So, I've been chasing an oil leak for about 3 weeks now, pulled all three drain plugs and replaced the o-rings, replaced the oil filter, checked the oil cooler for leaks. I finally took it to a local dealer, the service writer says it's a side door gasket, "Very common problem", he says. So, "How much?", he quotes me 8 hours of labor at $85 plus parts, and says that "Honestly, you're parts are less than $25." So, that's a ballpark of $700.

I bought this bike in April 2010, so I'm three months out of warranty. Right now it's got about 18,500 miles.

I took it to another "local" dealer to get second opinion. He says it looks like a side door gasket, and possibly the oil pan gasket. I asked if this was a common problem, he said no, this was the first time he has seen this on a newer bike. "How much?" ..... 6 hours for the side door and another 4 if they have to drop the oil pan, but he didn't think the oil pan was a problem. His shop rate is $80, so that's ballpark at $500 for the side door and another $350 for the oil pan gasket.

So. I took it to the dealer that I bought it from (which is 70 miles away). This service writer was the only one that actually laid down on the ground with a flash light and looked at the bottom of the bike. He comes back up and says it's a side door gasket. I asked if the oil pan gasket was OK and he got back down on the ground, and shined the flash light all around, then got up and walked to the other side, laid back down on the ground again and shined the light all around. He says doesn't look like the oil pan gasket is leaking. I asked if the side door gasket leak was a common problem, he said no. "How much?" he says "4 hours for the side door", and there are inner seals that also have to be replaced, their labor is $75, so ballpark at $500. But, he said it looked like the leak was coming from the bottom of the side door, two bolts that also hold an exhaust bracket. He said that I could simply pull the bolts out, clean them off and try some fresh Loctite and re-torque them. He said that might work, he has done it on other gaskets with success. if it doesn't work, then the only option is to pull the side door off and replace the gasket.

So, that's what I'm up to today. The only PIA it that I'll have to pull the exhaust off to get to the side door bolts, but what the heck ...

I've got a Service Manual and it looks like the Main Shaft and the Counter Shaft of the transmission are connected to the Side Door. Geez, I don't want to go this far into it. So, I'll pull the exhaust off and retorque the bolts and see if that stops it.

Anybody done this before? Have any comments? All help is appreciated.

Thanks, Mike

 

It is a very common problem with 09 and up bikes.Some bolts have fallin out completely.The bolts just need to be cleaned up and loctited and retorqued.There is a new torque spec,which I have written down somewhere.A ball end allen should keep you from removing the exhaust.

 

Hey dansflti,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll do some shopping for a ball end allen, all mine are straight. So, if you can find that new torque spec, I'd appreciate it. My Service Manual says 13-18 ft-lbs.

Nice bike, by the way!

Mike

 

Yep, totally agree with you ! (85 inch.lbs to 132 inch.lbs )

 

be careful with those ball end allens. if you torque on them too much you can break off the little ball. I had to tighten mine and what I did was use the ball allen just enough to get a straight allen wrench in there to bring it to torque.

 

do not tighten them to 85-132 ft. lbs.....it will break the bolts off ...maybe 85-132 inch lbs.....I don't know the new specs. but I had the same problem with my 11 roadking classic and I just took them out and cleaned them put on locktite and put them back in good and tight....maybe 15-20 ft lbs...that was about 5000 miles ago and it hasn't leaked a drop since..

 

Yeah, I had the same reaction to 85-132, but then I saw his avatar and, well ...

Anyway, I just took the exhaust completely off and the bracket under the two bottom bolts had about an 1/8" of free play, so those bottom two bolts are backed out quite a bit. I need to run out and get some blue loctite and then I'll put put it all back together this afternoon.

Meantime, if anyone knows the new torque specs, please advise. I did a google and a bing search and came up with a lot of posts about the same issue. But nobody mentions a new torque spec (except dansflhti), I'll probably just take them to 18 ft-lbs and call it good.

Thanks again for the replies.

Mike

 

The new torque value is 23-25 ft/lbs.Search for M1305 on here.

 

Got it!! Thank you very much. Had it figure it would be in one of dawg's posts. 23-25 ft-lbs it is.

Mike

 

I'm really sorry about saying foot pounds instead of inch pounds ! I'm usually very careful about that ! Should have been 85 in.lbs.-132 in. lbs.
Yes, they increased the torque value up to 23 ft.lbs. to 25 ft.lbs.