any guesses on what would cause an oil leak he
Reply #14 - 08/24/10 at 14:11:33

You know, I pulled that plug today and it wasn't as snug as I thought. I yanked it out pretty easy, and there was no seal on it anywhere, so I bet that thing was leaking (in addition to maybe the head seal). It seems like a pretty flimsy piece.

Another question. LWRider over on the Motorcyle Forum (he posts here too, I've seen) suggested replacing the shaft end seal too. Would that be a good thing to do at the same time? A thin strip of the rubber had come off of it and was stuck on the head cover, which I had to scrap off. That left the shaft end seal a bit rough. I would think that the silicone might be able to fill in the gaps, but I suppose it's safer to replace it, no?

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