Oil Leak Gs1100g

[slob]

I have oil coming out from the 3mm breather line behind the barrels on the crankcase. What would cause this? Is this the secondary gearbox breather? I had this happen to me on another motor and it started making all sorts of noises. I kept my eye on the crankcase oil but it was not coming from there.

What can I do?????
I'm getting a wet boot, oil on Mums carpet, and when the back tyre gets it it's slippery. AAAAaaahhhhh.

[slob]

Okay, heres the thing, I found this breather line is supposed to go back into the starter well and I guess from there the overflow get back in somehow.
BUT
I thought I'd better check the secondary oil level and top it up as it must be getting low. Upon opening the filler I found it full to the lid. This should only hold about 300ml of gear oil according to the bible, and I had checked and topped it up some 5000kms ago. The oil in there appears to be engine oil..... How can this be? can it get in there if I overfill the crankcase? I dont think so as I have another GS that I've overfilled on more than one occasion.

[rgierer]

It is hard to tell from your post, but it sounds like you may(?) have oil coming from the drain hole from your starter cavity.

oil can get in there a couple of different ways. the more conventional crowd gets it from a bad o-ring on the starter and oil coming through that gap. There are others who replace there stator and fail to get the plug in place properly where the wiring goes external. Now this will get real oil in the starter cavity. You may want to open the cover and have a looksee.

[slob]

the starter cavity appears dry,

[bwringer]

Let's clear up a few things...

The vent line goes from the cavity for the drive gears, under the starter, and through a Mysterious Hole. The Mysterious Hole simply drains into an empty space beneath the starter and then to the ground -- it does NOT route the stuff from the vent line back to the crankcase or gears.

What's happening is that engine oil is leaking into the secondary drive cavity, which is normally full to a certain point with gear oil. Engine oil is not good for gears, so the problem needs to be addressed.

There are a couple of possibilities for why this is happening:
1) Missing or loose case bolts in this area are allowing oil to seep between the case halves.

2) Excess crankcase pressure from blowby (bad piston rings -- really bad piston rings) and/or a blocked crankcase vent (the hose that should come from the breather cover on top of the valve cover and go into the airbox) is forcing oil past the output shaft seal and into the secondary gears.

3) Bad seal on the output shaft. This is a sad thing, since it requires removing the engine and splitting the cases to fix.

[slob]

Thanks bwringer, you have me on the right track now. I'm hoping the breather on top of the head is blocked causing backpressure, lets hope that's the prob anyway the other options dont sound too good at all.

[slob]

breather pipe blocked at the gasket on rocker cover. cleared and now unblocked so I'll see how it goes. If no more posts that was the only problem. Thanks.
Slob.
Rosebud
Victoria.
Aust.

[dtc337]

I have this same problem on my 82 GS1100L and I've pretty much determined that a blocked breather hose is not the culprit. How did this all shake out for you? Did unclogging the breather do the trick? I'd like to explore all my options before I pull the engine and dig in....

Thanks!

-Dave