oil leak

I parked the bike late last October in my garage after another successful riding season. I am in my garage every day. In mid November I went out to my garage and my bike(82 Yamaha maxim xj650) leaked oil all over the garage floor, not a small leak by any means. I have been trying since then to find a mechanic since my old mechanic no longer works on bikes (got a real job I guess???). I have still been unable to find a mechanic that will look at it. I am to the point where im thinking of trying to figure it out myself. I am not sure where its leaking from or anything yet. I am good at following directions but not a mechanic by any means. My mechanicish achievements are changing an alternator on a car and cleaning a carb on a push mower. Both thanks to youtube and diagrams on autozone website lol. Is this something I should be attempting on my own? I am assuming its a seal or a gasket somewhere. oil seemed to be coming from just forward of the center kickstand. Thanks for reading and for responding, I have already missed too much of this riding season.

 

Hi! First thing to do is to band your knees and have a look where it comes from, maby you have to clean up a little and fill some more oil if level is low,then take it from there. Maby it's just a leaking drainplug or levelsensor.

 

Maybe you left the petcock on prime and gas filled the crankcase and overflowed all over the floor. See if all the gas is gone.

 

+1

 

Agree +2 remove your oil filler cap smell if oil smell ok gas? check sight gauge with bike on center stand. If oil is covering window you will need to drain oil, change oil filter. Refill with clean oil , before you run bike , rebuild the petcock ( it is cheap around 25$ from xj4ever) drain tank down , remove 2 screws holding petcock there are links on this site on rebuilding .

 

I believe it's straight oil, wasn't on prime, peacock area looks clean, I took pics oil seems to be mostly coming from right behind the side stand.

 

Kind of hard to pinpoint an oil leak on a dirty engine. Wash and clean the engine, get all the oil off. Then you can tell where it is coming from. There are so many possibilities as to where it is leaking. Cam chain tensioner , valve covers and side covers are the most likely.

 

Ok will do just drained rest of oil was only like a coffee cup full. Gonna clean it and put some more oil thru it seems if it becomes more obvious where oil is coming from

 

Your bike has 2.5 liters of oil in it. So you are saying that 2 liters of oil leaked on the floor and there was only a little left in the bike? That's not good. I would look closely at the drain plug and oil level sensor, maybe even shifter cover gasket or shifter seal.

 

maybe drop a quart of oil in it and see where it is leaking, sounds like it poured out quickly

 

I drained it refilled it ran it shifted into first rode it around the garage in first. Not seeing a leak. Gonna give it a few

 

Auto zone here has all motorcycle oil 2 bucks off per quart saved 6 bucks.

 

That's where it's leaking

 

That might just be me putting in a tad to much oil

 

That looks like a pic of the airbox, and the breather hose.
Take a pic of the sightglass with the bike on the center stand.
Crankcase oil volume is 2600 cc + a little for the filter. The oil level should never be above the top line on the sight glass.

Does the oil smell at all of gasoline?

 

Agreed but the leak doesn't look like it's coming from the breather. Pull the filter and see what's in the bottom of the air box.

Gary H.

 

mine appears to have a leak in the same location...just picked it up today and he said he fired it up after winter and it was empty? not totally sure of the guys knowledge... but I attaced a pic of the area he said it was leaking from.

 

let me know if this sounds similar and how just changing the oil worked out. would love to not have to bring mine into the shop.

 

Remove the oil fill plug and have a sniff. Oil can't leak from the breather/ airbox area unless it is overfiled, or the float needlse aren't seating and allow gas to enter the crankcase.

 

Maybe someone put a k&n filter in it and misunderstood how to oil it...

 

would that also lead to loss of oil? it looks damn near empty....and i dont smell any gas...

 

Is it possible that engine has so much blow by it pumping a bunch of oil into the air box and when the bike sits it drains out onto the floor?
Sounds crazy but how would all that oil get up into the air box?

 

That would be a lot of blow-by. I suppose that if the breather baffle had been removed at some point, more oil mist would make its way out of the crankcase.

 

Is the bike on the sidestand? It needs to be on the center stand to check the oil level.

 

it sounds exactly like the origional poster said..should i drain it, fill it up and run it a bit and see? mine sat over winter and dont know when it dropped the oil.. PO is a bit of an airhead so who knows. it also smells a bit of gas...

 

hoping to hear from the first poster about his bike... if i need to do a full carb rebuild i will have an 82 xj750j for sale...

 

If the problem is leaking petcock and leaking float needles, the petcock will not be dirty. The leak will be internal.

 

if your sump is empty why would you think you would smell gas?
have you looked at the motor oil pan?

oil filter housing can leak a smear of gasket sealer rtv works well.
oil drain plug can leak should have a crush washer.
oil level sensor o ring.
shifter seal.
sprocket seal (chain drive)
tach housing on motor.
bad valve seals

many things can cause oil use
most drips (usage) will happen only when motor is running

the real question is if you are that low on oil WHY is your OIL LIGHT not ON??
check bulb check sensor.

 

mine I just got, just picked up battery today. hasnt been even attempted at being turned on since it dropped oil 1.5 years ago. also when PO parked it tank was full, now no gas, and sump smells slightly of gas....maybe gas thinned out oil and it leaked after the fact? bought a new petcock with an off option. once that comes ill change the oil and fill her up and see what happens.

 

also wondering if the float needles are stuck if i get it running and run some seafoam if they might free up..PO had no problems for the 2 years he rode before parking. and would turning the petcock on and off be enough for me to get it at least around town for now?

 

@Crimson9mm start your own thread, stop hyjacking this one. Its difficult enough to help one person with one bike solve their issue, but to have someone else chiming in muddles the entire process. I understand that the issue is similar, but you should start a separate thread on it.

 

Starting threads is free...

 

Apparently one of the only things on this forum that is free.

 

Just about everything on here is free. ALL the info is free------

 

sorry. his issue just matched mine exactly and was hoping to hear back from the OP about if just changing the oil and running it cleared it up or not. he hasnt givin an update since the 16th. also...hog, where abouts in CNY are you? i live in buffalo and am from just outside utica.

 

info and advice is always free.
and the choice to take it is also free.
other than premium membership I do not know of anything this site sells.

 

However, not taking the advice without first putting some serious consideration into it can cost plenty.

 

Crimson.....check your inbox

 

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