Leaky Oil Pan Gasket

[Gimpdiggity]

So it would appear that the bike has a leaky oil pan gasket. I watched the oil drip off the engine casing, and traced it back to the gasket. It's pretty much covered in what appears to be leaky oil.

I'm on my way to get some engine cleaner stuff, but that will just be to verify my conclusion.

If it is in fact the oil pan gasket, how hard are these to swap out?? Obviously the exhaust will have to come off, but other than that it looks fairly straight forward.

[Dave8338]

Just as you mentioned...fairly simple but beware! Those pesky little exhaust studs have been known to break, strip out, ect.

The gasket itself is a straight forward repair.

[Suzuki mad]

The gasket is a straight forward change and while your at it you can clean out the oil strainer too. Its also a good idea to remove the oil filter case as there may be a screw or two hidden.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I might suggest soaking the exhaust bolts with PB Blaster or similar for a day or two before trying to loosen them. Chance are they've never been off and they're probably stuck in there pretty good. Best of luck to you.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Gimpdiggity]

Hey everyone.

After cleaning it up with some engine cleaner, and letting it run for a good 10 minutes, I no longer believe it's the oil pan gasket that's leaking.

I think it's this thing. It's something going into the engine case. I'm guessing some kind of sensor of some sort, but I'm not sure what sensor. It's located behind the gear shifter and such (when I say behind I mean closer to the engine, not farther back on the bike).

[Gimpdiggity]

It's directly behind this part here.

[knotzilla]

It could be a small ooze which over time looked like a big leak. I would change the gasket. Isn't that why we own classic bikes so we can have fun working on them instead of the newer ones which have to be brought into a dealership for repairs, Ted

[hampshirehog]

I blo*dy hate changing these - the gaskets always seem to break into a million bits and stick to the motor and I end up spending the afternoon lying on my back picking the bits off. I swear next time I'm gonna hang the bike upside down

[BassCliff]

I think it's this thing. It's something going into the engine case. I'm guessing some kind of sensor of some sort, but I'm not sure what sensor. It's located behind the gear shifter and such (when I say behind I mean closer to the engine, not farther back on the bike).

I think that is the wire assembly for the gear indicator readout on your instrument cluster. There should be a seal or gasket you can replace. Check a manual and a parts fiche.

The accepted method for finding leaks is to clean the area, spray it with (foot) powder, then check for the wet spot.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[bwringer]

The widget with the wire coming out of it is the switch for the neutral light and the lighted numbers that show you what gear you're in.

Drain the oil, remove the two screws, and be a little careful -- there's a spring-loaded nubbin in the end of the shift drum that touches various contacts on the switch, so don't lose that. Pretty simple once you see it.

The good news is that it's sealed by a simple o-ring:

Desc: O RING (D:2.4 ID:26.2)
Part #: 09280-26005

You should be able to find an o-ring that will work just about anywhere. Either a metric o-ring or an american-size #120 (maybe #121) o-ring.



With all that said, make sure you know where the leak is coming from before putting in a lot of effort. The shifter shaft seal is another common source of grunge, but it's usually OK on shafties. (On chain drive bikes the shifter shaft seal is more vulunerable.) Oil pan leaks are also rather rare.

So personally, I'd suspect the o-ring around the nose of the starter. This makes oil leak into the starter cavity and out the mystery hole, and all over the bottom of the engine, and it happens to every GS.

What's the mystery hole, you ask?

It's this hole here -- often the source of panic when spotted by new owners:


When oil comes out of it, it's coming from a leak in the starter nose o-ring and running through the starter cavity and then down a void in the casting out the mystery hole. (The blue tubing is just in the photo to show the connection.)


So my money is on the starter nose o-ring. Any bets?

[asetech]

Mine was leaking from the mystery hole. It ended up being the chain tensioner leaking into the starter cavity.

[jed.only]

awesome info here. i just pulled my oil pan this past weekend due to sludge and oil buildup on the bottom of my motor. i ASSumed it was the pan gasket. ill have to check these other potential problems out as well.

[Gimpdiggity]

Sweetness.

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm pretty sure it's that gear indicator thing...once I noticed it, I could actually physically SEE oil that appeared to be very slowly oozing out from around it.

HOWEVER...I will check again to make sure it's not coming out the mystery hole.

If it is the starter nose o-ring, how difficult is that going to be to replace?? I've put a starter into a bike before (1985 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-600) but never had to put any o-rings up in there.

Thanks again everyone!!!