Troublesome Oil Leak After bolt falls out!

hoghaterkaw wrote:

oh BTW the timing cover should not have oil in it. you may have blown a seal.

I drained the excess oil, and wiped out the timing cover/area. Started the bike and still got the leak, though less this time and took a couple minutes to start. I'm guessing that there is a seal somewhere behind the advancer that is blown and needs replacement. Am I correct in my assumption? Should I check something else? Can I replace it without having to tear the whole engine down?

~Clutch

bill_wilcox100 wrote:

clutch, I'm with hoghaterkaw on this.

The points cover has two groves:

1) As you have already noticed, one for passing the ignition timing wires and oil sending unit wire (at least that's what I see in my KZ650-B1).

2) The other very small one for venting and draining to counter the effects of condensation.

As you have been advised, there should be NO OIL in this compartment. If there is, it could be coming from one of two and ,less likely, three places:

1) The oil pressure sending unit. If so, check gasket or O-ring (don't remember which) and re-tighten. You may need to change the sending unit or plug it temporarily with a bolt.

2) Crank end oil seal. Change the seal (I have never done this so no advise here).

3) The upper and lower cases meet here too. Could be the gasket... that's a whole other animal (again, no advise here.)

Best of success.

Thanks for the reply...all of you guys! After pulling the timing cover off and shining a light...looks like it's most likely the seal around the crankshaft. Anyone have advice/tips on replacing this seal?

Thanks!

Clutch

Hey clutch, i just went threw the same exact thing on my kz 400 bobber bike. It always leaked oil. I went to pull the points cover and it was like a river of oil......no good at all. Turns out the oil seal that goes over the crank was my problem. One trip to the kawi dealer and was able to get it.......but i had to wait a week.

I pulled the cover tapped the old seal out and tapped the new seal in. Tightened everything back up, filled it with oil and started it up......and viola no leaks.

oldkaws4ever wrote:

Hey clutch, i just went threw the same exact thing on my kz 400 bobber bike. It always leaked oil. I went to pull the points cover and it was like a river of oil......no good at all. Turns out the oil seal that goes over the crank was my problem. One trip to the kawi dealer and was able to get it.......but i had to wait a week.

I pulled the cover tapped the old seal out and tapped the new seal in. Tightened everything back up, filled it with oil and started it up......and viola no leaks.

So...what you're saying is that you didn't have to have to tear the engine apart? All I will have to do is pull the old seal and put in the new one? AWESOME! Now I just need to find the darn part! LOL!

Thanks guys for all the help!

~Clutch

Yup. Im not anywere nere my 650 now, and cantfor the life of me remember if the points housing comes off like it does on the 900's and 1000's. Either way, you can get the seal out, just take the points plate off ( damn i just realized it's an 82, so probally electronic ignition) Then thake the timing advancer off and make sure you scribe a line so everything goes back on the same way it comes off. Then use a few small picks to pull the seal out, then press the new one in with a socket or something similar.

oldkaws4ever wrote:

Yup. Im not anywere nere my 650 now, and cantfor the life of me remember if the points housing comes off like it does on the 900's and 1000's. Either way, you can get the seal out, just take the points plate off ( damn i just realized it's an 82, so probally electronic ignition) Then thake the timing advancer off and make sure you scribe a line so everything goes back on the same way it comes off. Then use a few small picks to pull the seal out, then press the new one in with a socket or something similar.

Yeah, electronic ignition. I have the Clymers manual to figure out how to get the advancer off and lined back up. The manual is ok, but I find it to be lacking in a few departments (index could be better, more trouble shooting, and parts list).

Getting the ignition back together shouldn't be hard at all. The stock Kawi electronic ignition plates aren't slotted (at least none of them I've ever seen are) so you only have three screws to worry about there. The ignition advance should have an alignment key to make sure it only goes on one way too. Piece of cake. While you're in there anyway you may as well check the seal on the oil pressure switch, make sure that's not about to start leaking on you too.

The Kawasaki site shows the following diagram for a 1982 KZ750-E2/E3:

Crankshaft E2/E3 Diagram

See the SEAL Part Number 92050-081.



I have not been able to find, in my Clymer manual, a description of how to remove and replace this seal. Perhaps someone else who has done this will pipe in.

Best of success.

No way in the world this can be replaced without splitting the cases. Here's a picture courtesy of Bluemeanie from another thread. You're sure it's not the oil pressure sender leaking? That would be a blessing to say the least.

Hate to be a bearer of bad news, but i agree with Ron, no way to change the crank seal without splitting the cases, there's a lip on the seal that fits in a groove in the upper and lower case.

I also agree on checking the oil pressure switch and really hope that's the culprit.

RonKZ650 wrote:

You're sure it's not the oil pressure sender leaking?

No, actually I'm not sure. I haven't pulled off the timing advancer yet to have a good look. All I did was shine a light inside to have a peek, though it was hard to see, it did appear that the bottom half of that seal was wet with oil (which I'm assuming could be from leaning into left hand turns OR a faulty/blown seal). I will pull the cover back off and then remove the advancer to have a better look either tonight or tomorrow morning. Makes sense to know for sure before ordering a part I might not even need (right now).

If it is the pressure switch, would it be the switch itself or an o-ring?? I have tons of spare o-rings of various sizes that I had purchased for another project some time ago that may work.

Thanks for the posts guys

~Clutch

Ok guys, got everything out of the way to have a good look and here is what I see when all is said and done:



You guys' guesses are better than mine, but I am still thinking it's the crankshaft end seal...