Engine spitting oil

[Guest]

The other day I noticed some very dirty brown oil splatter on the front side of my 81 gs450t engine. The splatter was on the top of the front face near the tachometer cable. The tach port was also oily with this brown oil and there was a drip about to come off the tach cable. I needed to fix my tach cable anyway so I took it off and there was some brown oil on the inside, on the threads and a little pool behind the threads. First, why is this oil this color? And why is it so "high up" in the engine. The oil in the reservoir is a little low but is the right color. If anyone can help if appreciate it. I first noticed the brown oil splattered on the engine after I had taken it on a longer ride and was going fairly fast for a fairly long time. Can anyone help.

[Crank]

Have you lubed the tach cable recently?

[eil]

Brown is the usual color for oil that is somewhat new but far from worn out. It probably looks darker in the sight glass because it's dark in there.

As to why it's so "high up" in the engine... well all I can say is that oil gets pumped or thrown pretty much everywhere inside an engine.

Bottom line: the tach drive has two seals that need to be replaced every few decades. You can see them on the parts fiche and they're easy to buy and replace. You can do it without removing the valve cover but this would be a good time to check your valve clearances if you haven't done that in a while.

[Cmiller]

I'm not looking at the oil thru a glass this is the oil on my finger I wiped from inside where the cable screws in. It's a very murky brown. Like chocolate pudding. It's not translucent at all. What type of oil filter do I need to replace in my bike and what's the best oil for an 81 gs450t? A full synthetic? And how do I go about replacing those seals.