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Engine oil leak on 1982 XJ650 Seca

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by dgf1, Mar 25, 2020.

  1. dgf1

    dgf1 New Member

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    Hello, I was wondering if anyone can tell me to diagnose this oil leak on the engine.
    It looks like one side of the engine has an oil leak, but the other side looks fine. There is a lot of residue on one side of the engine (pics below).

    Is this a head gasket problem?

    Since I've bought it, I have only started this bike once. There was white smoke coming from the engine after it was running for a couple of minutes. But I suspect it was probably me being dumb and putting too much oil in it. This was two years ago and hadn't started it since. Today I started looking into it and trying to decide if it's worth the trouble to get it running again.

    Any help would be great.

    Thank you
     

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  2. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Most oil leaks come from the valve cover gasket. There are drains that will let the oil leak down past the spark plugs onto the jugs. The only real way to tell is to clean the oil off get the bike running and put baby powder on the bike to see where the oil goes up.
     
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  3. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Looks like either a leaky valve cover gasket, or a waay overfull crankcase. Open the filler and see if it smells gassy.

    white exhaust is moisture heating up and driving out.

    black- gas
    Blue- oil
    White- water
    Dfox
     
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  4. dgf1

    dgf1 New Member

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    Will letting out the oil and refilling it to proper levels solve the problem? if it was due to an overfull crankcase
     
  5. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Along with a new filter, and rebuilding the carburetors and a leaky petcock if the crankcase is full of gas.....
     
  6. dgf1

    dgf1 New Member

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    Thank you for the response.
    The petcock doesn't look like it's leaking and crankcase isn't full of gas. I'll try to clean everything up and see where exactly the oil is leaking from. Most likely will have to replace the valve cover gasket.
     
  7. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    While you have the cover off, check your valve clearances.
     
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