Oil leak?

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Help: Anyone seen a leak like this before??

Did a search and came up with nothing, so....

Was doing an oil change a couple of weeks ago (first since buying the bike off a friend, who had just changed it prior to me purchasing it) and I noticed oil on the underside of the left tipover cover. Removed the cover, and noted some oil had pooled in the recess gap for the cover, and also on the actual bar on that side. Was heading out of town, and finally got back today to investigate.
- a little bit of residue at the front of the valve cover gasket, but definitely not "draining" down the head.
- looks like some collecting on the cam chain tensioner setup.
- decided to start the bike and see if I could detect anything: crap...I see some very small bubbles around the left rear gasket, just below the left knock sensor, when the bike is running.
Ideas? Anyone experience similar?

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IMG_1298.JPGIMG_1293.JPGIMG_1271.jpgIMG_1272.jpg
 
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OP
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Curious why nobody has offered up any suggestions. Is this website/forum just not that active? Anyone know of anywhere else that I could pose this question, for a possible answer/solution? Thanks
 
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Is this website/forum just not that active?
It is a bit surprising that the more technical people on the Forum have not commented yet. It may be because of the title of your post. The forum is in fact quite active, and for my part, I just can't keep up with all the posts and usually look only at titles that spark an interest.

Or it may be because your post came at a particularly busy time and got lost in the shuffle. There are times where I mark all forums read just to get rid of the clutter - sorry! Re-posting to a thread is a good way of getting it bumped, so you did the right thing. Hopefully, this thread will generate a helpful response. For my part I have not experienced this , and can only ask if you checked that everything was properly torqued. If so, then it would look like a simple gasket replacement. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
 
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OP
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Thanks. I will try changing the title, to maybe garner more attention. Appreciate your help.
 

dduelin

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No ideas and no experience perhaps because the ST1300 doesn't often leak oil. That is the body of 15 years experience. Rarely does a leak down low, like along the gasket below the knock sensor, find it's way up higher to the cam tensioner or make it's way across from the engine to the inside of the fairing. If it drips onto the fairing it comes from up higher.

When it does it is most often the rubber heat mat pinched between the valve cover and the cylinder head - on the inner side toward the vee. The oil runs around the valve cover and drips off the lower outside corner onto the inside of the fairing.
 

BakerBoy

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(Sometimes folks are busy, or maybe no one has an idea ;))

Very unusual that a ST leaks oil from anything but a pinched gasket or rubber heat dam in the valve cover. But it sounds like that you've not had it off. Is there oil visible around the front left spark plug? Have you verified that the cam chain tensioner mount bolts are to proper torque?
 

Blrfl

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I'd definitely remove the left middle cowl and have a look around the valve cover gasket and the top of the cover (spark plug wells, PAIR valves, etc.).

--Mark
 

mlheck

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Re: Help: Anyone seen a leak like this before??

Baby powder blown onto the areas of suspected leaks help you see the oil path much easier. The powder will turn dark and wet and show you exactly where oil is or isn't.

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OP
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Thank you to everyone for the suggestions. I truly appreciate it. I am not that mechanically inclined but, like to troubleshoot, and rarely create worse problems if I do decide to work on it.(lol)
So I talked to another friend of mine (who is a very good wrench, but lives over 100 miles away) and he checked back, and told me that he and the previous owner did a valve check and put in new gaskets not long before I bought the bike. Ahah! Having not routinely worked on the ST, it is certainly possible that he may have pinched one during the process, and not even realized it. I am crossing my fingers. I will likely bring the bike to his place in the next week or two, and we will tear into it.
Once again, I thank each of you, and I will post up the findings when we get to that point. Hopefully, it will turn into another thread on the forum that will come up with the search function, to benefit other idiots like me later on.
:bow1:
 

mlheck

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Re: Help: Anyone seen a leak like this before??

I also had a oil leak after my valve check this winter. Needed to apply some sealant to the corners of the half circles on the front of the gasket. All is well now.

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T_C

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told me that he and the previous owner did a valve check and put in new gaskets not long before I bought the bike. Ahah!
Needed to apply some sealant to the corners of the half circles on the front of the gasket. All is well now.
If they just recently did a valve check and you have oil towards the front, most likely they missed this step or did not put on at the right spots. Permatex black sealant works good for this job. Might want to grab a tube with you en-route to the garage.
 
OP
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If they just recently did a valve check and you have oil towards the front, most likely they missed this step or did not put on at the right spots. Permatex black sealant works good for this job. Might want to grab a tube with you en-route to the garage.
Will certainly make that the priority check, in the troubleshooting sequence. Although it's not oozing out of there with the bike idling for over ten minutes in my garage, my friend says it may be more significant under load, while riding.
 
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Re: Help: Anyone seen a leak like this before??

Baby powder blown onto the areas of suspected leaks help you see the oil path much easier. The powder will turn dark and wet and show you exactly where oil is or isn't.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Foot powder spray works easier to apply :rolleyes:
 
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Re: Help: Anyone seen a leak like this before??

Your friend didn't power spray or steam clean it before he sold it to you did he? I have seen leaks caused by this on the ST1300's. On the right side (as sitting on bike) there is a ledge that has serial numbers stamped next to it, when the engine was assembled at the factory, they apply sealant on both the left and right side of the block (just like they do at the three and nine positions on the clutch cover), using a steam cleaner or power washer can blow the sealant out causing leaks. I have found that running a bead along the seam re-sealed it and corrected the damage (thank goodness). You may want to ask if anyone inspected the valves and had the covers off. The gaskets are a one time use part, and if they didn't replace them, or use Hondabond on the half moons when putting them back together, they WILL leak.
Let us know what you find.
 

Mellow

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and told me that he and the previous owner did a valve check and put in new gaskets not long before I bought the bike. Ahah! Having not routinely worked on the ST, it is certainly possible that he may have pinched one during the process, and not even realized it
ding ding ding.. I think we have a winner... happens to many of us doing valve checks... some leak a small amount and some shoot out like you just struck oil in Texas farmland... as mentioned above, remove the cowls and clean things up then I would just feel around to see if anything is pinched... might simply be correcting that. It's a tricky valve cover to get back on correctly but there are worse ones, like the Super Tenere.. lol
 

Blrfl

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... he and the previous owner did a valve check and put in new gaskets not long before I bought the bike. Ahah! Having not routinely worked on the ST, it is certainly possible that he may have pinched one during the process, and not even realized it.
Unless they're damaged, the gaskets don't need to be replaced and should last the life of the bike. If they didn't realize that, they may also not have put sealant on the half-moon parts on the front, replaced the sealing washers (if the cams were pulled) or torqued the head cover bolts down in the correct order. Any of those can lead to an oil leak.

--Mark
 
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Just so the original poster understands, its usually not the valve cover gasket that gets pinched, its the rubber matt under the throttle bodies that gets caught up into the back of the cylinder head cover when replaced.
A simple way to insure that this does not happen, is to simply remove the two bolts that hold the coil on, this allows you a straight shot putting the cover on square, rather than tilting it to get past the coil etc.
.02
 
OP
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Well, no definite "there it is!" source found. Tiniest weep at one of the cam cutouts on the affected side. Friend says possibly a little stingy on the RTV sealant at last assembly. Time will tell. Will keep an OCD eye out for anything. Thanks again.
 
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