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Oil Leak - can anyone help please?!

J

jwer

hi everyone, i have an rsv mille r 2000 model, and have noticed when checking the coolant level that i apper to have an oil leak. :confused
the leak is coming from a small hole just on the top of the crank case, at the bottom of the front cylinder, from a hole that looks to be manufactured on purpose, but looks like it should have a grub screw or something in?! its about 3 or 4 mm in diameter.
i've been keeping an eye on it for the last 500 miles, but now the oil level has dropped from being over the max mark, to not far off the min mark (when hot of course!). the oil is not gushing out, just weeping really, almost like its a breather hole for excess oil?
anyone got any suggestions or past experiences of this? i'll post pics as soon as possible. thanks!
 
Youve3 got two things going on which are unrelated.


oil leak - no you havnt. ~THe engine does use oil. You will need to top it up.

Water leak - yes you have one. The hole you mention is to alow coolant out if on of the seals on the water pump fails - sounds like this is what is happening with your engine.

My advice would be to use the search function on the site to see how to fix it. Ive seen a post somewhere. If I find it Ill post it up.


Here it is clicky
 
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as sabre pointed out some oil does get burnt off so unless its getting through alot then shouldnt be too worried

also it cant be an excess oil breather hole as the oil breather goes from the tank into the airbox
 
Or maybe the casket has failed underneath the hole the engine casing is thinner and the oil is coming trough the casket.

Mine does not leak, but it "sweats" oil on that area also. Symptoms are the same. Not much, but enough so that dirt will get a grip. Belly pan is dry so no real leakage more an annoying sweating...
 
Hi Jwer

The oil seal on the waterpump shaft has failed. You will have to drain the coolant and oil, remove the right hand engine case and replace the ceramic seal and the oil seal. The ceramic seal has to be removed before you can get at the oil seal. You will need a piece of aluminium bar tapped out for an 8mm thread to get the new seal in. It will take you about a day. it is fiddly but you can do it. The ceramic seal needs to be pressed home do not use a drift otherwise you will break it.

Johnr
 
Nope. Coolant is clear so there is no mix of fluids. I bought mine last summer and before it it had very little use- i have been using it quite a lot (its fun). maybe the casket dried too much during low mileage years or last winter and now it is sweating. Did a test and placed some Permatex to the thinner part and it reduced the sweating quite a lot. I am pretty sure that it is the casket.

The thing sweating out is defo oil not glycol/water mixture. And its not dripping from anywhere.

Maybe I will put her apart during the winter and change the casket, but as I said I am currently not worried about it is more cosmetic fault.

One thing i noted when checking the oil level is that engine temperature is vital factor - during late autumn and early spring when the ambien temperature is less than +5 centigrade the oil level is not the same as in the summer season when the ambien temperature is around 20 deg centigrade, but that is normal...
 
thanks lads, and johnr! bugger! would this be why i have a small discolouration to the coolant then? so i'll need to replace a rubber oil seal and a ceramic one too? any ideas about the best place/parts to buy? official aprilia parts from dealer? i'm a bit of a novice mechanicaly, will it be a job for my limited spanner skills?! and most importantly, will i knacker it if i carry on riding the bike for a few weeks? thanks again!
 
Johnr
Are you talking about parts AP0650310 and 0650370?

I suspect that that my fault is on AP0650330, however, can be also what you mentioned.

If i will take her a part might be a good idea to replace them all...
 
Hi Jwer

The leak will simply get worse over time. The old seals perish especialy if they have been lying around. Best to buy aprilia seals, I think speedaway keep the seals as standard. If you take it to a garage it will be an expensive fix. Total parts you will need will be 2 seals and possibly a new crankcase gasket, about £50 but don`t quote me.

johnr
 
yep 310 and 370 are the parts you will need. 330 is the gasket, you may get away without it if you are careful removing the cover. The cover has locating pegs so you will need to gently pull it off

johnr
 
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table_68-8054.jpg


Part numbers appear to be the same on 2000 and 2001-2003 models.

So the numbers are 13, 12 and the casket is number 8 ?

Johnr Cheers !

Yhis site is the F.A.Q of these Italian Austrian babes....
 
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also number 22 is your coolant drain bolt. Get yourself a good torque wrench one that covers 11nm, get some moly assembly grease as well.

johnr
 
better get myself a haynes manual then eh...?! now i know why the guy was wanting to sell it!! -only had it about three weeks! :(
 
Dunno if this is in Haynes manual.

The parts pic is quite good and from the vault if i recall you can download Rotax manual.

And yes the seals are.... sometimes they hold sometimes they give up and even sometimes they fix themselves - specially the rubber ones.
Does not really look a very hard thing to do given the time and sufficient amount of beer...
 
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Just wondering - is it possible to replace the water pump shaft seals (in pic no 12 and 13) without braking the engine to parts?

Can it be done from the water pump casing?

Cheers
 
OK

Normal rubber seals we have removed previously from tricky places by drilling small holes and then screwing a screw to a hole and then just pull the seal away, but the ceramic seal "mechanical seal" has a metal body so that could be somewhat challenging. Maybe worth of trying anyway before separating the engine...
 
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