Ecessive oil leaking from air cleaner drain above chain ????

Got some oil leaking from the oil drain above the chain,2004 XR650 R . Have checked oil level and it shows 1/2 full on in frame dip stick. The bike has less than 200 gentle miles on it. Hard pack Dist. 37 so. ca. , and highway.

if you talking about the short stubby drain direct from the airbox cover then the oil is coming from an over oiled air filter...

SkidMark wrote:if you talking about the short stubby drain direct from the airbox cover then the oil is coming from an over oiled air filter...

How much oil is in the bike?

This happens allot. It sounds like you over filled your engine oil. It is not easy to get the idea of checking the oil on the XR650R. It is a dry sump engine and the oil level is not right for some time. The engine has to run for over five minutes to get the right oil level. If you check it cold or before a ride around the block you will get a low read and add oil. This is bad. Oil catching it with oil coming out of the air box is good, waiting and blowing a counter shaft seal is bad. You are blowing the extra oil out the case vent tube into the air cleaner box and it's dripping out. Drain all you oil see how much you have from the frame (there is a drain plug up front on the frame) and the engine (there is a plug on the shifter side of the engine) only 1700cc should come out if more then that comes out you found you problem.

SkidMark wrote:if you talking about the short stubby drain direct from the airbox cover then the oil is coming from an over oiled air filter...

A lot of guys don't read the manual and don't understand the theory behind a dry- sump oil system. They end up with an airbox full of oil and a blown countershaft seal.


The Fix:

Just read the manual! You can't check the oil cold. When the bike sits, the oil drains from the reservoir, making the stick read low. If you add oil now, it puts the 2qt system .5qts over. This excess oil gets forced into the airbox via the vent, dripping out the bottom of the box on your new boots, or it pushes it's way by the countershaft seal. Not good.

Idle the bike a few minutes to get everything up to level, shut her down, all thetime keeping the bike straight upright, then check the oil. Piece of cake fix for a question asked by probably 50% of the new users. "Why is there oil in my airbox?"

Hey Guy's : Thank you for the quick response. Hope I didn't screw things up. Just found this forum. Look's like a good one . OK, so how will I know if it's a seal ? Will it continue to drain after the bike has cooled down?

bill.mowery.56 wrote:Hey Guy's : Thank you for the quick response. Hope I didn't screw things up. Just found this forum. Look's like a good one . OK, so how will I know if it's a seal ? Will it continue to drain after the bike has cooled down?

If it is the seal, oil will leak out from behind your counter shaft sprocket (front sprocket).

In most cases, when first discovered, oil is only drawn from crank case vent with no damaged to seal. Those that don't pay attention have to replace the seal.

How much oil is in the bike?

Bill,

like Skidmark said it's not your engine oil but you put too much oil on your airfilter - and that leaks out over time.
The proof of the pudding is that this oil is very tacky, it'll pull wires between your fingers - which engine oil does not do.
So, next time you oil a filter do as per your normal, only when you're finished leave it lying outside, in the sun preferably, for say half an hour. Then take a normal clean dishwash cloth, dry of course, and squeeze the filter inbetween it, thoroughly, to take excess oil out.
When finished your filter when rubbed only leaves an oily shine on your fingers, not a layer of oil, and of course there is plenty oil in the cloth - which washes out really easy, just chuck it into the washer with an overall or why.