Final drive leak, both places?

tntmo

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I recently got back from a North Dakota to San Diego trip on the Tenere. Right around Dodge City, KS I saw my rear rim was coated in oil and there was oil all over the bottom of the "pumpkin". I stopped at the local WalMart and picked up some gear oil, popped off the fill cap and it was right at level. Wiped up the rear rim with some paper towels and noticed no more oil on the rim for the remainder of the trip. The bottom of the "pumpkin" still has some residual fluid now that I'm home. I did a tire swap in AZ at my friends place, the oil seal near the drive splines didn't look terrible.

2013 Tenere, about 49,000 miles.

Dust on the wheel after wiping up the oil. No more oil got on the rim but I imagine the seal is starting to go?
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Oil on the bottom of the shaft housing and "pumpkin". Seemed to collect a little bit there.

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You can see some oil on the hub as well. I couldn't get in there to wipe that up very good. It didn't get worse as I continued on my ride but it seems to point to the shaft seal that is a somewhat common occurrence? The oil on the top I think is from when I removed the fill plug. It was cold and rainy....what can I say??
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EricV

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It's not particularly common. People have had leaks from different seals. I have ~150k on Super Tens between two bikes and have never had a final drive oil leak. Now that the bike has sat and cooled down at home, re-check the final drive oil level. If it's still at the top of the fill plug, odds are it was a little over filled before and with the heat of extended highway speeds perhaps this caused a little to puke out. Keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't do any seal replacement unless you see the fluid level down or start seeing oil again.

Perhaps a little soapy brush work to tidy up the wheel so it's easier to spot new oil wouldn't hurt either. I'm not a huge clean freak, but when I'm trying to identify old Vs new leakage, that does help.
 

tntmo

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Yeah, I took these pictures right after riding 2500 miles with a big chunk of it in the rain......the bike is usually slightly cleaner than that. I had done a 2500 mile trip a few weeks prior with no issues, so I don't believe the system was overfilled.

I'm going to do a drain and fill, of course clean everything up and see what happens.
 

steve68steve

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I had to replace a seal on the wheel side. Similar symptoms: oily funk on back wheel, wet pumpkin underneath. Looked like a LOT of lost fluid, but level in the pumpkin was practically full.

If you leave it parked, put a pc of paper or cardboard under the pumpkin to check for fresh drips. Mine leaked out strapped to a trailer for 3 days- it doesn't need to be hot/ running to dribble out of a bad seal.

The wheel - side seal is very easy to replace, using a trick learned here from member Silverbullet. You drill a small hole in the face of the seal, thread in a screw in very shallow by hand, use the screw as a handle to pull the seal out. Clean everything up and use the old seal to press the new one in.
 

tntmo

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Thanks y'all. I think I will just order the wheel side seal to have available. I spooned the tires on at my buddy's place and didn't balance the wheels so I should pull them off at some point to do that. When I do, I will just swap that seal.
 

tntmo

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I just cleaned that seal and it sealed again fine.
You aren't the first person who mentioned that, glad to hear it worked for you.

It looks like the seal on my bike started leaking and then stopped for my incident. I was riding through a lot of rain, maybe some crud got worked into there and then worked it's way out? Anyway, I figure if it happened once it's not a bad idea to have it on hand.
 

Tenman

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Thanks y'all. I think I will just order the wheel side seal to have available. I spooned the tires on at my buddy's place and didn't balance the wheels so I should pull them off at some point to do that. When I do, I will just swap that seal.
Pour some dyna beads in your tire. I've been using them for over 5 years. They work for me.
 

stomp347

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Guys, reviving an old thread. On the parts diagram, which seal number are we talking about. I just returned from some long, high speed runs in the heat this past weekend, and ran into the same issue as described by the OP.

Thanks,
Stomp
 

Bikedude987

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I replaced the output seal a while back. The input recently started leaking, just like yours, and I disassembled and cleaned it up. The spline coupler that rides on the input seal was starting to get rusty and there was crap in the seal. Cleaned out and polished and all is well again.

That said, I feel like I pound the suspension harder than most in the rocky fast offroad terrain here - it's caused problems...
 

holligl

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So after the bike sat for a couple weeks I went to ride and found some drops of oil on the rear tire. Closer inspection found drops coming from the weep hole at the rear of the shaft housing. Checked the oil level in the pumpkin, only added maybe a couple ml. I did change the input seal 18kmi ago (item 39 below), but never touched the other seals. I do ride in lots of dust and dirt. Where to start?

Several folks have mentioned simply cleaning seals. What's the best way?

I remember getting the #39 seal out was a pain in the rear end (pun intentional).


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Checkswrecks

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It's amazing how bad the pumpkin and rear can look from only a few drops of oil. My pet theory is that this happens either because a piece of grit gets into the seal or the seals deform with sitting.

Having had this happen and stop on its own, I'd suggest cleaning it all to make sure where the oil is coming from and to see if the drips stop. If you think it's coming from the big seal at the wheel end, you could pull the wheel and use a seal saver to see if you can get any grit out. If it's the front weep hole then you get to pull the rear to make sure the leak is from the drive end of the shaft and not the transmission (those almost never happen) and consider whether you want to just add oil or change the seal.
 

holligl

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Did not see any more this morning after a 200mi ride yesterday. Will clean and observe.

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Checkswrecks

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Did not see any more this morning after a 200mi ride yesterday. Will clean and observe.

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I swear these are living beings in how they can complain once in a while and then just go back to being themselves.
 

holligl

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I swear these are living beings in how they can complain once in a while and then just go back to being themselves.
I think she was upset sitting in the corner being ignored. I have a slow leak on the front tire, that was practically flat too.

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holligl

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Leak is back after a fluid change and then sitting for a week. Getting ready for new tires so I plan to seal save the output seal. I assume that is #25 in the diagram? I assume it seals with the backside of #8? What is the diameter and can it easily been seen and reached with the wheel off? If it needs to be replaced, can it be done without removing the pumpkin?
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Don in Lodi

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The hub side seal can be done pretty easily. The screw trick mentioned earlier is a good one.
 

~TABASCO~

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As many have suggested. Looks like the seal to me. Grab a seal and pop it in. If you have a screw and mason jar you could do it in a parking lot. If ya had too ! Lol
 

holligl

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Seal ordered, cleaned up, seal saver applied. Waiting to see. Should have taken a "before" picture, but it would have been pretty embarrassing. I've never cleaned this area this well and maybe that's why the seal is complaining. On to tires for now.


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holligl

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Couple questions on pulling the seal. What size drill and screw? How hard does it come out? Do you drain the pumpkin first? (Looks like the fill level is a little higher than the bottom of the seal.)

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