Final drive seal weep at 6000 miles

[spklbuk]

My bike as serviced at Romney Cycle yesterday including a set of tires. T. J., their Tenere tech, noticed wetness on the wheel hub and immediately began to seek the source. He took me into the service area and showed me where the main seal between the final drive and wheel hub was beginning to weep...not an all out leak YET, but fluid coming through. He said it was the second bike on which he has observed the same thing and recommended that the seal be replaced under warranty NOW. They did not have the parts on hand, but did order them and based on first hand observation plan to stock the seals on a regularly.

Though this rings vaguely familiar, keep a close eye on your final drive fluid gents...

 

[coastie]

Thanks, I will keep an eye on mine. Do you have a picture for us?

 

[spklbuk]

Sorry, a picture never occured to me. It is the large seal on the final drive pumpkin plainly visible when the wheel is removed. The leak can be best described as a wetness where none should be evident. Not a gusher, but enough that it bears watching. At this point, there was nothing evident from the outside. Bike still quite useable, just making others aware.

Will be sure to get a pic when I return for a replacement. May be a few weeks, it a long day adventure up and back to the Romney, WV shop. I'll either make the May gathering or go around the middle of June when I traditionally camp at J.R. Lake.

 

[stevepsd]

I just checked the service manual and there is a TIP listed in the final drive section:

"What may appear to be an oil leak on a new or
fairly new vehicle, may result from the application
of a rust preventive coating or excessive
seal lubrication."

If the seal is leaking, the replacement process is straight forward, and simple. The oil seal #25 in the pic below (part # 93102–70004) is $15 from bike bandit, and if the bolt-on cover (#18) that holds the oil seal needs to be removed to replace the seal (I have not seen what this looks like in person to tell, nor does the service manual mention it), the covers o-ring #21 (part # 93211–54698) is $10.

 

[sail2xxs]

The other final drive seal TJ saw weeping was mine. : TJ replaced it under warranty at just a bit over 20k miles, and replaced the cooked right headlight harness then as well.

Chris

 

[houndman]

Not alarmed here though, this is not a BMW final drive catastrophic failure like thing, just a seal.

 

[Scottie Boy]

I just checked the service manual and there is a TIP listed in the final drive section:

"What may appear to be an oil leak on a new or
fairly new vehicle, may result from the application
of a rust preventive coating or excessive
seal lubrication."

If the seal is leaking, the replacement process is straight forward, and simple. The oil seal #25 in the pic below (part # 93102–70004) is $15 from bike bandit, and if the bolt-on cover (#18) that holds the oil seal needs to be removed to replace the seal (I have not seen what this looks like in person to tell, nor does the service manual mention it), the covers o-ring #21 (part # 93211–54698) is $10.

That's good to know. Worst case scenario its a cheap fix although possibly there was nothing wrong with the bike according to the TIP. ::008::

 

[sail2xxs]

I found the pics I took of the final drive seal area before the seal was replaced.

Chris

 

[hANNAbONE]

...interesting...

many thanks for the pics..!

 

[mcbrien]

That looks like a leak to me . Glad its a easy fix .

 

[spklbuk]

Way more leak in the pics than observed on mine. The wetness was on the inside of the wheel hub and is not yet visible externally...likely just a matter of time though.

No panic inducement intended, just a heads up for something to keep an eye on.

I'll still have my seal replaced next time I wonder near Romney.

 

[spasm]

Way more leak in the pics than observed on mine. The wetness was on the inside of the wheel hub and is not yet visible externally...likely just a matter of time though.

No panic inducement intended, just a heads up for something to keep an eye on.

I'll still have my seal replaced next time I wonder near Romney.

i changed my tyres today, my tyres fitter is a mobile guy, mine was wet inside on the teeth too, he said its where they grease it up at the factory, you cant just have metal on metal, it'll wear out in no time. this makes complete sense to me, mine doesnt show externally either. ive done 9,700 miles. im not even slightly worried ::022::

 

[stevepsd]

i changed my tyres today, my tyres fitter is a mobile guy,

A mobile tire changer for bikes....what a neat idea!

Guess it goes along with the milkman & breadman (if you still have those over there....they did when I lived there in the 60's & 70's).

 

[creggur]

my tyres fitter is a mobile guy,

Damn, you guys on the other side of the pond ALWAYS get the cool stuff for motorcycles... ::025::

 

[Dirt_Dad]

My bike as serviced at Romney Cycle yesterday including a set of tires. T. J., their Tenere tech, noticed wetness on the wheel hub and immediately began to seek the source. He took me into the service area and showed me where the main seal between the final drive and wheel hub was beginning to weep...not an all out leak YET, but fluid coming through. He said it was the second bike on which he has observed the same thing and recommended that the seal be replaced under warranty NOW.

T.J. has seen another one now. He found similar evidence on my wife's S10. Said it appears to have leaked at some point but was not actively doing it now. He also found the drive oil was low, he speculated from the leak. He was not super concerned about doing it quickly. He knows we're about to launch on a 6K mile trip and did not have any concerns but did recommend we order the part the next time I'm going to be around and he'll swap it out with the new part # unit that Yamaha now has for it.

 

[coastie]

T.J. has seen another one now. He found similar evidence on my wife's S10. Said it appears to have leaked at some point but was not actively doing it now. He also found the drive oil was low, he speculated from the leak. He was not super concerned about doing it quickly. He knows we're about to launch on a 6K mile trip and did not have any concerns but did recommend we order the part the next time I'm going to be around and he'll swap it out with the new part # unit that Yamaha now has for it.

New Part#? Did Yamaha change the seal?

I changed my tires at 6k and checked mine while the tire was off. Mine showed no leaking, but there was lots of grime and grit around it. Cleaned it all up and will check it in another few thousand miles.

 

[dcstrom]

Hmm I just bought one to carry as a spare on my trip, better check that it's the new part.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

New Part#? Did Yamaha change the seal?

Yes, that's what the mechanic told me.

 

[WrongWay]

So is it the same part # or a new one? If new could one of the members that bought one post the (new) part number please and thanks! Did yamaha ever put anything out about this i.e. bad batch made in china what ever?