Oil leak front of engine

crazycopo · Sep 18, 2017

I have a 2004 R1200gs.
I ran it up this aft as it's been stood in garage for couple of weeks.
I noticed an oil drip at front of engine onto the cross pipe of the exhaust.
When it cooled I took off the plastic cover, and the balancer shaft cover and about 1/2 litre of oil came out. Is this normal or is it f#*%d.??
I ran the engine a bit later and no more oil came out even though there is oil in sight glass.
Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.

flatdog · Sep 18, 2017

……How long did you leave it running?

These engines are not designed to be run stationary without airflow, because they will overheat and cause a lot of electrical problems and then mechanical if left idling long enough.

If….the oil level is ok after a run, and there are no further drips or funny noises then She should be ok.
Where the oil originated from out the front cover, it should be obvious when the cover is removed.
Normally the sight glass melts then oil falls out if left idling long enough.

crazycopo · Sep 18, 2017

It was on tick over for 15-20 mins. It hasn't leaked or dripped since it's been stood with both covers off.
I'll give it a road run tomorrow.
Cheers.

flatdog · Sep 18, 2017

crazycopo said:
It was on tick over for 15-20 mins. It hasn't leaked or dripped since it's been stood with both covers off.
I'll give it a road run tomorrow.
Cheers.

No worries.

These bike are for starting up and riding. Don't let her sit there running getting hot….any more than a few mins and you've got to get some airflow over those fins.

Keep an eye out though, as the oil must have come from somewhere.

(nb…..thats gotta be worth your £12.00 subscription fee innit? :beerjug:

)

Bendy toy · Sep 19, 2017

BMW say to start the engine and ride away. It makes sense because leaving it at idle will cause the cylinders to get very hot before the rest of the engine has warmed up. Running at idle from cold causes abnormal expansion rates. This will mess with bearings, pistons, etc, etc. It's a VERY bad idea.

The engine front cover can leak from the alternator drive shaft oil seal casing a drip to appear below the belt cover.

If oil is running down the engine from higher up, it might be the O ring at the crank position sensor. They can split, but corrosion will do the job just as effectively. On my bike corrosion under the alternator belt cover was really bad. On a mate's bike, it was bad enough to cause the crank position sensor to leak.

Both bikes were kept clean and coated with ACF-50 etc. So don't assume regular cleaning is enough to avoid the problem.

internaught · Sep 19, 2017

Balancer shaft oil seal leak, if you are lucky it may only be a one off, the heat expanded the crankcase sufficiently for the now very hot thin oil to leak thro the seal, modern fully synthetic oils can do this,
but be prepared for the seal failing again, keep an eye out for leaks and check oil regularly. Be aware of any clutch slip or smells, as rear of balancer shaft is below the clutch plate, would be worth removing the starter and looking inside to make sure
the bell housing and clutch is not wet with oil also, ( incase rear seal has leaked / leaking) particularly before a large trip.

Regards

Steve

Sgt Bilco · Sep 19, 2017

crazycopo said:
It was on tick over for 15-20 mins. It hasn't leaked or dripped since it's been stood with both covers off.
I'll give it a road run tomorrow.
Cheers.

Never ever leave a 1200 ticking over and I think you got a bit lucky that you didn't cook the motor or at least blow the oil sight guage out. They get very hot very quickly and have been known to go bang because as flatdog says there is no air flow to cool the motor.

Start up and ride away is the way most of us do it.

Bendy toy · Sep 20, 2017

It's never a good idea to leave any engine warming on tickover. Low engine speeds put some nasty load reversals on cranks, rods and cam drives.

MattW · Sep 21, 2017

crazycopo said:
It was on tick over for 15-20 mins. It hasn't leaked or dripped since it's been stood with both covers off.
I'll give it a road run tomorrow.
Cheers.

Never, ever do that to an air-cooled engine (it's not a great idea with a water cooled one either).
You can easily catastrophically overheat boxer BMW's doing that.

ozcruiser · Sep 24, 2017

My 2005 gs done the same thing after I serviced it once the oil level dropped to just under the top of the sight glass mine stopped leaking. If you look at both the glass and cover are around the same level my guess is I over filled the engine causing oil pressure to push oil past the o-ring under the square balance shaft cover.

Bendy toy · Sep 24, 2017

When I over filled mine (sight glass looked empty but was flooded with clean oil). The engine just bunt off the excess.
Thankfully it wasn't majorly over filled as that's been known to damage pistons.
These engines will burn off excess oil. Just be sure the level in the glass is visible.

triram · Feb 5, 2020

I have a 2008 R1200GSA. Stuck in traffic for hours until the oil pressure blinks. Tried to increase it by revving the engin in a bit just to get the oil flowing. Seems the heat is too much. Damaged my oil level sight glass leaving it with a white frosted look, got a leak from the square shaft cover, and busted my LED heeadlight.

AArman · Feb 5, 2020

Could it be as simple as your front shock leaking?

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Oil leak front of engine

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internaught

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Sgt Bilco

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