Oil Leak Please Help

I've put countless hours into fixing up my poor XJ550. Everything is running/driving top-notch HOWEVER there is one issue I can not figure out. The bike has a difficult to find oil leak. It only seems to leak when i'm out driving, when the bike is idling I don't see any leakage. It must be leaking quite a bit because when I come to a stop there is a cloud of oil-smoke burning on the exhaust. I attached a picture with the area it appears to be leaking from, however, I don't see any gaskets or anything in that area. Just those rubber fin seperators. Thanks for ANY help so I can finish this bike!

YES I know I have a cracked header, that will be fixed soon...

 

Probably the cam cover gasket. Likely running down from this area:

 

I thought that too, but it seems to be 'bubbling' up from the circled area. I checked the cam cover gasket and didn't noticed any leaking oil in that part of the engine. I can replace it if nessecary but i'd hate to throw more money into this thing if I don't need to.

 

only way oil can get there is from the valve cover gasket mentioned by MiCarl.

 

Here's a thought.

It's not an Oil Leak. It's an exhaust leak.
If you are burning Regular with Ethanol added ... a by-product is water.
Usually goes right out the back after being turned into steam in the collector.
Sometimes, if the Mixture is too Rich ... the exhaust will drip out of the drain holes.

That broken Header Collar is a shortcut to the atmosphere.
Lines-up pretty close to where you drew the circle; too!

If you can hear that broken Collar ... Pop, Pop, Poppidy, Pop, Poppin' ...

I'd put my money on that being "The Leak"

 

An old yamaha mechanic taught me a trick. Clean the hell out of the area and then spray it with athlete's foot spray and you can see where it's coming from.

 

home made Magnaflux.............i like it

 

Great tip, these old mechanics are worth knowing!

 

It's definitely a cloud of oil-smoke that is dripping/burning on the headers though so I doubt its exhaust/steam. If its not too expensive I might just replace the cam gasket anyways just to be sure. I'll check into it.

 

Replacing the Cam Cover Gasket and getting a good Exhaust Pipe Collar on there should straighten you right out.

Any other kind of leak up in that area would lead to a performance issue and your running good ... right?

 

Not sure if this is likely (or even possible), shot fork seal throwing oil that blows onto it?

 

Possible?
Yes!

But, that would have to be one seriously bad leaking fork seal. Close to no seal.

Let's do C-S-I XJ.

Look on the inside of that #-1 Pipe ... is there a trail?

That would boil and stink; too. So there wouldn't be too long a trail ... just build-up that you could wipe-off with paper towel.

Wipe that #-1 Header under the Collar and lets see how bad it's leaking.

 

I'm guessing that blind plug right behind the rubber spacers has developed a leak. It seals the end of the cam oil feed gallery .

 

I just had the fork seals replaced and they are not leaking. I did see that plug behind the spacers but didn't see any oil leaking from that either. Also the cam gasket is $70! Will need to wait before I can get one.

 

$70?? I call BS on who quoted you that.

They are about $38.

OLDBIKEBARN

 

Bikebandit quoted me on that. I've bought a lot of parts from them, so maybe i've been paying too much? Haven't bought from OBB yet, i'll check them out.

 

70-Bucks ... whoa!

That's highway robbery.

 

$70 from the dealer is about right but less expensive units can be had from a variety of sources (Shameless Plug: including our own Chacal!). I'll echo PghXJ, $35 is about right for an aftermarket unit.