Forks leaking oil

Do I get the oil seals or the dust seal? or both????

 

you'll need both, word on the street is yamaha dealer has the longest lasting seals

 

Flash, it depends upon the condition of the dust seals. If they aren't cracked and are soft and plyable, I'd just replace the oil seal. The Yamaha seals are best in terms of fit and longevity. You can order them from Chacal and save a tidy amount.

 

The dust seals appear to be free of cracks and rips , they just leak oil.

Deal quoted 18 dollars for each oil seal and they quoted 3 hours of labor 105 for each fork YIKES 250 dollars? I imagine its not very hard to do.

chacal have a website??

 

Fork seals are easy enough with a little knowledge before hand. Do you have a maintenance book yet? The Haynes is not terribly well illustrated on this but there are a few good illustrations here on the forum with lots of experienced hands to back it up. $18 a pop isn't bad, try info@xj4ever.com to reach Chacal, he can usually beat the dealer cost by a tidy margin. Please consider doing this job yourself if you have the desire. Rick-O-Matic will provide detailed instructions upon request and Gamuru posted nice pictures as I recall.

 

I do have the YAMAH service manual, Original owners manual and the original dealers assembly manual.

I will email chacal about the seals

Thanks robert I will read up on the install of those seals. thanks.

 

A trick very few seem to know about:

The damping rod is attached to the outer fork tube at the bottom. The damping rod will turn when you try to remove the cap screw. There is a special tool (you can make your own) to hold the damping rod.

You can usually get away without a tool if you break the cap screw loose before you remove the fork spring. The spring pressure helps hold it. If it does slip you can use a bit of impact to get ahead of it.

On reassembly tighten the cap screw after installing the spring but before adding oil. Invert the fork (on a rag so you don't damage anything), compress and torque the screw.

 

Micarl

are you telling me that i can do it without a press as the manual says???

I have both tubes off the bike now.

 

That is what he is telling you. I don't use a press, just use a lot of grunt. Mind you, those caps are under tension so you want to be VERY careful not to put yourself in the line of fire. I HIGHLY recommend the use of a helper to get the caps off. If you are savy, you can leave the tubes in the head clamps and remove everything with the tubes safely secured in the clamps. I also recommend the use of an impact gun to remove the damping rod securing bolt. It is much easier than fussing with the holding tool. Sometimes you have to use the tool but I have been able to get away without it most of the time.
Keep at it Flash, you are well on your way.

 

Like Robert said, you can remove them without a press but off the bike it takes about 6 hands.

A bar clamp works great if you have one. Just use a deep socket between the cap and the clamp jaw to reach down in there and tighten up a bit.

Otherwise I'd put them back in the triple tree to get the caps out. That way you only need 3 hands!

 

[/quote]=The dust seals appear to be free of cracks and rips , they just leak oil.

Deal quoted 18 dollars for each oil seal and they quoted 3 hours of labor 105 for each fork YIKES 250 dollars? I imagine its not very hard to do.

chacal have a website??[/quote]


Wow! $105 each, and they're off the bike? My local dealer quoted me $112 for both, still on the bike since he'll already have the wheel off to replace the front tire, (another $125 parts & labor). Only problem is he will have the bike for at least 2 weeks since they are so backed up. Really it not a problem since I can't ride this year anyway with my disability.

 

ok with the fork tubes baxck on the bike i managed to get the hex screww out of the botton with no problems,

There was probably about 2 shot glasses of oil in each tube ( yes definately not enough). also in the tube was chunks of oil ( like grease ) could that have been the problem ? .

in what way is the oil seal removed? i have tried pulling it from behind but it will not move i figured you could feed me some ideas on how to get it out.

thanks again guys

 

First you have to remove the dust seal. Then there is a retainer clip that has to be removed. Then you can remove the seal. Just don't mar up the fork tube doing it.

 

I have had very good luck with fork seals with the following method as long as they are just leaking and are not blown out or cracked or broken.

Drain all existing oil from the forks and replace with the proper amount of a mixture of ATF and Lucas Power Steering Leak Stop (about 75% ATF and 25% Lucas). Drive the bike for a few weeks, drain and refill with the same concoction.

In about 85% of the bikes that I have tried this in the leak has stopped and never has returned

Hoggerus

 

yes I removed the circlip i see the seal in ther and tried to pull it out

This bike has been in the garage for a better part of 12+ years not running not moved. that may have made the oil coagulate into a greasy brown crud.

I have to put the fork tubes in to the parts washer at work to get it all out. gonna try 1 more time and yank out those seals

 

just got it back together man those tubes where caked up with nasty gunky oil. now they shine

I will let ya'll know how it turns out when i can get out and ride ( raining like all hell here all last week and this week .

did you here that lake delton (54miles away from me) surpassed its flood stage and the water found a way around the dam and emtied the lake into the wisconsin river? where will tommy bartlett have his shows now? so many people will be out of work this summer

maybe they will have the dam repaired and the lake filled by next summer.

 

It takes a whole lot of doin' to reshape the earth and get it ready for supporting a whole lake behind it.

Then, there's the matter of the water that they need to fill the lake after the dam has been inspected and certified by the Army Corps of Engineers.

If that the only place there was to go boating and fishing ... I do that restoration project you were planning on doing to the boat and get a taste for what's in the freezer case at the market.

Places that don't need the water are getting flooded and places that need it bad are getting the Tornadoes ... go figure???

 

We're getting neither, Rick.

Could someone take all that floodwater and pump it out here to California, please?

 

You are going to have to use the bare knuckle grunt factor to pull those seals. Make SURE the bike is securely fastened down, things are going to get shaky. After you are sure you have removed the lower bolt and the seal securing snap-ring, grab the lower stanchion and YANK! I've encountered encrusted seals too and this method works. Might take a few whacks but it will come out.
To prevent this problem in the future, I put a thin film of non-hardening RTV (a good grease works too) on the OD of the oil seal. It keeps water out of the joint so corrosion doesn't latch onto the new seal again. Then I coat the seal snap-ring with a heavy grease to keep it from corroding. Slide the dust seal into place and you are back in business.

 

Thanks robert . will do .

 

You may resort to actually having to "Rip them out"
Taking them out in chunks because the Seal is stuck to its seat in the tube.

If this is the case, you can make a tool that helps by grinding a blade-end on a big nail and tapping the nail down in between the outside of the seal and the seat of the tube.

If you do it that way ... put some heat shrink on the shank of the nail and a protective layer of Duct Tape around the top of the tube to prevent sctatching and marring while you pry-out the old seal.

It helps keep the damage to a minimum.

 

I have found it's tough to get enough snap with fork tubes mounted in the bike. For me, it was earier to mount the fork horizontally in a vise, clamping the caliper mounting points in the vise, and pulling horizintally. My first attempt I neglected to remove the damper rod retaining bolt that's recessed in the bottom end of the fork. It was a lot easier after discovering that bolt. Next time's a cake walk.