[dieselndixie]

Hot ride/commute today. pull in the driveway, and I see a puff of smoke/steam from near my left foot. Get off the bike, and drip, drip, drip...oil drops! What the hell...can you help me figure out what is happening. Snapped some cell phone pics, but dont know if they are gonna help.

pics are all of the left foot peg area.

 

[dieselndixie]

inside of skid plate is shiny with fluid, smoke was from oil dripping onto the header.

 

[greywolf]

The sprocket area thread - leak fixes & rebuilds!

 

[2tall]

Clean it with some engine degreaser and pressure wash, and see where it's coming from. Mine looks similar just from liberal amounts of chain lube/oil.

 

[richw]

3 seals around there unless you JUST heavy lubed the chain

 

[dieselndixie]

no heavy chain lubing here...but i do keep it lubed. is that possible thats what it is? I would be very happy to find that out, but it sure looks like oil. I hit it with some degreaser and just lightly sprayed it down with the hose. Maybe after it dries and its lighter outside, i can check it out.

made me super nervous when I saw smoke and saw an oil drop or 2.

 

[greywolf]

Smell is often a clue to whether the stuff is oil from the countershaft seal or clutch pushrod seal, chain lube or brake fluid from the clutch slave cylinder.

 

[richw]

I like motorwash for these situations

 

[kenneth_moore]

made me super nervous when I saw smoke and saw an oil drop or 2.

Nah, nothing to worry about. Mine leaked for ages and would frequently smoke it up upon arrival. It's just oil on the pipes.

The good news is the usual fixes are fairly easy and cheap. I wish I'd figured that out instead of riding around with a leaking bike for so long.

 

[dieselndixie]

well, now I am wondering if its chain lube issue....I came out this morning (after spraying engine degreaser then water last night)

No oil spot on the ground. Bike is fairly new to me....but I did lube the chain for the first time about a week ago.

There was a BUNCH of black gunked up lube all around and under the sprocket cover. Did that just liquefy in the hot ride yesterday and drip?
I rode it again today, and it smoked for a second upon startup, but then wasnt smoking when I got to work. I will have time tonight to clean it up real good and even remove the sprocket cover and get a good look.

i think i panicked because my 4runner developed an oil leak a few days ago, my k5 blazer leaks like crazy...feel like I am leaking oil out of everything i own!

 

[richw]

Motor wash chain and chain area

Switch to Dupont teflon or super clean chain lube

Replace Suzuki with Harley Davidson emblems

 

[dieselndixie]

I dunno...just went out at lunch...there is a quarter sized puddle below the bike. Im gonna have to take off the skid plate, sprocket cover, etc, and take a good look at whats goin on.

There is a drop of oil (and it does appear to be oil) around this bolt. see pics

 

[dieselndixie]

got my sprocket cover off and slave cylinder. I couldnt believe how much gunk was back there. It was like black clay? I dug most of it out, then hit it with some degreaser....but I wanted to be sure it was ok to just spray some water in there to clean it out with the degreaser?

in other news....noticed a puddle of coolant under the bike now. clean looking green coolant. underside of engine is all dirty and cant tell where anything is coming from. again...ok to go nuts with degreaser , sponge and water under there?

picture is AFTER digging out a ton of crap

 

[dieselndixie]

ok to hit that area with degreaser and water now that the sprocket cover and clutch slave cylinder is off? its very gunked up and hard to see whats what.

 

[greywolf]

ok to hit that area with degreaser and water now that the sprocket cover and clutch slave cylinder is off? its very gunked up and hard to see whats what.

It's okay as long as you don't leave water on the steel parts afterward. One thing WD40 is good for is displacing any left over water.

 

[dieselndixie]

ok good...will do that today and get a really good look.

as far as the puddle of coolant all of a sudden....any ideas where to start? are these related?

 

[greywolf]

Coolant will come from a leaky hose, joint or bad water pump seal, not from the sprocket area. as with any leak, you need to clean things up and find the source.

 

[dieselndixie]

I think I was trying to not wash my bike...you would think so if you saw it. I need a good day of cleaning to be able to find these leaks!

Hopefully they are minor, and just stuff I can fix. been riding it in some pretty rough stuff lately.

 

[kenneth_moore]

i think i panicked because my 4runner developed an oil leak a few days ago, my k5 blazer leaks like crazy...feel like I am leaking oil out of everything i own!

This might help:

Rectal Discharge - Symptoms, Causes, Treatments - Better Medicine

 

[dieselndixie]

sure....kick me while im down :headbang: And it burns when I pee....wait, wrong forum.

I really hope its minor...I am taking the wife to big bend on it for thanksgiving. Needs to be something I can fix on my own.