Bit of an oil leak....

[Northern Monkey]

The right hand (as you sit on it) barrel appears to be weeping oil- is there a gasket between the barrel and the crankcase???

Sent by magic

 

[duckspeed]

That looks to be coming from higher up than the barrel

 

[Northern Monkey]

Forgot to say, it's a 2006 R1200GS


Sent by magic

 

[Northern Monkey]

That looks to be coming from higher up than the barrel

What's up there???

 

[duckspeed]

Oil cooler and pipe work?

 

[Northern Monkey]

Will have to have a proper look up there thabks


Sent by magic

 

[fizzer]

i am sure there is a switch up there ,i think its the oil pressure switch ,it could be that

 

[st247]

Oil temp switch is a good bet as fizzes said I've had the fault and so have a few others. Have a look at Post 11 in this thread and the first picture in post 4 for the location.

 

[seahorse]

+1 for oil temp sensor. Not unheard of. Mine did the same, probably winter salt corrosion.

 

[Pukmeister]

To answer your original question, yes there is a base gasket between barrels and block, my dealer just noticed my LH cylinder is weeping slightly but the labour cost to replace it means I will put up with the slight misting unless it gets any worse.

As others have said, look at the top of your engine especially the oil temp sensor on top right side of block. The alloy joint washers corrode out causing leaks (an easy fix).

 

[Bendy toy]

Shortly before I removed my engine front cover to repaint, I had a similar oil leak. It turned out to be the crank position sensor under the alternator. The hidden corrosion under the alternator belt cover was even worse than the visible mess lower down.

It could also be the crank oil seal but TBH that is a bit low down.

 

[younger06]

Shortly before I removed my engine front cover to repaint, I had a similar oil leak. It turned out to be the crank position sensor under the alternator. The hidden corrosion under the alternator belt cover was even worse than the visible mess lower down.

It could also be the crank oil seal but TBH that is a bit low down.

Was that an expensive fix??

Sent using a Jedi mind trick!

 

[Bendy toy]

Take of the alternator belt cover and you will see the sensor at the top centre under the alternator. Its held by one M5 or M6 screw and basically pushes into the cover edge. The O-ring sticks so I used two thin blade screwdrivers to carefully lever the sensor out. New seal costs next to nothing from BMW.

The job is 100% easier with the petrol tank removed.

In my case, the engine timing cover was a mess of corrosion hidden away under the belt cover. Crud had gone around the sensor making it hard to remove and cause the oil leak. I had mine cleaned up and powder coated but TBH a replacement would have been a lot less hassle.

Hopefully yours is just a blown O ring.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Quite possibly front crank seal ?? and blowing back

Kind of difficult to tell from photos but is that black and oily stuff at the centre lower of the front plastic cover ??

Certainly If it was the Oil temp sensor or the Oil cooler pipe seals I would have expected there to be more mess behind the barrel

Bendy's TDC sensor idea is good but they Rarely give any issues unless they have been out for something

IF it is the crank seal its not a difficult fix BUT Do not buy that STUPID BM Diaphragm lip seal it needs formed and is a cnut to get in without tearing the edge when you haven't done one before

Just get a 36X50X7 std seal form a seals / bearings place, Double lip ones are mutts nuts and even standard works fine!

Much Cheaper Less risk on refitting and is what seals once were! I have several customers with these fitted at 80K plus miles !

LINKY Part 2 is crank Seal

Part 6 "may" not be on later models but is also a possible origin for a leak

N.B. Be VERY Easy on re tensioning those wee bolts on that cover if you take it off the modern alloy is VERY soft if you go mad you will pull the threads out of the alloy! Rule of thumb Screw in "just" till you need to apply pressure and then one eighth of a turn is plenty!

Hope that Helps

Certainly nothing to lose by undoing 5 screws and having a look

 

[Northern Monkey]

Thanks for all the help so far! I've just had tank off and had a proper look - everything is feckin covered in oil so don't know where it's coming from - in going to replace the oil sensor washer ( why not !) and I'm going to order o ring for crank sensor while its in bits. There is oil behind the alternator cover but not on the belt ?? So hopefully not crank seal - big clean up - swap the cheap simple bits and try again!


Sent by magic

 

[Bendy toy]

The temperature sensor seal washer is unlikely to leak unless it's corroded. The CPS has an O ring in an area noted to suffer corrosion. When you get the petrol tank and belt cover off the bike you will be able to see if the CPS is indeed the cause. It's not wasted effort because the hidden screws get corroded and benefit from some anti seize grease.

I changed my front crank seal and caused a leak because I'd folded the seal lip. But the oil came out from the bottom 1/3 of the belt cover. The OP's oil mess look far more like the mess I had from the CPS.

Both are easy enough to check.

My alternator belt was clean during both oil leaks. Very odd but there you are.

BTW. I fitted a new crank seal to the repainted front cover and taped over the shaft edge to protect the seal. But I still managed to fold the seal lip. Fitting the replacement seal with the cover in place was a great deal easier. Use self tapping screws to extract the old seal.

Plus one for double lip seals. Go to a local bearing factors (or eBay) rather than use the BMW parts. I also have one in my gearbox output bearing.

 

[younger06]

Mine is weeping some oil under the front cover right at the bottom. My bike is getting a service next week including an alternator belt so hoping the job shouldn't add to much to the price of the overall service.

 

[Bendy toy]

Leak at bottom only sounds like the shaft oil seal. The belt cover easy to remove to take look.

 

[Northern Monkey]

Which smart arse suggested taking crank position sensor off???? Bit of a faff but swapped o ring - went to re assemble to find the threads in the alloy were missing! FFS, there's no room to get a helicoil in, no room to get a drill or a tap in there - I'm going to try an m8 bolt and gently re-tap the now bigger hole - hopefully that'll work - but if there's any better suggestions I'll gladly listen


Sent by magic

 

[Bendy toy]

Scrapped threads = either corroded or some spanner monkey fecked it up last time. If you can get an M8 into the hole you can use a Timesert or helical and do it properly.

If it was mine the front cover would be coning off. It's held by 16 M6 screws and anaerobic gasket sealer. The alternator drive pulley just pulls off after the big nut is removed.

To remove the big nut, put bike in top gear on side stand and chock the back wheel. The compressed suspension gives you space to get the socket handle into the job.

Others may have better ideas.