Balance Shaft Oil Leak

I have a low mileage (gasp! I know) 2010 ST1300, with about 7000miles. I was preparing to do an oil change and found a nice coat of oil and grime on the bottom of the oil pan. Decided to bring her to the shop to have it checked out. Thank goodness for extended warranties. Shop manager called me, said the balance shaft o-rings were the cause, and that it calls for 10 to 11 hours of labor, possibly having to pull the entire engine out to do the work. There is a slight chance of doing the o-ring change without pulling the engine out. I gave them the green light since Mother Honda is taking care of the bill. (I know I actually pay for it). This is the 2nd major surgery for this bike. The first was the dreaded high idle when I first got it, in which Honda replaced ALL of the cooling system to correct it. THANK GOODNESS FOR EXTENDED WARRANTIES!

For some reason I'm reminded of an old AAMCO commercial were a mechanic says 'Transmish-e-on?? I've never seen a transmission-e-on before!' and one with two chimps beating on a transmission with sticks.

Sounds to me like one mechanic holds up a part and asks his friend "what's this", and the other mechanic says "about five hundred dollars".

southern9 said:

I have a low mileage (gasp! I know) 2010 ST1300, with about 7000miles. I was preparing to do an oil change and found a nice coat of oil and grime on the bottom of the oil pan. Decided to bring her to the shop to have it checked out. Thank goodness for extended warranties. Shop manager called me, said the balance shaft o-rings were the cause, and that it calls for 10 to 11 hours of labor, possibly having to pull the entire engine out to do the work. There is a slight chance of doing the o-ring change without pulling the engine out. I gave them the green light since Mother Honda is taking care of the bill. (I know I actually pay for it). This is the 2nd major surgery for this bike. The first was the dreaded high idle when I first got it, in which Honda replaced ALL of the cooling system to correct it. THANK GOODNESS FOR EXTENDED WARRANTIES!

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THANK GOODNESS FOR EXTENDED WARRANTIES....think of it this way, you already PAID the dealership for it, now the dealership is going to get PAID again by Honda for repair work under your extended warranty, etc.
Not that it couldn't be the balance shaft o-rings But I have never seen, or even heard of that happening before. I'm guessing its a simple coolant leak, mixed with road grime, that looks like oil .
I always wonder if they are using your warranty to bill Honda for something that they dream up.
Wouldn't be the first time. I would plant my :butt1: in the service department, and insist that they show me this leak before their grease monkeys start beating it with sticks.
10 to 11 hours of labor... How does this guy sleep at night?
They really got Honda to replace the entire cooling system to correct a high idle?
This guy should be in the sales department, not the service department.
.02

Yeah, they had to replace thermostat, radiator, hoses, everything on a new bike. The bike is a 2010 bought new in 2013, so maybe sitting up gave it some problems. As long as they fix it right, I don't care what they bill Honda for.

My thinking is that if they had to replace every part in the cooling system to correct a high idle then they aren't going to fix a "balance shaft" oil leak correctly. Unheard of getting Honda US to accept those descriptions for warranty work. The area service rep must be getting a cut plus a turkey at Christmas.

dduelin said:

My thinking is that if they had to replace every part in the cooling system to correct a high idle then they aren't going to fix a "balance shaft" oil leak correctly. Unheard of getting Honda US to accept those descriptions for warranty work. The area service rep must be getting a cut plus a turkey at Christmas.

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There is a legitimate issue with some models having high idle at start up, in which cases extensive work and replacements were necessary. But that's in the past. We'll see what comes of this. Beats trying to fix it myself.



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dduelin said:

My thinking is that if they had to replace every part in the cooling system to correct a high idle then they aren't going to fix a "balance shaft" oil leak correctly. Unheard of getting Honda US to accept those descriptions for warranty work. The area service rep must be getting a cut plus a turkey at Christmas.

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times 10

southern9 said:

Yeah, they had to replace thermostat, radiator, hoses, everything on a new bike. The bike is a 2010 bought new in 2013, so maybe sitting up gave it some problems. As long as they fix it right, I don't care what they bill Honda for.

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That should tell you that they really have no clue on how to work on your bike! I can't even imagine why you would have to replace the hoses or the radiator, for an idle issue. :bsflag: Maybe, just maybe, the wax valve, or possible a T-stat. Sounds like your service buddy was either just taking a wild guess each time he replaced something, or more likely, he was searching the flat rate book for the most costly repairs to try so they got the big bucks from Mother Honda.

southern9 said:

There is a legitimate issue with some models having high idle at start up, in which cases extensive work and replacements were necessary. But that's in the past. We'll see what comes of this. Beats trying to fix it myself.



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No disrespect directed towards you, but I have to side with Dave on this one! High Idle Issues at start up have NOTHING to do with Hoses, Radiator, T-stats, etc. or any of the other stuff they told you.
In defense of the service writer, I will say, that he sure paid attention during the classes on how to generate revenue for the dealership!

My 2010 experiences high idle when the weather is cooler. I have just over 50k. While prepping the bike for my ride to Texas, I synced the TBs and cleaned the vacuum T under the air box. I may have to change the wax valve as she still idles a little high. I think your mechanic is grasping at straws.

southern9 said:

There is a legitimate issue with some models having high idle at start up, in which cases extensive work and replacements were necessary. But that's in the past. We'll see what comes of this. Beats trying to fix it myself.

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How do you classify high idle, my bike shoots up to 2500-3000 rpm about 1-2 minutes after I start it. It stays there for about 20-30 seconds and then drops down to 1200 RPM. I feel this is normal, what do you guys think.

cjames431 said:

.... I think your mechanic is grasping at straws.

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+1, on both the high idle 'replace everything' and 'oil seal replacement' topics. I can't imagine that it would leak enough to matter (enough to warrant tearing it down, likely to create other problems) even if the oil seal rings are compromised.

I could of course be wrong here but the common coolant leaks often present as 'oil leaks' because road grime on the coolant film on the lower parts of the engine looks oily.

Honda has paid for lots of warranty repairs on water pumps over the years when 50 cent clamps were loose. This is the first time I know of when the balance shaft seals get the blame.

southern9 said:

As long as they fix it right, I don't care what they bill Honda for.

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That's a choice but I'd wonder how they'd treat me once the Honda Gravy Train left the station.

The high idle repair is in the past of course. If all those bits were necessary for the fix— great. If not could I trust the dealer not to do me like he did Honda.

Al Gully said:

I feel this is normal, what do you guys think.

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That's pretty normal. My idle stays up a minute or two before it starts settling down. But usually I'm on the road before it drops so it doesn't really matter.

ST Gui said:

I'd wonder how they'd treat me once the Honda Gravy Train left the station.

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:1st:

A line from Forrest Gump comes to mind....Run Forrest Run
The first thing I would do is get away from that dealership as fast as you can.
Second thing I would do is search the forum here for any other members who may live close by you, and ask if there are any tech events near you.
Find a local ST owner and have them drop by and have a look at this mysterious, never before heard of, oil leak, that takes 10-12 hours of labor to fix, and try and figure out what is really going on.
Like Dave said, my money is on loose coolant clamps, or at the most, a simple galley plug in the Vee, which would take about an hour of your time to fix.
You will find that several of the members on this sight are, or were, professional mechanics for probably more years than the service kid at the shop has been alive, and will give you an honest answer or solution if you just ask them.
This forum is a great bunch of folks willing to help.
Unless you've worked at a dealership, or taken the classes, on how to cheat, trick, or convince the bike owner into a major repair job, you would not understand were all these warnings are coming from.
There are good dealerships out there, unfortunately, they are far and few between now a days because of the market, and the need to make as much money as possible to keep the lights on etc.
You never know what a woman is like until you divorce her...and when your warranty is up, your dealership becomes your ex wife

Al Gully said:

How do you classify high idle, my bike shoots up to 2500-3000 rpm about 1-2 minutes after I start it. It stays there for about 20-30 seconds and then drops down to 1200 RPM. I feel this is normal, what do you guys think.

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I cant speak for others, but that doesnt sound normal to me. My bike goes right to 1600-1700, stays steady for a couple of minutes then settles down to 1000-1100 after that. It doesnt shoot up to 2500-3000 especially after running for 1 or 2 minutes. Maybe my bike is not idling properly

Al Gully said:

How do you classify high idle, my bike shoots up to 2500-3000 rpm about 1-2 minutes after I start it. It stays there for about 20-30 seconds and then drops down to 1200 RPM. I feel this is normal, what do you guys think.

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Those RPMs are high for warm up. Mine would stay there till the header pipes glow red. Idle wouldn't come down for several minutes if I remember correctly. It was a couple years ago.


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