Rear wheel oil leak

NicD

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Woudl be grateful if someone could confirm cause of oil leak in photo and suggest which seal needs ot be replaced. Thanks very much

Link to photo:
https://ibb.co/caWspT
 
Probably the final drive seal but clearly can't say for certain without a look inside. Depending on your model/year that may not be the exact part and it will be worth checking the usual sites such as James Sherlocks, Motobins etc to see how prices compare.
 
Agree, most likely final drive oil seal. Bit of a shitter getting the old one off but easy enough to fit the new one. Would change the drain plug seal and filler hole o-ring at the same time.
If you prize off the dust cover over the seal you'll get a better idea if that is where the problem lies or not.
 
If the oil is in the disc/wheel area it's the main seal meaning a full FD rebuild.
There is a seal on the rh side under the black cover but it's usually very obvious
if it's that one as oil will be seen running down the casing.
 
2008 model with ABS and with drain plug on final drive unit. Real OEM has two different parts diagrams which helpfully are called 'with vent' and 'with integral abs 2'. I called local dealer and they couldn't tell from the VIN which unit is on my bike.

Looks like the 'with vent' has seal on outside of FD unit which I am guessing is what is shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9rF-fbqdiI 'With integral ABS 2' has the seal on the inside of the bearing.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sh...25-BMW-R_1200_GS_08_0303,0313_&diagId=33_1627

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sh...25-BMW-R_1200_GS_08_0303,0313_&diagId=33_1782

I think mine is the second of the two, 'with integral ABS', because with the wheel removed it looks like there is the spacer ring shown in that parts diargam (part 4). Photo link below.

https://ibb.co/h6P78o

Interesting thing is that I had the seal on the right side (non-wheel side) replaced last year. In parts diagram is it 33117722890, listed as 'shaft seal'. I had a couple of other things done that I didn't want the faff of doing myself. When the bike came back I noticed that there was a small gap between the wheel-side spacer ring and the wheel-side cover that bolts into the main FD housing - shown better in photo below with screwdriver resting in the gap. Reasonably confident the gap wasn't there before the work was done, although not certain.

https://ibb.co/ndWR18

The right side of the FD is shown here. Small amount of oil leakage. Much less than wheel side.

https://ibb.co/cehc8o

Anyone know 1. if gap between spacer ring and FD unit meant to be there, 2. if the unit shown is the 'with integral abs 2' diagram, and 3. if it is shaft seal 33117679864 that needs to be repalced?

Help much appreciated.
 
2008 was about the time the steel wheel flange was introduced,if yours is an early bike the dealer “may” have done the recall ,fitting the later flange.this would explain your thoughts on the gap and not noticing it prior to the work being done
 
thanks. flange recall was done a couple of years ago. so it is the main seal inside wheel-side bearing then (ie shaft seal 33117679864)?

Can the units be rebuilt reliably?
 
2008 was about the time the steel wheel flange was introduced,if yours is an early bike the dealer “may” have done the recall ,fitting the later flange.this would explain your thoughts on the gap and not noticing it prior to the work being done

Thanks. So the gap visible in photos is normal?
 
thanks. flange recall was done a couple of years ago. so it is the main seal inside wheel-side bearing then (ie shaft seal 33117679864)?

Can the units be rebuilt reliably?
Yes most of the time ,in 12 years I’ve only had 3 or 4 that were too bad to repair.
is there any play in the wheel?
I only ask because in order for oil to escape on the earlier type it has to pass the main oil seal and then both grease seals on the main crownwheel bearing
 
Thanks. So the gap visible in photos is normal?
I’ve just looked at the photo again,
Hmmmmm,the circlip doesn’t look to be on square,is it seated properly in its groove?
It may be an optical illusion ,,,,,can you clean the area and take more pics?
Don’t disturb anything though as if there is damage you will be going back to the dealer for a new fd
 
If you look at the axle it looks like the circlip has been chaffing,
Also the hub isn’t square on the spline.
Does the wheel run out?
It may just be the angle of the pic but it doesn’t look right
 

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I’ve just looked at the photo again,
Hmmmmm,the circlip doesn’t look to be on square,is it seated properly in its groove?
It may be an optical illusion ,,,,,can you clean the area and take more pics?
Don’t disturb anything though as if there is damage you will be going back to the dealer for a new fd

The gap I mean is the one between the spacer and FD housing cover, ie in the inside of part 4:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sh...25-BMW-R_1200_GS_08_0303,0313_&diagId=33_1782
 
Yes most of the time ,in 12 years I’ve only had 3 or 4 that were too bad to repair.
is there any play in the wheel?
I only ask because in order for oil to escape on the earlier type it has to pass the main oil seal and then both grease seals on the main crownwheel bearing

Glad you asked. No play with hands at 3 and 9 o'clock. Very small amount of play with hands at 12 and 6 o'clock - nothing visible to the eye, but can feel very small amount of movement. Had not noticed this on previous checks.

Re the repair, do they fail again? I remember reading about one guy on here who had his rebuilt a number of times.

thanks so much for help. cheers
 
People get the main wheel bearing replaced only to find it fails again because the job was done badly the first time around.
It’s a poor design but a full rebuild should last for 50,000 miles.
 
Thanks. Looks like it is output seal in final drive which is located on inside of bearing meaning full rebuild with replacement of both bearings and seals.
 


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