Right side oil seepage, DS1000 motor

[Buckethead]

'06 Sport Classic 1000 with the DS1000 engine. A little more than 1000 miles on it. It was a leftover. I got it "new" 3 weeks ago.

There's some slight oil seepage on the right hand side. Looks to be coming from either the oil filler plug or the temp sensor. Not in any risk of leaving a puddle or running dry, but damn, that's annoying on a new bike. It's not a Harley. It's not supposed to leak.

Took it in today. They changed the O-rings on both the filler plug and the temp sensor. Still seeping.

Suggestions?

Oh, and yeah, I used "Search." Nothing turned up. 

[duckwrench13]

Pics?

When you say "temp" sensor, are you referring to the fitting just above the oil filler plug? That's actually the oil pressure switch. They have been known to crack, and seep, where the plastic housing (top half that the wiring harness plugs to) is bonded to the lower screw in portion. Over time, the bonding agent can become brittle, and start to crack due to heat and vibration. Then, as the motor runs and oil pressure builds, it begins to weep, and eventually spray as the crack worsens.

Unplug the wiring harness from it. Grasp it with your fingers and try to turn it. If it's cracked you should feel some rotational play in it. If it's really bad, you'll be able to turn it. In either case, replace it ASAP! They can blow out, and spray oil everywhere.

[Buckethead]

Please note, this is not my engine. Still working on how to upload a pic from my hard drive. 

Seems to be coming from somewhere between the gold oil filler plug and the silver oil pressure switch.

Its hard to say where the oil is coming from specifically because it does not seem to be an active leak, that is, oil only appears when the engine is running, but it doesn't seem to happen while its stationary. I'll clean off all the oil, then I'll go for a ride. When I stop, there is a thin coat of oil on the right side of the engine case. Its enough to darken the case, as though I were seasoning a cast-iron skillet, but it has never dripped. Same thing happened at the dealer. They cleaned it off and ran it for a bit to see if they could pinpoint it, but, true to form, it wouldn't perform under observation.

I'll try the unplug and turn tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

[Howie]

The stock filler plugs tend to weep because the O ring damages easily.  This is more an annoyance than a problem.  You do want to make sure the oil pressure switch isn't the culprit though.  As duckwrench13 said, this is a problem.  Clean the area thoroughly, then spray with an aerosol powder.  Go for a ride.  The stain in the powder should lead you to the leak.  If it is the filler plug an aftermarket one will end your problems.

[bigiain]

If it is the filler plug an aftermarket one will end your problems.

+1

The OEM oil filler plugs, the grey/black plastic ones, have a not uncommon problem of not being moulded accurately enough leaving a casting line where the two halves of the mould didn't line up quite right, creating a big enough step that the stock oring doesn't quite seal it. Take the filler cap off, remove the oring, then look down on the surface the oring seals against to see if you can see a "half way line" - a few minutes with a file has fixed this same problem for a lot of people.

Alternatively, use this as an excuse to install a cool filler cap temp gauge...

big

[Old-Duckman]

My filler plug did the same thing. I replaced the stock plug with a Rizoma. The Rizoma came w/o an O-ring. I used the stock green O-ring on the Rizoma...now no oil weeps past the plug...ever.

I think the Rizoma plug was like $20-ish? Looks waaaay better than the stock plug too.

[Count Desmo]

My filler plug does the same thing...just haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.

[mitt]

Filler plug damp = normal.

Front valve cover damp = normal.

Damp clutch cover = not normal - make sure you don't have oil coming out of the clutch.  I had that, and it was a bad seal behind the clutch, covered under warranty.

mitt