Bad Oil leak. Need help

[df2]

Did you check oil breather pipe as suggested by Mulatron above?

Can't see why engine oil would come from gbox plate - most likely migrating from somewhere else. Sure it's engine oil?

All nuts & bolts on sump & lines torqued up? There's gaskets between sump/sump spacer & spacer/block. O rings damaged on fitting? Sump plug washer OK? Any oil obvious toward front of motor/sump or elsewhere?

If you suspect elbow/flex joint, clean it all up, wrap a temporary fix around there, take it for a run & see if oil's still getting out.

There was no problem before you did work?

 

Good luck.

 

 

Check the Breather Hose! IT seems to be the number 1 cause of oil leak (that seems to look like it's from everywhere but) Clean up the engine and squirt baby powder all over it. Take if for a short ride. This will help you tell the difference between where it's really coming from and from splatter.

[dhansen]

Check the Breather Hose! IT seems to be the number 1 cause of oil leak (that seems to look like it's from everywhere but) Clean up the engine and squirt baby powder all over it. Take if for a short ride. This will help you tell the difference between where it's really coming from and from splatter.

 

Just a couple weeks ago I found the same situation, oil dripping from everything. What a forking mess. Thank you breather hose. Let go right up front above the 90 degree bend. I assumed the worst but other than the big mess, I feel lucky it wasn't something more serious.

[polebridge]

OK!! I FINALLY found it! Just don't seem to have as much time on my hands as I used to. Maybe that's a good thing these days?!

 

Thanks everyone for all the helpful suggestions and I have a word to the wise. It turns out that the steel braided oil line that comes out of the rear of the lower sump has developed a leak. It was hard to find because of the location. On my bike (and I suggest that everyone with a V11 Sport check this) the oil line was making contact with the edge of the engine case that houses the transmission. This is why it was difficult for me to find. The leak in the line is EXACTLY where it is contacting the edge of the case. It seems that over time that case was worn through the line. Now. I don't know if I have done something wrong to cause this. I typically remove this line from the sump whenever I change oil so that I can completely remove and drain the sump. I also replaced a broken pawl spring so I have had the cover off of the case. Who knows?

 

I am just suggesting that V11 Sport owners should take a quick look and see if their oil line is clearing the transmission case in this area. If not you might want to try and route it in such a way that it does. Don't know if that is possible or not but when I get the new line I intend to see if I can attach it in such a way as to clear the transmission case completely.

 

I order the new line already from Harpers. According to them there are none in the country so it must come from Italy. Who knows when I will see it? Harpers says that it should be within three weeks.

 

Last year I lost a lot of riding time to the broken pawl spring. Now this! I may soon be selling one Coppa Italia. I love the bike but I want to be riding. It is a shame that an otherwise great (and fun) bike has these slight design flaws.

 

Let's see, I have a Roper plate installed to prevent the nasty oil pressure drop. I have an oil pressure gauge installed just to be sure. Changing the oil requires dropping the entire sump because I choose to place a hose clamp around the oil filter to prevent it from backing off. I keep a spare pawl spring zip tied to the frame under the seat. Now I will have to keep an eye on the routing of the oil line....Yikes! It's getting to the point where I feel apprehensive about riding the bike at all! Especially when I hear stories of rear ends that have locked up.

 

How are Griso owners doing? Same kind of nagging issues or are they pretty solid? Maybe there is an 8V in my future. Who knows? I will tell you this. If not for this board and all of the great advice, technical help, and plain old wisdom of the members I would definitely be selling this bike and never buying another Moto Guzzi. With the current lack of dealer support (the dealer I bought the bike from dropped the brand and told me that they will no longer service them) this board is an indispensable source of help.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love this bike. My heart says keep it but my head is saying 'have we gone mad?'.

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Don't get me wrong, I love this bike. My heart says keep it but my head is saying 'have we gone mad?'.

Thanks again everyone.

No you don't have to be crazy but it helps, would you rather be riding a Harley just like everybody and his dog?

I'm not sure but I think that hose is just a drain from the frame vent, perhaps you could just do a temporay fix by cutting and jambing a length of tube into it. Some expert please comment.

Roy

[Tom M]

Auto part suppliers Jeg's and Summit sell all the parts you need to make your own lines. I bet you could find a local auto parts/speed shop type place that could replicate the line for a lot less than Guzzi is going to charge.

[GuzziMoto]

And yes, it is just a return line for oil that has made its way up into the frame through the breather system. No pressure in the line other then crank case pressure.

[mznyc]

 

 

 

 

Last year I lost a lot of riding time to the broken pawl spring. Now this! I may soon be selling one Coppa Italia. I love the bike but I want to be riding. It is a shame that an otherwise great (and fun) bike has these slight design flaws.

 

Let's see, I have a Roper plate installed to prevent the nasty oil pressure drop. I have an oil pressure gauge installed just to be sure. Changing the oil requires dropping the entire sump because I choose to place a hose clamp around the oil filter to prevent it from backing off. I keep a spare pawl spring zip tied to the frame under the seat. Now I will have to keep an eye on the routing of the oil line....Yikes! It's getting to the point where I feel apprehensive about riding the bike at all! Especially when I hear stories of rear ends that have locked up.

 

If not for this board and all of the great advice, technical help, and plain old wisdom of the members I would definitely be selling this bike and never buying another Moto Guzzi. With the current lack of dealer support (the dealer I bought the bike from dropped the brand and told me that they will no longer service them) this board is an indispensable source of help.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love this bike. My heart says keep it but my head is saying 'have we gone mad?'.

 

Thanks again everyone.

Can't agree more.We pay exotic level prices for these bikes and get budget bike or less quality and support from MG.Many problems have safety concerns,inexcusable ! We've lost several good dealers in the last few years and I don't think Guzzi could blame anyone but themselves,a real shame.

The bikes are a blast to drive but if they sit in the garage what good are they,especially 12-15K 2002 prices.I love to tinker and do maintenance,I hate to fix bad design flaws(at my cost!) and the indifference from Mama Guzzi drives me nuts!

[polebridge]

FIXED!!!

 

The new oil line came in yesterday. Got it installed. No more leaks. Thanks for all the advice everyone! I CAN RIDE AGAIN!!

 

Mike

[jrt]

FIXED!!!

 

The new oil line came in yesterday. Got it installed. No more leaks. Thanks for all the advice everyone! I CAN RIDE AGAIN!!

 

Mike

 

So we'll see you at the damn yankee rally in Heath, Ma this weekend?

[docc]

The failure was here?

[polebridge]

The failure was here?

 

No, not there. If you follow the oil line out of the back of the sump it passes very close to the lower left edge of the transmission case before turning upwards to pass along the left side of the starter motor. In my case, it was actually making contact with the edge of the trans case. There is a plate on the left side of the transmission case that the shift lever passes though. The edge of this plate is a bit sharp I guess. Anyway the leak occurred right where the line made contact with the trans case. I guess over time it wore through enough to cause the leak. I have since looked at another V11 and seen that its oil line was JUST clear the case with no contact. When I installed my new line I made certain that it did not make contact at this point.

 

I would strongly suggest that all V11 owners just take a look at this spot to make sure the oil line has some clearance here. If I get a chance I will try and post a pic. I have no idea how do that but I can try.

 

Mike

[docc]

Okay, then, it's here:

 

Mine was in contact also. Just loosened the fitting and rotated the line for clearance. Thanks for the tip!

[docc]

I guess I'll need to protect the line at the top area of contact also. In other places on the bike I've used "zip-ties" as contact guards:

(There, done! Just in case . . .) Thanks, again, Mike!!

[polebridge]

Okay, then, it's here:

 

Mine was in contact also. Just loosened the fitting and rotated the line for clearance. Thanks for the tip!

 

Yup. That's it. Looks like you got better clearance than I have. I am going to go back and see if I can improve a bit. I am thinking that part of the problem is that I am removing my lower sump every time I change oil (so that I can put the hose clamp onto the filter). I was speaking with someone from Harper's Moto Guzzi (I like these guys) and he said that I need not worry about filters spinning off and that any that have are very, very isolated cases. He recommends that I just go ahead and remove the access plug on the sump to get to the filter rather then removing the entire sump and forget about hose clamps. I think I will take this advice. Of course I will need to remove the sump for the next change to get the hose clamp off but that's it. No more hose clamp for me.

 

I also asked him what oil they recommend for the V11 Sport and he said that they just use Mobil 1. I did not ask him what type (don't know why I didn't) but I went ahead and ordered the Full Synthetic 20w50 V-Twin Motorcycle stuff:

 

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_V-Twin_20W-50.aspx

 

He also recommends just keeping with the standard UFI filter so I ordered a few of those also (I am currently using Purolator).

 

By the way. The zip tie thing looks like a good idea. I think I will steel that one from you!

 

Mike

[luhbo]

 

...He recommends that I just go ahead and remove the access plug on the sump to get to the filter rather then removing the entire sump and forget about hose clamps. I think I will take this advice. ...

 

I never had mine specially "secured" and never had one lost resp. spun loose. Anyway, working on the filter through this relatively small hole is not as easy as it is with the sump removed (unless you're a trained gynaecologist). You wont get enough grip on the filter to make sure it's mounted as it should be. So look for (or DIY) a matching tool for this purpose. Good ones even have a hexagon on the back fitting into the sump cover.

 

Hubert