1150GSA final drive oil leak

I think I have a problem.......I have a small oil leak from the seal on the final drive afrer an energetic spin (250km) yesterday.
I've read about a fair bit of this on 1200's but can only see the odd (confusing) message about it on 1150's. Is it likely to be rideable, or should I park it up and call the dealers to come fetch? Its out of warrenty, and from my reading of it the seal replacement (if that's whats gone) doesn't sound too difficult...........advise please!

Vireo

I had this happen twice to my R1150GS, first time did not notice it for a while so I must have ridden it a few hundred miles before getting the seal changed. As soon as I saw it the second time had it sorted...

Six months later and in France it blew big time and crunched the final drive completely; managed to stop safely (Two up fully loaded) however the back wheel was out of line by then, £1300 pounds worth of work needed (Including brake disc etc).

GET IT CHANGED NOW, I just don't know what damage I did not sorting it out straight away the first time, but it must have added to the total failure of it in the end.

oil leak

I had a small leak like that on an 1150 RT for quite a while. Much smaller leak than yours though. Dealer told me it was the Gunnion (I think) seal and cost me about 250 Euro about four months out of warranty. Got the one on my 1200 RT done under warranty bofore I even noticed a leak. BMW reliability or what?
I think you should try it on with the dealer and see if they will admit there is a regular problem here.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72192&highlight=1150

Read the above, now on 37,000 miles, no problem. I'd suggest that you just keep an eye on it. But just in case remove the tie wraps & see how much oil comes out of the gaitor. Keep your eye on the FD & gearbox oil levels, neither of mine changed noticeably.

Well, mine has been OK?

vireo said:

I think I have a problem.......I have a small oil leak from the seal on the final drive afrer an energetic spin (250km) yesterday.

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That's the input seal, and fairly common to find an oil mist/run after a long hard ride.

Check the oil levels in the final drive and gearbox and see if the level has dropped . If it's ok don't worry about it. The bevel input seal breathes .

If the level has dropped significantly, get it changed. But i know lots of people that just top it up as they ride.

There's an echo in here


My limited knowledge of most things GS has all been learnt from the guru of all things GS The Right Honorable Steptoe.

vireo said:

I think I have a problem.......I have a small oil leak from the seal on the final drive afrer an energetic spin (250km) yesterday.
I've read about a fair bit of this on 1200's but can only see the odd (confusing) message about it on 1150's. Is it likely to be rideable, or should I park it up and call the dealers to come fetch? Its out of warrenty, and from my reading of it the seal replacement (if that's whats gone) doesn't sound too difficult...........advise please!

Vireo

Click to expand...

Apparently, it's described as a feature rather than a problem A BMW mechanic explained it to me once. Get a good degreaser to clean it off. Maybe release cable tie at back, clean out gaitor and replace cable tie. I use an old rag that I keep in my topbox.

OK guys, thanks for the feedback from all............very comforting to hear Neils words of wisdom.

I'll clean down the leakage now and check the oil levels in the morning and take it for a short run to see how things go. My local dealer is 120km distant but Carole Nash breakdown cover will get it there for me, if necessary. Just the €120 per hour labour costs to stump up for, if the worst come's to it.

Cheers

Vireo

mines started doing it aswell (1150 rs). Im not sure that i like oil so near my back tyre! I have given my clymer manual to someone so i cant have a look to see myself so can someone who knows stuff tell me if i can do the oil seal (lets hope its the input seal and not the gearbox) at the side of the road . Do i need any special tools?

spot said:

so can someone who knows stuff tell me if i can do the oil seal (lets hope its the input seal and not the gearbox) at the side of the road . Do i need any special tools?

Click to expand...

No you can't do it by the side of the road - or you might be able to if you have an airgun to undo the input nut ( it's a 36mm nut, and i think it's tightened to 280ft/lbs ).
And you'll need to hold the drive while undoing this nut, because as you try to undo it, it just turns the flange the wheel bolts to, which would be difficult at the roadside, Plus the special tool to remove the internal collar.

And replace the internal ring/spacer/sleeve that runs in the seal as well. Cost £3, they get a very slight groove in the sleeve that can cause a weep.

I shoild have kept it simple, and just posted. NO.

Thanks neil.

Steptoe said:

No you can't do it by the side of the road - or you might be able to if you have an airgun to undo the input nut ( it's a 36mm nut, and i think it's tightened to 280ft/lbs ).
And you'll need to hold the drive while undoing this nut, because as you try to undo it, it just turns the flange the wheel bolts to, which would be difficult at the roadside, Plus the special tool to remove the internal collar.

And replace the internal ring/spacer/sleeve that runs in the seal as well. Cost £3, they get a very slight groove in the sleeve that can cause a weep.

I shoild have kept it simple, and just posted. NO.

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tightened to 280ft/lbs

How long a torque wrench would you need to apply that?

More to point, how long would you arms have to be

Are there any threads in here on final drive replacement? dealing with slop correction? hip replacement anyone?

286 ft ilbs

I have a scaffold pole you can borrow to go on the tourqe wrench, according to Mr Clymer it should be 146 ft/lb. Still require a good tourqe wrench and a course from Charly Atlas!.
dave gs.

Flatknuckles said:

tightened to 280ft/lbs

How long a torque wrench would you need to apply that?

More to point, how long would you arms have to be

Are there any threads in here on final drive replacement? dealing with slop correction? hip replacement anyone?

Click to expand...

Ifor Williams Trailer hub nuts are tightened to 260 lbs/ft. I had to buy a very large 'certified' 20-300 lbs/ft torque wrench

Its a bit of a heave, but it can be done without crocking yourself

A BMW bevel drive would have to be securely restrained though.

Bob.

Voyager said:

A BMW bevel drive would have to be securely restrained though.

Bob.

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It's not just securing the drive.

The nut is located on the pinion input, which turns the output flange ( that's the part the wheel bolts to, plus i like using the word "flange" at every opportunity).
So even with the housing secured, the drive needs to be locked as well.

davegs said:

I have a scaffold pole you can borrow to go on the tourqe wrench, according to Mr Clymer it should be 146 ft/lb. Still require a good tourqe wrench and a course from Charly Atlas!.
dave gs.

Click to expand...

Haha

Quick(ish) update......

Having cleaned down the staining, today I got to take her for a 15km spin, and on return a small drip appeared under the rear of the gaitor and onto the torsion bar. I took off the gaitor and discovered a small (10-15ml) collection of oil in the gaitor and shaft casing. It looked rather an odd colour - caramel- like. Cleaned it off and reattached the gaitor.
I have checked the final drive and gearbox oil levels and there's no apparent loss from either, but I'll monitor it. I cannot tell if the leakage is from one or other source.

Soooooo.....Perhaps the seals need changing in due course. I guess I'm OK - for now anyway?

V

When you removed the gaitor the first time, did you clean ALL the oil from the gaitor & wipe as far inside the paralever casting as possible? you may have left some in there? it's a pain to clean it properly.

The unusual oil colour may be due to it having mixed with a little bit of water that can get in there. Might not go amiss to change the FD & gearbox oils. (new oil = correct viscosity, & might drag some "rubbish" out with it when it's drained?)

Clean it again & have another look after another ride.

I've done this very job today on a bike that has a leaking input seal .

And i did a photo shoot as i did it. Will post up shortly

Ok, leaking rear input seal on your bevel drive.

If your doing this job, you know enough to be able to take off the rear bevel .

Here's the seal thats leaking. it's hidden behind the securing nut, you can just see it



As well as replacing the seal, you'll also need the inner seal ring.
This can have a groove worn on it's surface, as it spins inside the seal at shaft speed. Only a couple of pounds, so makes sense to replace it regardless while your doing the job.

Here's the ring from the leaking bevel.



And here's a new ring.



Put the bevel in a vice. I screw in two old wheel studs in the output wheel flange, and position the bevel in such a way that they'll stop the internals rotating as i undo the securing nut on the input shaft.

You'll need a deep 36mm socket to undo the input bevel securing nut. And it's tight - 200 nm.

I have a big feck-off cordless electric impact gun. Max Torque 400 Ib ft



Undo the nut - bang whizz.


Now you have to undo the securing ring. It'll need a special tool.
I made my own, and then welded a large nut on the end of the tube because this ring is also done up tight - 160 nm. It's not made to look pretty, it has a job to do.





This is inserted inside, impact gun attached , bang whizz, and it's off. You can use some heat on it when removing the nut and ring if you need to. .



You should now have the nut, seal ring, and securing ring. The seal is in the securing ring. All the old items in the picture below.



New seal and ring



Remove the old seal from the securing ring. You'll notice a lip on the securing ring, the seal only goes in one way, from the rear.

The front of the ring



The rear of the ring.



Now carefully insert the seal into the rear. Picture view looking at the rear.



And from the front.



Now carefully screw the ring back into the bevel unit. Torque setting 160 NM



And then slide the ring over the input shaft and into the seal. The picture shows the ring after it's been pushed into the seal

.

And then screw the input bevel nut back on - torque200 Nm.


And it should look like this when it's finished
Check it all turns by hand before replacing the bevel back on the bike.