• Welcome to the BMW R18 Forums. Member registration disables ads and allows you to post and share. Register Here.
  • A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

Oil Leak...

  • <i class="fa--xf fal fa-check "><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" role="img" aria-hidden="true" ><use href="/data/local/icons/light.svg?v=1789222567#check"></use></svg></i> Discussion starter Discussion starter justabill
  • Start date Start date
justabill

justabill

Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2022
Messages
29
Location
Chicagoland
Visit site
Bike
R18CLS, R1250RS, R100RT, R80 Custom, R90S
Looks like I get to go exploring. I am guessing it's just a head gasket.

IMG_0010.jpeg

That's after a couple days, so it's a slow leak at least.
 
Not the head gasket, that one is way further toward the engine and it wouldn't leak oil ... did you just do a valve adjustment on that bike? ... if yes, take your Black RSD cover off and make sure the 2 actual valve cover screws are tight (Large torx under these silly sheetmetal brackets) ... if they are ... just clean it up and see if it goes away. I had that on mine before, when I put the cover back on, a small amount of oil 'hides' someplace and that drips out the first time the motor gets hot ... if it continues to leak you may have a bad valve cover gasket ... but most likely it is nothing .. I have re-used my gaskets now 4 times and they hold just fine .. but that is just my 2¢ ;)
 
Doh. Yeah, I wrote "head gasket" but was thinking of the valve cover gasket. Darned, new-fangled motor with the valve cover cover through me off. :).

This is pretty much what I'm planning to do tomorrow.

No service recently. It's at about 3K miles now and it's been about 6 months since the 600 mile service. I keep a close eye out for drips out of habit since I work on my old airheads. This is new since my last ride a few days ago.
 
Damn ... If you just did a service, that would have been too easy ... maybe one of the bolts did back off a bit, that would be the easiest and I hope for you that is what it is ...
 
Ok. There was nothing really alarming to clean up, but I did have a few places where the gasket's inner seal appears to have had something sitting on it for a while. Some of the sealing ridges just lay flat. The outer ridge of the rocker cover seal seems to be intact, and I reinstalled it after a good clean. Will see how it goes, but I'll be grabbing a new gasket if it leaks again.
 
Lets hope for the best! ... there isn't much pressure there and these gaskets are pretty tough ... hope for the best that the 'ridges' stand back up and seal as intended.
 
Agree with Ulrich, these gaskets ARE pretty tough and IMHO, should last for many valve adjustments.

Something I do is take mine and thoroughly clean all the oil off with dish soap and hot water. If the rubber is still slippery, then I repeat washing with dish soap until the rubber has no slick feel.

I then use brake cleaner on the metal surfaces, wiping each halves until they are spotless and have zero oil film. Also make sure all oil has drained back into the crankcase and not pooled up in the left-side cylinder head, which would frustrate efforts to reinstall the left-hand gasket with a 100% oil-free mating surface. Sitting on the bike and angling it towards the right for 10-20 seconds should be enough to get sufficient oil drained back into the crankcase.

The bolts torque down to 10Nm.

And...don't forget the spark plug hole gasket! Sometimes it comes off with the valve cover and gets omitted in the rubber/metal gasket cleaning process.

Mike
 
Keehn said:
Agree with Ulrich, these gaskets ARE pretty tough and IMHO, should last for many valve adjustments.

Something I do is take mine and thoroughly clean all the oil off with dish soap and hot water. If the rubber is still slippery, then I repeat washing with dish soap until the rubber has no slick feel.

I then use brake cleaner on the metal surfaces, wiping each halves until they are spotless and have zero oil film. Also make sure all oil has drained back into the crankcase and not pooled up in the left-side cylinder head, which would frustrate efforts to reinstall the left-hand gasket with a 100% oil-free mating surface. Sitting on the bike and angling it towards the right for 10-20 seconds should be enough to get sufficient oil drained back into the crankcase.

The bolts torque down to 10Nm.

And...don't forget the spark plug hole gasket! Sometimes it comes off with the valve cover and gets omitted in the rubber/metal gasket cleaning process.

Mike
Click to expand...
In my next life, if I have to reincarnate as an inate object, I'm returning as one of your gaskets.
 
Thanks. So far, so good. I am noting that this is normally parked between a 40 year old and 50 year old boxer. Each with a $6 gasket. Each wth no oil dripping on the ground. :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top