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    Oil in airbox

    In the nearly 3 years since I've had my '81 GS80G, I always seem to find oil collecting in the air box & dripping down onto the LH case.

    My mechanic keeps telling me I have put too much oil in. He holds the bike "level" by eyeballing it & showing me the oil level is too high in the sight glass. Seems so in the way he holds it. (when he set up the bike the problem was there.

    I check the sight with the bike on the centerstand & have used several bubble levels to confirm the bike is dead level by placing levels across the frame tubes above the battery area, the exhaust headers, top of engine cases, etc. Always dead level & oil just up to upper level. So I do question his call & even when the oil level has dropped to the lower level, it keeps steadily going down so it can't be too high.

    Would love to find why the engine (sweet as silk at 27,000 miles) is putting oil up into the airbox.

    Any input would be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Douglas

    #2
    Most of the time oil being pumped into the air filter area is the result of a clogged crankcase breather. Find the breather and see if it is still venting. Excessive pressure build up will force oil up and out the valve cover vent.

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      #3
      Oil in airbox

      Offhand do you know where this breather is on the '81 GS850G. I am not familiar with it, guess I could try to look it up.
      Thanks either way for the tip. So far that one actually sounds like it makes sense as I am not buying the overfilled level diagnosis.

      Thanks,
      DH

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        #4
        the oil level ius suspose to be checked with the bike on the center stand so you are correct and your mechanic is in error.

        it is normal for a small amount of oil to find its way into the air cleaner, but it should not be leaking out of the air box.
        the crank case breather is located ontop of the cam/valve cover, it vents to the air box via that large hose coming out of the middle of the cover.

        excess blow by will cause you to get to much oil in the air box. also if the wire mesh is missing from the crank case breather you will get excessive oil in the air box.

        Comment


          #5
          Douglas,

          Oil ending up in the airbox is because of excessive blow-by, entering via the crankcase breather... so I don't see how a blocked breather could contribute to this. It has to be blow-by past the pistons & piston rings. What is your oil consumption like?

          Do a compression test and see what the PSI in your cylinders is. In all probability you're in for a fresh set of piston rings... but while you're at it you'll be doing valve seals, maybe valve guides, getting the sleeves honed, perhaps a fresh set of pistons if things are too worn.

          But I don't want to panic you , so first things first: do a compression test ('dry' followed by 'wet') and see what that tells you.

          Mike.

          Comment


            #6
            oil in air box

            Thanks Mike,

            Haven't measured oil consumption precisely. It is more than I expected compared to my 14,000 mile GS 500 as I do add oil reguarly. I suspect the bulk of this is due to this problem (oil in airbox) and the fact that a partially stripped stud at the oil filter cover and the need for a fresh gasket ring at the drain plug was allowing some leakage. I have fixed those two problems.
            I am also leaking oil at the oil pressure sending switch & have ordered the two orings that go there. That last one allowed a fair amount of oil to coat the top of the gear box area.
            I plan to capture the breather tube that comes off the top of the valve cover to see if that is truly the source of the leakage into the airbox.

            Tho I do not suspect the severity of the problems you describe, I will run the compression tests you describe as soon as I get a chance.

            Thanks again for your input,

            ....any other ideas out there? Anyone besides me actually dealt with & solved this problem?

            DH

            Comment


              #7
              All those leaks are you sure it isn't British? 8O

              Comment


                #8
                oil in airbox

                Well, could be. Even tho it had only 20k on speedo it showed obvious signs it had spent much time parked outside in all weather. That means the P.O. was a real wanker. Is wanker another name for british? Then if the bike was his/her child the bike would have to be british provable by DNA test.

                or something like that.

                If you, reading this are british PLEASE do not take offense!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Probably too late for that. We must now delete all your posts!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    oil in airbox

                    I die a thousand deaths, drowning in my own damned leaking oil. Is there no justice?
                    DH

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