Leaking 90 weight from axle differential

[terabytepirate]

Been awhile since I have been on here, but I opened the garage door the other day to a sight that was disturbing. I noticed a small 2" puddle of 90 weight on the garage floor directly underneath the rear axle differential (forgive me if i am using the wrong term). I know its only a small puddle but the bike has never leaked before. I am wondering what could be causing this, I know I should go ahead and change the oil I am just above 15k miles and planning a fluids change anyway since its almost winter downtime. Just want to make sure I am not going to have a huge problem on my hands.

[adlowe]

Originally Posted by terabytepirate

Been awhile since I have been on here, but I opened the garage door the other day to a sight that was disturbing. I noticed a small 2" puddle of 90 weight on the garage floor directly underneath the rear axle differential (forgive me if i am using the wrong term).

Honda calls it the final drive or something like that.

Is the puddle under the round part in the middle of the wheel or forward of that under the middle of the shaft?

The first could mean it was overfilled -- or -- blown oil seal(s). The second means it is blown oil seal(s). As long as you're sure it isn't engine oil that worked it's way down to a low point before dripping.

Mine has bad seal(s) in the big round part. With the age of the bike, I decided to replace all the seals and do a thorough inspection. I've had the parts for over a month and have had the bike ready for the lift for two weeks. I need to get started.

[dernp]

If it hasn't leaked before chances are it's a bad crush washer. Colder temps mean things shrink a bit. Change the diff oil and use a new crush washer. Cheap fix.

[adlowe]

I think the washer on the final drive is fiber, not a "crush" washer. And it does not seem like temperatures have gotten colder enough to make a crush washer start leaking -- we're only dropping into the mid 20s F around here. Probably about the same for terabytepirate.

[terabytepirate]

[IMG][/IMG]

Thanks for the replies, dont know if you can see because the pic quality isnt that great, but this is the final drive from below shooting towards the top of the bike. I believe its the drain plug that I am looking at but it looks like the oil has pooled up on this and has been dripping from here.

And here is a pic of the amount of oil, I noticed this after I had not been in the garage for about 3 days after I last rode.


Here is another pic to show a little location...

[marcham]

Has the oil come out of the top vent? That happens when running the bike in cold weather. Some have reported that switching to synthetic alleviates the issue.

Clean it then go for a short ride and re-evaluate.

[Lou Pietrandrea]

Originally Posted by marcham

Has the oil come out of the top vent? That happens when running the bike in cold weather. Some have reported that switching to synthetic alleviates the issue.

Clean it then go for a short ride and re-evaluate.

Exactly.....that has happened to me before as well.....its easy to have it a bit overfilled and have the cold weather cause it to come out of the vent....I'm betting you are just seeing the residue that ran off after it came out the top vent tube.....it doesn.t look like it has been leaking regularly out of a seal or even the drain plug.....eliminate the most common cause before you panic and think its a seal....

[adlowe]

Originally Posted by terabytepirate

I believe its the drain plug that I am looking at but it looks like the oil has pooled up on this and has been dripping from here.

That is how an overflow would look if the final drive was overfilled. The bike is supposed to be on the sidestand when the final drive oil level is checked.

Originally Posted by marcham

Has the oil come out of the top vent? That happens when running the bike in cold weather. Some have reported that switching to synthetic alleviates the issue.

I had not heard/read that. Could be true. I won't dispute it.

[terabytepirate]

I will definitely check everything before panicking. Its just strange that in the 4 years I have owned her I have not done anything with the final drive oil, and have never had any issues. Purchased from a dealer that did the fluids check before the sale and everything is great. I havent run her since I noticed so I couldnt tell you if she feels different or not. It has been a pretty consistent mid 40s to low 50s for the highs here and with low temps dipping into 20s at night. I figured that I was going to do quite a bit of maintenance on her this winter, check fluids, clean up, swap headlight and maybe a few other things so this one just goes to the top of the list.

[jpr1968]

I would bet it's just the fluid coming out the vent. I switched to synthetic gear lube and no more venting issue.