Mysterious hole behind crank casr cover

Started my bike up to day and noticed a steady stream of oil coming out right next to my left foot.

Turned it off and after inspection of the crank case cover gasket (left side) I found a small hole in the crank case itself, right behind the gasket.

Oddly it looks like it's supposed to be there. Meaning it's to clean of a hole to be broken off. I'll take a picture and post it.

 

which bike do you have and it will take a few posts before you can post a photo.
should not be any holes behind the left side cover except where screws go

red indicates normal drain oil coming out is the problem

edit with new photo

 

85 xj700 maxim. I think I can actually see it in the second picture. Very bottom of where the gasket would be is a very small groove. Is that supposed to be filled by the gasket?

 

if you have any oil in /under that cover you have a big problem

 

Post a pic.

 

i think what you see is a drain hole, it's supposed to be there. if any water or oil gets in there, it needs a way to get out.
keep it open

 

water drain is not his real problem the oil coming out of it is the problem

 

better?

 

your advice is solid about keeping it open.

just saying his problem is oil leak not a drain hole op is focused on the wrong thing.

 

So if the drain hole is supposed to be there why would it not be normal to have oil in there? Might be an obvious question but I'm new to working on motorcycles in general.

Started it up an hour later to show my room mate and no oil came out and was running fine. I think it happens intermittently because it's not the first time I've seen a small puddle of oil I just never saw where it was coming from.

Any idea what the issue could be? If problem is oil getting behind the cover where could it be coming from

 

the pick up coils live under the left cover and would not like to bathe in oil. you may have a leaky crankshaft seal.

OIL SEAL
93101-32144-00
part #2

unless you have oil leaking from above cover or front of motor that is wicking into the cover

this seal is located behind the rotor the screw that holds rotor on goes into the end of the crank shaft where the seal is located

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/sear...AXIM+-+XJ700N/PICKUP+COIL+GOVERNOR/parts.html

 

So the problem has been solved.

I started it up again to see if it would come out, of course it did, so I shut it back off. I noticed this time the oil was very liquids and I could smell gas. So I took a match and poof, the oil puddle lit right up.
I drained it and there was definitely lots of gas mixed in with the oil.

Put new oil in, started it up and it ran like a charm, no more leak.

My theory is I kept it on prime after turning the engine off and letting it sit for a while, and somehow the bass drained from the tank, through the carbs, into the cylinders, and down past the piston rings into the crank case. Which would also explain the mad backfiring that occurred when I would start it.

Making sure now to keep the petcock on "ON", so hopefully if im right the problem wont return.

 

Problem not solved.
The float needles aren't sealing. Even when on PRIME there should be no gas leaking into the crankcase.
There also shouldn't be anything leaking from the crankcase, even with gas in it

 

Brilliant