Just got back from a 3000 mile blast from Santander to St Malo via the Picos, the Pyrenees and the Alps. After a hard day caning the bike I noticed some oil splattering on the exhaust. I thought it might be from the bottom of the clutch cover but then noticed a sensor down there. I've done a search of the forum and found someone else has had this sensor leaking oil. I wondered if anyone else has had it......and what you did to cure it. My bike is on an 11 plate and has now done 16000 miles.....all abroad, so fairly hard miles. It only seems to happen if you do high rpms for a long time.... It's never been dropped......and of course.....the warranty ran out at the end of March. Any help or tips would be appreciated.
It was me, it was such a small amount of oil that hands couldn't find it, they took off and re-sealed the engine case and it still leaked, they then removed the oil pressure switch and applied new sealant to that, it's fine now. I think it should be a warranty job given that the bike is less than a year old and 2000 mile, however it cost me £30
No they are separate the switch is below the cover, just wip off the bottom fairing and loosen off the bottom of the side fairing and its accessible, take it out clean it up, add a little sealant and replace, I'm not sure what is the best sealant but I'm sure another member will pick this up and advise?
Don't whatever you do, be tempted to use something like bathroom sealant - it's corrosive to metal. If you want to DIY, this is the best thing for sealing surfaces where oil are present: Blue Hylomar You should be able to pick it up from any decent motor factors, or online. S
Thanks guys. It's 1207 sealant according to the workshop manual. I try and get some tomorrow. Im not convinced it is the sensor leaking but it doesn't look like its the clutch cover either. So I'll reseal the sensor. I cant see me riding the bike hard enough until my next foreign trip so I may not find out if ive fixed it for a while. Like Carl said.....it is only the slightest weep of oil but bloody annoying on a 2 year old bike. Just discovered one of my headlight lenses has a crack in it and theres are a few nasty scratches here and there from a road that had been gravelled in France. Bloody motorbikes. Eh?
Right....so......I re-sealed the oil pressure switch. And its still leaking. I reckon it's the sump. It's either the seal.......but.....it looks like the casting is cracked in 2 places where the bolts go through to hold the sump on. It may just be casting imperfections but through a magnifying glass they do look like cracks. WTF??!!!!! Maybe these two bolts were tightened up too much in the factory or something...... I'm so pleased my warranty has run out.
When the bike was made it would be robots applying a precise amount of torque so I wouldn't have expected that to be the cause, in my experience the dealer would find a very good reason for it not to be a warranty anyway, look for someone breaking an engine
If anyone takes the lower cowl off their 08-11 could they have a look at the two sump bolts either side of the lower cowl stay/fixing point. Is the casting smooth or do they have marks on them? I'll try and upload a pic.
That looks normal to me, it looks like oil above the sump line? And what is the grey paint looking patch?
That's just a trick of the photo. No paint on there. It's either the case split where that left hand bolt is.....the seal of the sump itself.....or the nut thing that the oil pressure sensor bolts into that's leaking. I think its the sump cover seal and the oil is blowing upwards due to the aerodynamics. It's sump off anyway by the looks of it. Fucking thing.......