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Tuacathach

Oil leak

22 posts in this topic

Hi guys,

 

one thing i noticed on my bike not long after i got it was a small oil leak that developed after the bike was running, It only happens when the bike has been running and oil is hot. 

 

At first i went around the bike and i couldnt see anything obvious. i cleaned down the engine, went over all the nuts etc and also the oil filter to make sure that there was nothing there.

 

I noticed recently that he oil cooing hose on the right hand side of the bike is a little oily and after cleaning it down and running the bike again it looks like this may be the culprit,

 

is this some thing anyone else has come across? i am looking to see about getting replacements because the oil now drips a bit on to the down pipes and the smell is annoying, not to mention i want to stop the oil leak full stop.

 

cheers

 

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If I am correct the oil feed pipe is held onto the engine via banjo bolts, if so there will be copper washers either side, its simply those that would need to be replaced.

 

I'll go and take a look.

 

Took a look yes there is a piper running from the oil cooler to the engine, looked in the manual and unless you see oil running down the pipe then its just the little O-ring, both sides have one.

 

the reason its dripping when the engine is running, is because then its under pressure.

Edited by HornetJay
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you sir are a gentle man, i'll have a look at it tomorrow and replace them, see what happens.

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If you intend unbolting the oil pipes from the engine..take great care as

the bolts are infamous for shearing off mate.It helps to apply lots

of penetrating fluid beforehand and get the motor good and hot before

you start..Go for a 20 mile ride first..

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You know what surprised me Andy is that Honda have used rubber ring seals rather than flat metal seals, flat metal seals would last a lot longer.

 

As for taking out the bolts, might be a good idea to replace them with stainless steel allen headed bolts just in case in the future.

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Does anyone know what goes through Honda engineers minds Jase?:huh:

There is a tonne of stuff that I would have done differently on the big X ..still..

treat the bike as a blank canvas I suppose..

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Does anyone know what goes through Honda engineers minds Jase? :huh:

There is a tonne of stuff that I would have done differently on the big X ..still..

treat the bike as a blank canvas I suppose..

 

I am asking that same question with this fireblade I have bought, it seems a lot of 929s and 954's breakdown frequently, it just doesn't feel finished like most of Honda's motorcycles, some of the build quality is horrible compared to the older bikes, in fact if someone offered me a RRW or X I would probably swap it.

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so had a look at it today, the oil leak is not coming from the gasket, it comes from where the thin metal part of the hose joins the bigger part, it looks like there was a rubber seal in there and its just given up the ghost. Whats scaring me is the cost of the hoses, been quoted over a 100 quid each from honda....

 

going to see if i can get some seconds as unfortunately i'm not in a position to spend loads on them.

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Yep, not cheap but will last for years, try going to an indy shop maybe they will have pattern equivalents, make sure you replace the seals as well.

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HEL do (or at least, used to do) a replacement set of braided hoses for this job.  They were listed for the Blackbird, but would also fit the X.  They were really hard to find on the HEL website though - better off calling them. 

 

Can't remember the price, but it's gotta be cheaper than 2 new ones from Mr Honda.

 

 

- just found them on the Blackbird pages at JAWS http://www.jaws-motorcycles.com/

 

I believe they'll fit the X, but I haven't fitted any myself, so check the parts diagrams yourself and make sure you're happy before you buy.

Edited by McFly998
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if its any comfort, my Harley has a similar clutch cable where it pinches onto a metal part, from Harley they are about £80 and yeah when the cable needs replacing, and I'm thinking about replacing a year old one because its leaking from the connector because I went cheap and bought a pattern part for half the price.

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Im  looking into contacting a place here called hose doctor that deal with hydraulic hoses and see if they can replace the hose section on the pipe, if they can it could be a quick easy fix. I'll hopefully find out tomorrow

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It looks like the HEL kit only replaces the rubber section.  Unfortunately it's the metal section of mine that is corroded; looks like I'll need the Honda OE part.

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update , oil lines finally packed in....

worse still one of the nuts snapped as you Advised Andy.. pain in the back side but hopefully I can get it sorted ..

 

need to take of the exhaust completely to get access to the nut and try drill it out and use an extractor

 

I've managed to find a supplier over here in Ireland works out about 270 euro all in for what I need. a little cheaper than getting from the UK ..

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So an update on this, after contacting various companies etc i struggled to get replacement lines done, companies didnt want to know or simply said no.. 

 

after some digging through the blackholes of the internet i manager to come across a guy on ebay that had one in Germany and then another site in the netherlands where a guy had the other one i needed...  So both ordered and hopefully here with me next week.

 

fingers crossed I'm back on the road next week because i'm going out of my mind.

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Good luck with that, hope it all comes together and you can get back out on the bike before the weather turns too bad.

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update on what has been a painful saga, both oil lines arrived today and being the big kid I am i got straight at them..... now remember one of the nuts broke in the engine casing when i was looking to remove these.. after taking the lines of today there just wasn't enough of it left to get a proper grip on so I decided to tempt faith and leave it there...

 

there was only one rubber o ring that needed to be replaced on the lines and i put gasked sealer around the join where there was only going to be one nut...... left it a few hours after putting it all back together before putting oil in.( i put a new oil filter on while i was there). Started the bike and let it come up to temperature and left it running in the garden for a while. There wasnt anything obvious a few little drips but i put that down to oil that was on the engine from when the lines went pop....

 

so happy with it i jumped on it and took it out for a spin... stopped a few mins after setting off and all seemed fine, no sign of any wetness etc..... jumped back on and on i went again stopped to get petrol and checked again and once more it was dry....  took it out on the motorway to put it under pressure a bit and then stopped at the folks place for a coffee... went out to check the bike and it seems to be fine.. 

 

so the moral is the bike seems to be sorted. I have it parked up for the night and will check in the morning in and around the bike to make sure there is no leaks...

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I may have said this before, but sh*t like that keeps me awake at night! :D

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Fingers crossed Colm, what do you think of the bike so far? (Apart from the oil leak problems that is).

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I may have said this before, but sh*t like that keeps me awake at night! :D

 

I know your pain, when I made an RTV gasket on the blade I had to leave it overnight until I put the oil in, all I keep thinking all night was, I hope it seals or that 24 hours wasted.

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I'm just really picky! If it isn't done right it makes me fret. :D

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