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Oil Leak

Cruncher

Guest
Guest
Oh wise people in this forum.

Before I start removing sh!t to track down the oil leak, does anyone have any idea where this is coming from? I also see oil on the underside of the airbox, but only on the clutch side of the airbox. The oil is getting onto the exhaust on the left side and causing that smoky stuff whenever I am stopped. I thought it was coming from the water pump at first, but after removing the fairings, I can see that it the area around the pump is clean.  :beerchug:
 

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Wow. What a mess. I would thoroughly clean the area and then take it for a quick ride. No way to tell from the picture as the oil is everywhere.
 
Could all this have started from previous overfills of oil that end up in the airbox?  Park bike on the side stand and then whatever is inside runs to the clutch side.  Eventually the oil finds it's way out of the airbox and everything beneath it.
 
Bud said:
Could all this have started from previous overfills of oil that end up in the airbox?  Park bike on the side stand and then whatever is inside runs to the clutch side.  Eventually the oil finds it's way out of the airbox and everything beneath it.

Well that's a possibility. I just got the bike a year ago, and I have no idea about the previous owner. All I can say is, that he did not maintain the bike. I have so many little things that needed attention. For instance, the bike was running on 3 cylinders. I did know this until I started to pull the plugs right after I bought it, and found the first plug on the left  cylinder was all rusty. I deduced that the bike was left outside in the rain on the side stand and water pooled above that plug and seeped inside.

Thanks for that idea. Cheers.
 
Bud said:
SISF chimes in on this thread about the most common causes of your problem.  If you have the same problem as the OP in this thread, then I would be wrong.  Turned out to be the o-ring on the alternator.  Make sure and read this thread.  HTH
http://forum.cog-online.org/concours-c10-zg1000-general-chat-and-tech/concours-newbie-with-headache-mystery-oil-leak-on-left-side/

I believe you are right on with this. The water pump are is clean. However the air box is definitely suspect. I will have to clean the sh!t out of this. Thanks again bud.
 

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does the bike have a K&N Oiled airfilter? that was possibly oversaturated (common mistake) with oil?
Other than that, you really have to "overfill" by a lot, to make it puke up thru the case vent.. but if the vent tube becomes dislodged from the air box, it does tend to make a mess...
as for the water pump oil seal, the number one cause for it's failure IS over filling the oil...

picture below is, black arrow is pointing to the 'weep' hole where it comes out when the seal is bad....
 

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another pic, it is buried on the bottom, and only can be seen from the underside of the engine,
a mirror and flashlight help...
 

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If someone doesn't pull both drain plugs, is that enough of an overfill to start sending oil to the airbox?  Here's a scary thought.  What if the one drain plug that gets pulled is the one that doesn't hold much oil?  Throw in a site glass that is useless and someone that isn't familiar or mechanically minded and it can go to heck in a hand basket quickly.
 
MAN OF BLUES said:
another pic, it is buried on the bottom, and only can be seen from the underside of the engine,
a mirror and flashlight help...

Yessir, I have a leak there also. I have a seal and o-ring kit, so I will have to tackle that one also.

Thanks, MOB.
 
Cruncher,
FYI,  MOB has posted that you may get some oil seepage until the water pump clears any residual oil, so don't get antsy if you see some oil drips after installing and running the bike for awhile with your re-sealed water pump.
 
Bob_C_CT said:
Cruncher,
FYI,  MOB has posted that you may get some oil seepage until the water pump clears any residual oil, so don't get antsy if you see some oil drips after installing and running the bike for awhile with your re-sealed water pump.

that is correct, and I hope Cruncher actually bought the "seal", meaning the actual "shaft seal"... I always recommend coating that seals perimeter with red "gel LocTite bearing/seal" product before insertion also...  let it cure for 4-8 hours near a "lightbulb" for heat,
 
Water pump now has new O-rings and seal.
I ordered an o-ring and that seal before pulling the water pump on my 2002 Concourse at about 50K miles. It was leaking oil t seep hole. Wished I had pulled cover off water pump first, because the excessive play at impeller showed I needed a new water pump. Got one from Murphs. Then made mistake of using the 92055-1424 RING-O,33.2X2.4 (Kawasaki) $3.38 from Partzilla.com Order (11-1098333) . I had a slight leak after about 200 miles on this new water pump install; and pretty sure is was from the inferior o-ring obtained from Partzilla; because when I compared it to stock o-ring included with the genuine Kawasaki water pump and o-ring from Murphs, that Partzilla supplied o-ring was visually thinner/ plus with just 200 miles on it, it was slightly pitted on the seal surface via a magnified glass examination. IMO: Genuine Kawasaki O-rings are a much better bet than those non stock o-rings. That was one of my personal lessons that another experienced mechanic buddy agrees with.
 
Most of my orders from Partzilla come in genuine Kawasaki packaging.
Was the O-ring not in a Kawasaki bag?
Curious
 
new O-rings
Make sure to get a genuine Kawasaki O-ring ... or you might be sorry. I had a new waterpump leak at that o-ring after about 200 miles, and later found out the generic sized o-ring I used on that replacement was inferior in both material and supposed dimension (it was thinner, plus when examined with magnifying glass at 200 miles, had slight pits type wear at rubber ring material) ... Heads Up on that part of picture.. That story was for my 2002 Concours/ w me doing all my own wrenching.
 
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