new fork seals leaking?

[gamorg02]

hey guys.

so i changed the fork seals/springs/oil this winter and on one side i had to pull the oil seal out once it was in and re-seat it as the tube had got stuck on the damper rod plastic seat. anyways long story short, i didn't note which one and now one of my seals looks like it *might* be leaking...

very well could be residual oil between the dust seal and oil seal as i may have gotten some in there on re-install. was gonna pull the dust seal but its cold and dark and figured i'd ask first.

there aren't any drips or anything and not any oil whatsoever on the slider but it just looks sorta 'damp' around the dust seal. all the fork seals i've ever seen leak, leak from the slider and not this way. which just seems really really odd if it is.

anyways first 3 pics are of the 'suspect' side and the other 2 are of the what looks normal side.

let me know what yall think.

 

[spursmech]

unk: Hey, I think it will be fine once you get it out and ride it some. Just residual oil in the area between the dust cover and seal. Good luck, Spur

 

[tugla]

ya give it a little bit and see if it gets worse garrett, is it cold out there? can see the bottom of the seal is also getting a little wet but not like it was pissing out, wont take long if the seal is wrecked to make a mess.keep a eye on it and let us know, could do the run a needle or wire around it to see if any dirt got caught and is letting oil seep past but i'd wait until it leaks more if it does at all.

 

[dannymax]

I'd guess it's residual oil also...like they ^ said, run it!! :biglaugh:

 

[gamorg02]

thanks guys. has anyone ever seen a bad seal leak like that? doesn't it almost always come out on the slider?

 

[dannymax]

thanks guys. has anyone ever seen a bad seal leak like that? doesn't it almost always come out on the slider?

The ones I've seen coated the slider side. :ummm:

Did you replace the dust seals also?

 

[gamorg02]

The ones I've seen coated the slider side. :ummm:

Did you replace the dust seals also?

yea, dust/oil/ and snapring. progressive lowering kit. new oil.

me too. would take a lot of pressure to weap out that way. unless oil was leaking from the oil seal and the dust seal was holding it in on the slider, so it leaked out the side of the dust seal. that seems pretty unlikely. i can probably just pry up the dust seal and look at somepoint.

also tho, this oil doesn't 'evaporate' i feel like once it looks wet it will always look wet and a tiny bit of residual oil is gonna take a while to work its way out.

 

[tugla]

some contact cleaner, little bit on a rag will help

 

[gamorg02]

hmm okay. tried some brake cleaner but that didn't do much. i'll keep an eye on it.

thanks everyone.

 

[[email protected]]

I've had leaky fork seals on other bikes and its never looked like that. Much messier and more so on the chrome of the fork slider.

+1 to what everyone is saying G. I'd take a minute and pop the dust seal off. Clean it up good, and while the dust seal is off I'd go in and clean any fluid sitting on top of the fork seal (if any) as well. It's only a couple minutes of work. If it comes back it'd try to swipe the inside lip of the fork seal. Sometimes a bug or other particle can get trapped and cause some grief. It's and old MX trick, and I've read it on here recently too, to get a piece of 35 mm film and work it between the fork seal and slider to remove anything that may be trapped and preventing a perfect seal. Some guys say to cut the film into a "J" shape. I've just cut it into a sharp angle and its worked for me. Well, not really worked, my seals were trashed, but I was able to work the film in there but still had to replace parts.

 

[gamorg02]

yea sounds like a plan mike. we'll see what the temperature is like when i get outa work. fuck the ride in was cold. 26? when i left. 29? now.. ugh.

honestly more worried about my stator cover and valve cover gaskets all weaping oil now..

 

[tugla]

I've had leaky fork seals on other bikes and its never looked like that. Much messier and more so on the chrome of the fork slider.

+1 to what everyone is saying G. I'd take a minute and pop the dust seal off. Clean it up good, and while the dust seal is off I'd go in and clean any fluid sitting on top of the fork seal (if any) as well. It's only a couple minutes of work. If it comes back it'd try to swipe the inside lip of the fork seal. Sometimes a bug or other particle can get trapped and cause some grief. It's and old MX trick, and I've read it on here recently too, to get a piece of 35 mm film and work it between the fork seal and slider to remove anything that may be trapped and preventing a perfect seal. Some guys say to cut the film into a "J" shape. I've just cut it into a sharp angle and its worked for me. Well, not really worked, my seals were trashed, but I was able to work the film in there but still had to replace parts.

+1 garrett on running a wire around the seal, ive mentioned this before to guys on the forum, works awesome, can make a leaking seal work again, usually its just dirt and crap that holds the seal away and lets the oil come out. see what it looks like after you lift the dust seal.

 

[4gasem]

Actually the best thing is a film negative cut into a sort of hook shape and shoved under the seal. It can grab anything left there and bring it up. I believe motion pro makes something similar that you can buy.

Chris

 

[dannymax]

Yes, they do. http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0395/

 

[tugla]

Yes, they do. http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0395/

worth it for 5 bucks

 

[gamorg02]

ok. step one is pull dust seals. i'll report here after that. then maybe it'll be soem 35mm film or a motion pro tool. i've seen those before, definitely nice. probably $10 to ship it tho!

 

[richwrench]

Did you install Yamaha seals or aftermarket ? Some of us have used "Leak-proof" seals & had to replace them soon after.

 

[gamorg02]

only OEM here, i remember hearing about the problems.