Rear diff oil seal "check first" thought, I found !

[~TABASCO~]

Changed out my leaking seal yesterday. What I noticed after installing the new seal is that the original leaking seal was not pressed in as deep as the new seal. So, I wonder if my original leaking seal had just backed out slightly causing it to leak? I didn't think to look or check this until I noticed the new seal inserted deeper than the original was sitting before I pulled it out.
Its probably a good idea that I changed it out anyhow, but if you're ever caught out with out a seal and WAY out in the boon-docks, you might want to DOUBLE CHECK that the seal is pressed in as deep as it "should be". After the rear wheel is off you can check it with a screw driver (in an emergency). Might just stop [your] leaking and get you to town or a shop.

The difference in distance that I was looking at from the original when I started VS after I pressed in the new one is approximately 3/32" difference.

Just a thought !

 

[509rider]

Great info. Thanks

 

[SilverBullet]

Changing the seal location slightly also gives you a virgin surface without wear thereby improving seal.

 

[BWC]

This is where I found the seal positioned on my 12 before I removed it.


Outer edge of the seal was set flush to the bottom edge of the bevel on the housing. And although the old seal looked to be in perfect shape, I think the gear oil/ mud crap mix found just inside the seal lip was causing the minor leak.
It’s nice that this seal can be changed from the outside without having to disassemble the final drive.

Changing the seal location slightly also gives you a virgin surface without wear thereby improving seal.

This also. There’s no bottom seat for the seal to fit to so you can adjust it’s depth slightly when installing to get a fresh running surface.

 

[WJBertrand]

Changing the seal location slightly also gives you a virgin surface without wear thereby improving seal.

Exactly. Some seals sold as OEM replacements are intentionally designed to ride in a slightly different location than the factory installed seal. Such a seal would be designed to ride in a new location toward the clean side of where the original seal rode, just as you've observed. Yamaha may have done this on purpose. I've run into this before changing the front main seal on my Toyota truck's crankshaft.

 

[~TABASCO~]

This is where I found the seal positioned on my 12 before I removed it.
View attachment 54324

Outer edge of the seal was set flush to the bottom edge of the bevel on the housing. And although the old seal looked to be in perfect shape, I think the gear oil/ mud crap mix found just inside the seal lip was causing the minor leak.
It’s nice that this seal can be changed from the outside without having to disassemble the final drive.



This also. There’s no bottom seat for the seal to fit to so you can adjust it’s depth slightly when installing to get a fresh running surface.

This is how my original leaking seal looked before in re installed the new seal... The new seal pushed down the vertical walls about 3/32" deeper past the 45* bevel. For other posters: I used a factory Yamaha stock gasket. Same as the original.

Thanks for posting your picture.

 

[steve68steve]

Also replaced a leaking seal, which was also installed with the face flush with the hub assembly. I replaced with a Yamaha genuine part and also noticed it could be driven past flush.

I assumed the original seal was just not pressed as deep as it could go - IIRC, I had them side-by-side and they're the same thickness.

 

[scott123007]

Jaxson's post reminded me of when we were all riding together at the Tenere event in Arkansas a few years ago when my rear seal started leaking. I bought a quart of gear lube to carry with me because I didn't want to change the seal until I returned to Florida. My plan was to check it every 50 miles or so, and top off as necessary. Even though the wheel was a mess the first couple of times I stopped to check, the level never went down enough to add anything significant. By the third check, I noticed the wheel barely had anything on it (I wiped it clean each rime I stopped) and by the fourth, it had stopped altogether. It has never leaked another drop in over 30 thousand miles. Just throwing it out there that for whatever reason they start leaking, sometimes they self correct.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Jaxson's post reminded me of when we were all riding together at the Tenere event in Arkansas a few years ago when my rear seal started leaking. I bought a quart of gear lube to carry with me because I didn't want to change the seal until I returned to Florida. My plan was to check it every 50 miles or so, and top off as necessary. Even though the wheel was a mess the first couple of times I stopped to check, the level never went down enough to add anything significant. By the third check, I noticed the wheel barely had anything on it (I wiped it clean each rime I stopped) and by the fourth, it had stopped altogether. It has never leaked another drop in over 30 thousand miles. Just throwing it out there that for whatever reason they start leaking, sometimes they self correct.

I've had the same experience on two FJRs and my 2012 Super Tenere. My guess is that they'll occasionally get some fleck of junk in the seal and the leak stops when the junk gets out of the sealing surface. Kinda like forks so if in the boonies aSeal Saver might work but I've not tried that.

 

[Pdrhound]

Seal savers work when there is dirt in the seal. I had lots of leaks from dirt until i rebuilt the shock a second time with SKS seals. Most times the seal mate would work. Till it didn't. There is always one on my bikes.

Im ordering a new breather cap and since im paying shipping im going to grab that seal as well.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/2012/super-tenere-xtz12bcb/drive-shaft

Is that the #25 seal? Do I need the o ring?

Should i grab the seal that goes on the driveshaft while i can? What number would that be?

 

[Pdrhound]

?

 

[jrusell]

Yes #25.
If you plan to replace the seal without taking it apart the o-ring is not needed. If you are going to split it and replace the seal it might be wise to replace the o-ring as well. Probably reusable but for $10 I would just put a new o-ring in if I went that route.

That being said, I wouldn't bother splitting it. I would just use the 2 screw method and leave it all together.