Oil on the final drive boot - Sorry LONG

[ATLDB]

Hi guys

I am not getting a lot of responses from the guys on the K1200RS site and thought I place this question here, although it is in regards of a K1200RS, I figure some here might have the same issue with their LT's. My LT has been off course awsome and does not have any leaks at all but my RS has something.

OK so here is the deal, at 14762 miles the previous owner had "under warranty" a Oil Leak at Final Drive and had the following done:

1 Oil Hypoid Gear 80/90 GL-5
2 Drain/Fill Washer 14x18
1 Seal Ring (I guess this is the Pinion Seal ring here).
1 Press Ring
2 Cable Strap

OK so I bought the bike last december and since I right away realized that it was an impulse buy I put it for sale, have not ridden much, small rides here and there, I think I put something on the lines of 100 miles on it since. I rather ride my LT.

The last two rides I noticed on the right half of the rear wheel, oil splattered all over, defenetly been sprayed by the brake disc as the rear brakes vibrate terrible when you try to use them (they have oil on them!!!). I cleaned the are real well around the disc and the rubber boot. Well tonight I took the boot out (on the larger diameter end) and voila!! at least an tea spoon of oil dripped from there. WOW is that pinion seal still leaking?. Or did the Tech not clean that area well before closing everything, or did he overfill the final drive?. The interesting thing is I keep checking the fluid level on the final drive and its OK, where is that oil coming from?

Some say this is normal, I do not think it is there is a leak somewhere and I am not sure where. Off course now I am OUT of warranty and will have to flip the bill to get it fixed, or do it myself if I can.

Any inputs would be awsome

as always thanks guys.

[ATLDB]

I should mentioned it has 18200 miles now

Thanks

[meese]

Darcy,

Do you know when the seal was changed? BMW now offers a two-year warranty on parts. Maybe you could get the original dealer to look at it again under the parts warranty.

[ATLDB]

I have the Repair Order Invoice in front of me.

Done on the date mentioned on the Title. Problem is Bike is now in Atlanta, dealership is in Matthews, NC.

I like the guys at Blue Moon and although never bought a bike from them all my parts, apparell and service are done there. I am going to take this to them and see what they can do. If all fails maybe with knowledge acquired from the Blue Moon Techs I can call NC and see if they would work on it. Than take a day and go up there for it.......

[meese]

The parts warranty shouldn't be dealer specific. And if you have a good relationship with the local guys, it can't hurt to go and ask them. Good luck.

[ATFLT]

Since you say it has leaked quite a bit and still is full it sounds like it was overfilled to start with. That may have blown the seal. On the other hand it may be a bad seal and just a little oil will look like a lot when it is spread around at speed. It is best to take it to a dealer with the paperwork and see what they can do.

[tomandrosie]

You checked the gear lube level, but did you drain the FD and look at the oil and plug, checking for metallic debris?

The reason I ask is that oil accumulation beneath the boot sufficient to drip onto the wheel is an early warning sign of crown bearing failure. Debris in the lube will chew up the front seal.

Also, drive line wobble due to failure of the drive line itself or the pivot bearings can cause seal failure.

I'm sure that none of this is good news to you. Hopefully it is just a bad seal.

-tom

[mobygrape]

Did you check the oil level in the transmission? An output shaft seal leak will run down the swingarm and pool there and look the same as a pinion seal leak. Those seals leak almost as often as the pinion seals do.

[ATLDB]

Thank you Paul, I did not think about that and will for sure check that out. Thanks god on the RS is a lot easier to check that level, if it was my LT I would have to remove that right side footpanel and I hate to remove that since it has all the break stuff attached to it.

Anyway thanks for the tip. I will checking on that this evening.

I will keep you all posted.

[ATLDB]

Transmission level - perfect
Final Drive level - perfect

Took out the wheel, got that entire area clean to brand new look and feel. Changed the zip ties to the metal ones that I use on my LT, with a little screw. Once I got everything cleaned and went for a ride still had the spray on the wheel.

Verdict, the pads are soaked on that stuff, I do now know how long it was exposed to weeping from the boot. So I got a new set of brake pads, changed them and voila, the spray is OVER.

Have gone on a couple of rides since and no problem, once cooled off I am have been removing the boot on the larger end to see if there is any oil in there and nothing, dry as it can be. So I am thinking there was a leak there and the previous owner had the Pinion Seal changed, but by then the break pads were soaked already so it kept spraying on the wheel.

I hope my problem is solved. Will keep checking the boot for any oil depositing there, which would tell me something is still leaking.

Thanks for the input guys

[jeffklt]

sheesh

How come when I get a leak it leads to transmission replacement AND rear drive replacement? ~:-0

Good on ya.