Exhaust leak + oil leak
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6th Gear
Joined: May 2011
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From: North Carolina
Exhaust leak + oil leak
After a recent 5k service on my 2007 XL1200C (about 17k miles on it), I started to see oil leaks at the base of the rear cylinder after 50 or so miles. Nothing major, just a weeping kind of leak - hasn't left a drop on the ground (when parked for one day or 5 days).
Originally, I thought this was related to the fact that the shop I used switched me over to synthetic. I'm aware that synthetic doesn't cause leaks, but it can clean out the buildup that patches over existing leaks. So I switched it back to HD dyno oil, to see if I could just mask the issue until it became a real problem. 100 or so miles later, the weeping seems to be less but it's still there. The rocker cover on the top of the rear cylinder has also developed a weep on the back corner (opposite side from the exhaust pipes).
Yesterday (200 or so miles later) I went to start it up to go home from work and it was unusually loud and had a rattling noise. The flange nuts on the rear cylinder exhaust had both gone MIA. I immediately shut it off when I saw the issue, but in all likelyhood I have driven the last 1k+ miles with an exhaust leak. I went to the local HD dealer and picked up four new nuts and installed the two that were missing and put the other two to the side.
I noticed a popping noise upon decel at the end of last season, but I chalked it up to the fact that the 2007 EFIs run lean from the factory (zero mods on this bike). I've put maybe 400 miles on the bike so far this season, but will probably put 1500mi a month on it (just in commuting mileage) between now and the end of September.
A few questions:
Thanks,
Rob
Originally, I thought this was related to the fact that the shop I used switched me over to synthetic. I'm aware that synthetic doesn't cause leaks, but it can clean out the buildup that patches over existing leaks. So I switched it back to HD dyno oil, to see if I could just mask the issue until it became a real problem. 100 or so miles later, the weeping seems to be less but it's still there. The rocker cover on the top of the rear cylinder has also developed a weep on the back corner (opposite side from the exhaust pipes).
Yesterday (200 or so miles later) I went to start it up to go home from work and it was unusually loud and had a rattling noise. The flange nuts on the rear cylinder exhaust had both gone MIA. I immediately shut it off when I saw the issue, but in all likelyhood I have driven the last 1k+ miles with an exhaust leak. I went to the local HD dealer and picked up four new nuts and installed the two that were missing and put the other two to the side.
I noticed a popping noise upon decel at the end of last season, but I chalked it up to the fact that the 2007 EFIs run lean from the factory (zero mods on this bike). I've put maybe 400 miles on the bike so far this season, but will probably put 1500mi a month on it (just in commuting mileage) between now and the end of September.
A few questions:
- What kind of damage could I have done by running it with an exhaust leak? I imagine there has been a small leak for a 1-3k miles, the more serious leak relating to the flange nuts was more like 5 miles tops.
- Can the lack of the exhaust being secured cause oil leaks from vibration, or can lack of back pressure on one cylinder cause oil leaks to develop?
- I've spoken to the dealer to get some kind of estimate to replace the base gasket on the rear cylinder, ballpark of $700 + parts. Should I bite the bullet and do this, wait till the leak gets worse, or should I do it and look at upgrades or replacement of parts while we're at it?
Thanks,
Rob
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Joined: Aug 2009
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A few questions:
Thanks,
Rob
- What kind of damage could I have done by running it with an exhaust leak? I imagine there has been a small leak for a 1-3k miles, the more serious leak relating to the flange nuts was more like 5 miles tops.
- Can the lack of the exhaust being secured cause oil leaks from vibration, or can lack of back pressure on one cylinder cause oil leaks to develop?
- I've spoken to the dealer to get some kind of estimate to replace the base gasket on the rear cylinder, ballpark of $700 + parts. Should I bite the bullet and do this, wait till the leak gets worse, or should I do it and look at upgrades or replacement of parts while we're at it?
Thanks,
Rob
2) Not really, no.
3) If you really hate the oil leak, fix it. It's expensive because you have to tear down the hole engine/cylinder to get to it. If it is just small, I'd probably leave it until there was a reason to get to it.
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