Hi just wanting a bit of help with my infuriating 1198. Had it rebuilt recently and it’s running great but I have a recurrent oil leak on the left hand side and I cannot for the life of me find where it is getting out. Please see pictures below. I think it was leaking here before its bottom end let go last year though I don’t think the 2 are related. It’s been fully rebuilt now with a new crank etc. Any ideas welcome,
Could it be seeping out along the alternator wiring? I have this on my 1098R. I tried to seal it from the inside where the alternator wires exist the alternator casing but it still has evidence of weeping down the loom and drips beneath the battery box near the rectifier.
Thanks for replying, That was my original thoughts, it just seems like a lot of oil. How often would you get visible oil there? This was rebuilt in April and has done about 300 miles. It has been tracking up the loom but I don’t know how much is typical of this type of leak.
Bingo, looks like there's a very good chance that the culprit has been identified, and if so, Thank you Richard @RickyX
sorry, i misunderstood your post, i think the cause for the "loom leeching" is probably a heat/capillary/syphon issue and apart from introducing resin internally within and between each of the wires within the loom, it is difficult to prevent. The only other possible cure is to somehow loop the loom (a longer non-std version) up as high as possible before exiting.
Ahh I see now. However, I had gone a bit further to try and explain possible reasons for the leak from there. The 3 items I listed are common for causing excess crankcase pressure. The oil will find its way out of the weakest link, which tends to be the wiring loom, rather than any oil seals or gaskets. Hopefully it’s just defective sealing causing this. However oil from the wiring could point to further issues to resolve, as this is the achilies heal so to speak. I have seen oil forced out high up on a wiring joint near the steering head and all that was wrong was a kinked engine breather pipe. Not a Ducati I hasten to add. No additional sealing was needed on the wiring.
I have tried to stop the leak into the loom before and changed the generator whilst also gluing the wires to limit ingress into the loom. this just seemed a lot of oil maybe like a tablespoon worth in the fairings. I will check the breathers and am also going to check the oil cooler as it’s taken a big stone impact. Although it looks and feels completely dry. only other thoughts were a crack somewhere or a gasket but I cannot see any evidence of how it’s getting out beyond a wet loom. I do appreciate everyone trying to help too.
So I cannot see anywhere where oil has leaked from the engine. What I can see is a bit of oil at the bottom of the shock and on the swing arm. Has anyone seen this amount of oil getting out of a shock?
Hydraulic oil usually has a different smell to it than engine oil. Put some on a clean cloth and smell it, away from the bike and workshop.
It is certainly leaking, I just hope it is just the shock and not something else as well. It hasn’t really affected the performance as I have only been pottering on the road. It was serviced last year as well. it is a yellow oil and the engine is green. Also feels like a lower viscosity. hopefully this is the source of the problem and I don’t have an oil leak as well lol.
The plot thickens, how high is the fluid in your clutch reservoir? all you can do is try and eliminate anything else, if you are certain that it isn't engine oil.
so looks like it is leaking down the generator wire and the shock is also blown. I did upgrade the generator with Electrex last year so checking if they have a fix. I may just have to tolerate the weeping on the wire. Getting the wires trimmed back glued up and re soldered to see if that works any better.
Shocks out already and off to Kais to get it rebuilt. Suspect it’s just a bit old and warn, hopefully it’s a straightforward repair.
Hi all, I did some in-frame engine work on my 999 and swung the battery box out of the way. This put a little pressure on the alternator wiring and slightly dislodged the grommet. The amount of oil leaking was surprising and took a lot of detective work to find. I got a flat blade screwdriver and gently pushed on top of the grommet to relocate it and the oil leak has gone. Hope this helps, Craig.
