Oil in airbox?

[Maynerd]

Hello everyone, I have a quick question. I had my bike, a 1980 GS850G out of storage yesterday for the first time this year and saw what looks to be watered down oil on the engine below the carbs/airbox. I noticed this last summer when the bike sat outside uncovered for a week and got rained on. It looked to me as though the oily water was coming from the airbox as I could see drip marks on the airbox casing, and it was wet inside. The gasket on the kickstand side is also split. I cleaned out the airbox and made sure the drain hose wasn't plugged. Everything seemed okay until yesterday. I have the bike stored in a dry barn that my parents own, so the oil can't be dirty rain water dripping from the airbox. I cleaned it up and went for a ride and didn't see any more of it after I got back. I'm at a loss as to what this "oil" really is or where it's coming from. I'm a newbie, so have mercy on me if this is a stupid question. Thanks.

[mark]

You've got a "breather tube" on the top of your engine connected by a hose to the airbox, that sucks any blow-by from your crankcase back through your air box. That can oil up the inside of your air box somewhat if your bike has a few miles on it. That combined with rain water could cause what you describe.

The split in your airbox side cover needs to be fixed however for your bike to run its best, completely sealed. The easiest, cheapest way to do that is to get some weatherstripping from Home Depot or hardward store and make yourself a new gasket.

Oil could be coming from the front of your engine and blowing back there while you ride. Or it could be coming from your cam chain tensioner (that thingy in the back with the spring on it), or valve cover gasket, cylinder head gaskets etc.

[Maynerd]

Thanks for the info Mark. The bike has 33,000 mile on it. One time over the summer when I got home from a ride it looked like I had small black splatter marks on the toes of my shoes. I never noticed any wet oil spots on the engine or the ground other than those stated above, so I figured it was from a puddle in my friends gravel driveway. I'll have to check the front of the engine and the breather tube more closely when the weather breaks here. One more question, my oil window on the engine appears to have condensation on it. When I tilt the bike and get the oil to cover the window, it doesn't go away. Is this something I should worry about, or is the window two layers and thats where the condensation is? Thanks again.

[JayH]

How much oil are you talking about? Like Mark said a little oil is going to be in the box because of blowback from the engine. If you over oil the stock air filter that could be the cause of a lot of excess oil in the airbox. Your comment about oil on the shoes is more of a concern. It looks like you might have a leak in a gasket on the engine.

Since it isn't prime time riding seanon yet take the time to clean off the engine w/ some engine cleaner, contact cleaner, etc. That way when you start the bike and run it you will have a better chance of seeing where the leak is coming from.

Give us more detailed info and we will give you some more responses to your problem.

[Maynerd]

Hello Jay. The oil from the airbox would almost cover the area of a pack of cigarettes. It would be more damp on the top and thicker around the kickstand side as the bike sits at an angle. It's not so thick that you can't see the silver of the engine through it. When I took the filter out of the airbox, I don't recall it being oily at all, just wet and dirty. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the engine before I put it away in October, and was riding it at least once a week and didn't notice any oil on the driveway or on the engine other than from the airbox. My friend has a bluish colored gravel driveway with several puddles that I assumed caused the splatters when I didn't see any wet oil on the bike. My shoes were covered to the point where I would think that if it was an oil leak, it would be leaking pretty noticably. I suppose though that if oil was on the hot engine it could have burned off before I noticed my shoes awhile after I rode. This only happened the one time that I'm aware of. Thanks.

[Doctor Shifty]

One more question, my oil window on the engine appears to have condensation on it. When I tilt the bike and get the oil to cover the window, it doesn't go away. Is this something I should worry about, or is the window two layers and thats where the condensation is? Thanks again.

The oil window is normally a single layer. It's probably got some crud from the oil on it, which is not uncommon after many years, and it needs cleaning. It is possible to remove the clutch cover with the bike tilted over on the side stand to get the oil level low enough - although you might prefer to do this when you are changing the oil. You can then clean the window. There is a little metal cage inside the window and it gets in the way, otherwise you could clean it through the filler cap with a bit of bent up wire etc.

Try some crankcase cleaner additive in your oil before you get desparate enough to remove the cover.

Kim

[Maynerd]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Doctor Shifty. I was hoping it wouldn't be a sympton of some major problem.