Those mean ol' oil seal gremlins .....

[Wildcat]

My 04 1200GS is now exhibiting the full blown symptoms of oil seal leakage into the clutch housing i.e. film of oil on the bottom of the box and smudgy black line at the clutch to crankcase joint. There is now enough oil accumulating underneath to form the odd droplet, which from the smell (or rather lack of it) I'd say is engine oil. Now I've read a lot of posts on this site about leaking seals but I think nearly everyone has had them replaced under warranty. I bought my bike privately a year out of warranty, and whilst I am genuinely grateful for BMW's offer to foot half the parts bill (thanks Blue Belle), it is the £600 or so labour bill that is putting me off!

Current plan (or lack of same) is to leave it, keep it under observation and maybe plan to do my own repair this winter by which time hopefully the Haynes manual will be available. I am guessing that if the oil is indeed sourced from the engine rather than the gearbox, that it will be less likely to end up on the clutch?

So .... two questions:

1) has anyone run a bike in this condition for any length of time and if so, what happened? Mine had done 5500 when the problem was first spotted, it is now at 7000.

2) has anyone done the seals replacement job themselves in the comfort of their own home and if so how did it go?

I've rebuilt plenty of engines & gearboxes in the past 40 years but I'm wondering if splitting a GS in half (literally from what I've seen) is quite as straightforward as, say, sticking a new con rod assembly in a 240 Fantic.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Bydand]

Paul,

I ran mine for a few thousand miles between first realising there was a leak and getting it fixed, under warranty. I actually smelt it when the bike was hot and at a standstill before oil became evident anywhere. When the oil eventually showed itself I took the bike to the dealer for diagnosis (it was still under warranty) and then ran it for a wee bit before getting it in for a fix.

From when the oil first showed to getting the thing fixed was probaby 2K but to be honest the leak never really got significantly worse. That said it certainly wasn't going to fix itself. I understood from the dealer that in extreme cases the oil may get onto the clutch and cause some slippage. I never had this problem and my clutch did not need replacement but if oil can get onto the clutch then you might have to replace that too, dependant upon the level of contamination.

The bike did have to be split in two which looks like major surgery but hey, its designed to cme apart. The trouble turned out to be the main crank seal. The dealer ordered and replaced a few other seals whilst in there, I think just to be safe and only have to break the bike down once....as the other seals although different would be of the same vintage. You can argue for and against this but as the bike was under warranty, it seemed like a good idea to me. If you do this yourself it might be worth asking the dealer what other seals are troublesome so that you can replace them whilst in.

Mine is now out of warranty...and guess what...the burnt oil smell which had gone away post the fix....is back!!

 

[Wildcat]

Oh dear - hope the smell doesn't manifest itself as another seal problem.
Blue Belle mentioned there are 3 suspect seals which it is wise to replace whilst inside the engine, so I'd plan to do the lot. It's actually all the peripheral stuff like electrics, brakes, frame parts & bodywork I find more daunting than the engine/gearbox itself. Never had to bother with much of that on trials machinery.
As you say, it isn't going to fix itself but I'm hoping to put off the repairs for a while yet.

Cheers
Paul

 

[dizzyrascal]

OIL SEAL

Hi

Its amazing that BMW have not sorted this. I have an 1100 that has the same problem. I have been running with the tell tale sign for about ten thousand miles and luckily things have not got worse. My thinking is once you split the bike you might as well replace the clutch, therefore no point doing this unless there is clutch slippage.

Regards,
Mike

 

[StevieB]

any chance that someone could post a picture of where the seal is so i can check mine

 

[Wildcat]

Oil leak pics

any chance that someone could post a picture of where the seal is so i can check mine

Stevie - this site is full of them. Just do a search on oil leak and about half way down the first page you'll find a thread with plenty of info. I'd post a link ... but I don't know how!

Ref earlier reply, sounds encouraging - If I get 10K without clutch slip then that takes me to the second winter - so fingers crossed.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Monk]

I'm at 34K miles on '05 bike. Problem was supposedly fixed under warranty at about 24K. I'm just starting to get clutch slip. Today I notice I've also got oil coming out of the end drive. I've got an Adventure on order and due in a couple of weeks - I'm seriously considring cancelling

Regards
Mike
PS - anyone else had the front master brake cylinder fail on them?

 

[Big Lee]

Why? You`ll have a new bike with another 2 years warranty? Maybe too late to get another year thrown in??

 

[Monk]

True - it's just frustrating to see so many posts covering the same basic fault.


All roads, howsoe'er they diverge, lead to Rome,
Whence, thank the good Lord, at least one leads back home.
—Borey the Bald