Anyone on here have any tech experience with Yamaha V Stars?

[Fulcrum]

Well my buddy has a 2000 Yamaha V star 650 and its leaking oil from the side cover over the internal oil filter. He took it to a Dealer and an independent mechanich and neither fixed the problem leak. So I am looking at it and thought it could be the O'ring in the case. Upon digging in there One bolt was totally stripped and seized and another was the totally wrong bolt. Replaced those. Got a Oil filter and oring from O'reillys but the new oil filter seems too long compared to the old filter. So I replaced the o'ring and put the old filter back in and bolted it up and took it for a spin. Still leaking. How is oil getting past the oring? This has me stumped. Anyone who has dealt with this kind of problem would really be helping us. Thanks.

[WingAdmin]

Well my buddy has a 2000 Yamaha V star 650 and its leaking oil from the side cover over the internal oil filter. He took it to a Dealer and an independent mechanich and neither fixed the problem leak. So I am looking at it and thought it could be the O'ring in the case. Upon digging in there One bolt was totally stripped and seized and another was the totally wrong bolt. Replaced those. Got a Oil filter and oring from O'reillys but the new oil filter seems too long compared to the old filter. So I replaced the o'ring and put the old filter back in and bolted it up and took it for a spin. Still leaking. How is oil getting past the oring? This has me stumped. Anyone who has dealt with this kind of problem would really be helping us. Thanks.

Just a wild guess - but there is a spring in there, that pushes the filter out against that cover. When you screw the cover back in place, you should have to do it against the pressure of that spring. If the filter that was in there was too short, it's not being pushed completely by the spring. It's possible the high-pressure oil meant for the inside of the filter is bypassing the filter entirely, and is then breaching the O-ring?

[Fulcrum]

Interesting thought. There is no spring in the housing tho.

[Fulcrum]

Honestly the more I look at this case the more I think there may be a crack in the casting that is allowing oil to flow through. I'm guessing this is pot metal. Any ideas or suggestions on if there is an actual crack how to seal or solder it. Thanks guys.

[Fulcrum]

here are a couple of pictures to help you get a better visual .

[Fulcrum]

I kinda think someone did some lead loading or something in here cause it just doesn't look right. Most of the casting is smooth but around the areas where I suspect oil is leaking through it looks rough like someone did some lead loading or other type of soldering. Any guesses?

[Fulcrum]

Well I looked at it again under better lighting conditions and I don't think there is a crack in the casting. Just poor quality. I am stumped on how oil is leaking past the oring tho. Any suggestions would be appreciated, I really want to help my buddy because he has done so much for me. I have considered using a heavier oil like 20W50 to see if that works, but it really doesnt solve the problem. Any ideas are more than welcome.

[jlkeene]

A few of thoughts on this. Historically Yamaha oil filters from auto parts stores often do not have the correct o-ring with them. You may want to compare it to one at a Yamaha dealer.

Second, if one of the bolts was stripped could it be possible that the longer bolt was placed into the wrong hole at one time and tightened down against the bottom of the hole in an attempt to get it tight to stop the leak? Two should be the same size and the other one longer. Without the cover in place, can all of the bolts be run in by hand to a sufficient depth that they should sufficiently secure the cover when it is in place.

Third, it is possible to slightly warp the sealing plates on a Yamaha if the cover was pried off. When it is torqued down can you slide any kind of feeler gauge in along any of the edges?

John

[eklimek]

I like john's idea. Is the cover truely flat or deforming when tightened? In order to leak , the big O ring is not sealing.

[Fulcrum]

Here is the follow up to this isse. Well the previous person that worked on the bike had used the wrong bolt in one hole and used some kind of epoxy to try and stop the oil leak. When the bolt came out or due to vibration some of the epoxy broke off and stayed in the bolt hole. When I inserted the correct bolt it pushed the epoxy chunks down to the bottom and kept the bolt from completely torqueing down and sealing the cover. I just happened to notice some of the epoxy on the bolt when I removed it and thought about shooting some compressed air into the hole. Voila, as soon as I hit it with air little pieces of epoxy came flying out, alot of little pieces! So that was the problem and now no more leaks. Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys. Much appreciated.

[WingAdmin]

Here is the follow up to this isse. Well the previous person that worked on the bike had used the wrong bolt in one hole and used some kind of epoxy to try and stop the oil leak. When the bolt came out or due to vibration some of the epoxy broke off and stayed in the bolt hole. When I inserted the correct bolt it pushed the epoxy chunks down to the bottom and kept the bolt from completely torqueing down and sealing the cover. I just happened to notice some of the epoxy on the bolt when I removed it and thought about shooting some compressed air into the hole. Voila, as soon as I hit it with air little pieces of epoxy came flying out, alot of little pieces! So that was the problem and now no more leaks. Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys. Much appreciated.

Wow, would have never thought of that...it's amazing what people will do to try to fix mistakes!

[Fulcrum]

No kidding, this one had me really stumped. And to think he took it to a professional bike mechanic who used incorrect parts and a shoddy attempt at a quick fix. Great help from you guys tho.