Source of oil leak?

[kongjie]

Have smelled burning oil after riding but until now wasn't sure where it was coming from.

But today I noticed what looked like burnt oil on the cooling fins. Seems like it is above where the head gasket would be leaking, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on if that is the likely culprit?

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/3781/vn.jpeg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/vn.jpeg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[JWR]

What year model and miles?

[kongjie]

It's an '06 with about 4,500 miles on it. I bought it about 9 months ago with 700 miles on it. So even though it's low mileage, it's been around a while.

[JWR]

Cosmoline grease is used on the heads of the GZ.

As you can see, it is not liquid motor oil.
It will burn off over time.

[kongjie]

Well, that's good news then. Thanks for the response.

[JohnC]

Tighten the bolts holding the exhaust flanges to the head (carefully!)

[kongjie]

Tighten the bolts holding the exhaust flanges to the head (carefully!)

I'll give that a try. Looks like the manual has the exhaust pipe bolts at 14 N m.

[JohnC]

Looks like the manual has the exhaust pipe bolts at 14 N m.

sounds a little high. I think they're 6mm or less. Be sure you have the right value!

[CMS]

Mine looked just like yours, it was a head gasket,replaced it, and all was fine after that. It seems that a lot of the head gaskets have the problem and it seems to always be on the left side. At least thats what I read on the forum . Didn't think that my problem was a head gasket, but upon checking it out it was. I also replaced the Exhaust gaskets while I was at it. CMS

[alantf]

Same here. The mechanic tightened the head bolts and cured it, but it's started again, so I may have to replace the head gasket, too.

[JohnC]

The stain in the photo is above the level of the head gasket. Not sure how it could get there without leaving a trail...

[kongjie]

The stain in the photo is above the level of the head gasket. Not sure how it could get there without leaving a trail...

That was my first thought. This weekend I'll try tightening up the bolts on the exhaust flanges.

A compression check would reveal a leaky head gasket, right?

[JohnC]

A compression check would reveal a leaky head gasket, right?

Probably not. If it leaks enough to show on a compression test it probably wouldn't run.

[kongjie]

Since I don't have a garage, but more importantly since right now my sciatica is so bad I can't sit or bend over very well, I had my local shop take a look at the leak. After some poking around, they believe the source of the leak is the camshaft o-ring. Going to take a couple days to get the OEM part in, then we shall see.

[JohnC]

Did you try tightening the exhaust? It would be a shame to pay them the cost of replacing the o-ring for torquing a couple of bolts...

[kongjie]

Thanks, I did try to tighten them down, but they were all snug, and it continued to produce oil.

[alantf]

I'm not very mechanically minded. Where exactly are the camshaft O rings. Can you see them from the outside of the bike? I'm getting the same traces of brown/black. They went away when the mechanic tightened up the head bolts, but they're starting to come back.

[Water Warrior 2]

There are no cam shaft O-rings according to my search. There are however Rocker arm shaft O-rings.

Might be a good idea to do the bolt tightening etc as suggested before taking the engine apart. KISS

[kongjie]

There are no cam shaft O-rings according to my search. There are however Rocker arm shaft O-rings.


Presumably the mechanic is replacing the right thing but calling it the wrong name. I hope. I'll find out the part number when I get the bike back.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds good.

[kongjie]

Sorry for the delay in updating the repair.

The shop had the bike over the holidays because the part was coming in by UPS and ended up getting caught up in all those delays.

I believe the part number is 09280-10016 and I'm pretty sure it's the item circled in light orange in the image.

I'll admit I was skeptical when I picked up the bike. But now almost a month later, there is no leaking, and what's more the strong smell of burning oil that I could smell when I turned off the engine has more or less gone away.

[alantf]

When I said that my problems were coming back, I realised that the original stains on the fins (which went away when the mechanic tightened up the head bolts) were black. The new stains were brown, so I checked and found that one of the exhaust manifold bolts was ever so slightly loose. Tightened it up, and cured the problem.