oil leak under bike

came home monday night and noticed 2 drops of oil under bike, took off lower covers and oil all over bottem of engine. Wiped it clean, nothing visibly leaking, started engine and oil seaping out of filter halfway up. Switch off and leak stops.

bought the bike 11 months ago and just had confirmation that filter was changed by them before purchase, done 5000 miles and was getting ready to do an oil and filter change in next week or so. Last week I replaced rear tyre, amazed that all the bolts came out in one piece, if it was a Yamaha there'd be at least a couple of broken bolts!

from what i can see the filter appears to be hidden away from road kill damage, therefore a stone chip looks unlikley and when the new filter arrives will try and get old one off in one pieceto see where/what the damage is and how it was caused.

anyone else had this before?

Hi Flo list 2 filters for silver wing, 204 and 951, they say they are interchangeable, any ideas ?

I bought my 2004 silvering 18 months ago and only used it a little the first year. It only had 20,000 on the clock and a pretty good service history. the previous owner had taken it for a full service shortly before i bought it! The drive belt had gone after the service and so the Main Honda Stealer replaced it with much haggling eventually for free. The scooter was always kept inside and I have a large garage with all my bikes inside too. This spring whilst riding into the city centre of Birmingham I turned right onto the main A34 and the back end of the bike slid wide as I accelerated out onto the dual carriageway, I just thought I had missed some oil in the road. At the next lights as I pulled away my progress was interesting to say the least and I thought yet again that I had missed oil in the road. At the next lights as I pulled away and headed to a right filter lane the scooter did a complete 180 and I ended up facing quite a few surprised car drivers.
When I got it home on my work bench and looked underneath everything was covered in oil and on closer inspection the filter was leaking through a hole in its side at about 2 o'clock when facing it. When I got it off the whole thing was rotten and crumbling across the top section and I don't think it had ever been changed from new, the writing on it was from Honda but in a foreign language.
I have always serviced my bikes because I don't trust the Honda dealers with my life and this has proved it to me. I believe that some dealers rely on the build quality very short service intervals to make even more profit!
Personally I would use an original Honda filter!

phils a winger wrote:

Hi Flo list 2 filters for silver wing, 204 and 951, they say they are interchangeable, any ideas ?

Use 204 on mine bud

I took my very first bike, a Honda VLX 600 to the dealer for an oil change. I did not have the confidence to tackle it myself. A few days later, I did a pre-ride check, and found the oil level way out. I drained about 200 cc before it began to register on the dipstick. I went to the dealer and spoke with the mechanic; he claimed he had followed service rec's and had done nothing wrong. That taught me to get with the program and get educated about motorcycle maintenance. My next lesson from another mechanic whose helper tightened my rear brake so much that it overheated on the way home. I had a new rear tyre put on, and apparently the helper did it all. Tyre pressure was way off as well. Overall, I learned to be weary of anyone else working on my bike. I try to do what I can, and double check the work of others, even professionals. It's my a** in the sling, not theirs, if they screw up; and they do, more often than they'd admit.
Jay.

always do my own work, when buying from a dealer have to trust them, gonna go out now and drain oil, see how much is left and then remove filter. Interseting that hornblower has a similar experience, both of us are uk, salt on roads ? Dealer has already confirmed that filter was changed and wants to see the old filter so they are not walking away at the moment. still waiting for new filter so am enjoying the old gold wing for another day.

I try to avoid having to put my trust in 'professionals'.
The word simply means they get paid for doing something - it doesn't mean that they are any good at doing it.

anyone know how to upload photos from a mobile phone to the site ?

so drained the oil and removed the filter, used an old strap wrench for filters came off in one piece with a couple of dents. Have photos showing a cross split in the filter, whether it opened up a bit coming off who can tell, like hornblower said mine was corroded but i think that is one year, is it a one off fault or have others had same as us ?

After cutting open a couple of other filters I for one would not use anything but a Honda oil filter. The shell is stronger and the interenal parts are constructed much better. As for oil there are many choises. Howard

thought i'd put the drain cap back, tightened by hand and was putting a little nip on it to final tighten, snap the cap separated from the threads, luckily i was able to unwind it by tapping a screwdriver in reverse. so now even if the filter arrives thursday i cant put it back on the road this week as have to pay a visit to my local honda dealer, doe sanyone know if the same thing fits honda Quads as there is a honda atv dealer close by

If the filter fits a GL 1500 or GL 1800 it fit's your S'wing, I'm using my leftover filters from my GL1500.

This oil drain cap is used on many Honda bike engines,so they should have it. Howard

If your are ever in Tucson shop service at Musslemans Honda, family owned nearly 60 years, same family, same lady behind the desk.

today i took a ride at lunch time to a honda atv dealer, he took one look an said that looks like a tappet cover, brought one out and matched it up. Fits a 450 quad so he says, he was amazed that it was used as a drain plug on a silver wing.

Sent some photo's of old filter to dealer service manager, he reckons caused by corrosion, but he has never seen one that bad in less than 12 months and has offered to replace it free of charge.

Hornblower, might be yours had only been on 18 months.One concern is it looks like it had lost just over a pint of oil, hoprfully should be no damage.

One more hint,the drain plug on your S/W seals on the 'O' ring it is not a tappered fit. Make it tight but do not over do it.  Howard

update time, monday going to work and first roundabout wet road and nearly illegal tyres meant that she felt a bit slidy. Put it down to diesel on road, took it steady most of the way and felt more and more squirelly till i came to a T junction and slid to a halt with very little brakes, set off with very little throttle, BIG SIDEWAYS slide, only 40 odd years experience kept me upright. Only had a mile or so to go so thought take it easy and check it lunch. Had a look and a pool of oil under the bike, once again the filter had corroded and leaked oil, this time all over the rear wheel on a wet day. Ended up calling wife and asking her to get the oil filter from my shed and some oil then come to me after work, AA did try to seal leak but as i dont have relay the trip home was going to cost £100 for 20 miles !
Contacted the filter Mfr and their response was to change filter twice a year rather than once a year. UK owners be aware Hi flow filters will not do 12 months, maybe will try a oem one next, if my engine last that long, lost a litre of oil this time

One cause of apparent oil leaks is that metal strap with the turned up edges under the engine. It tends to catch and hold oil during changes. Later on when you park it on the side stand the tilt allows some of that oil to drain off the strap. Even if it doesn't spill off the strap the oil will be blown around under the engine and catch dirt. It looks like a major leak but really isn't but a film that caught a lot of dirt. I often use some engine cleaner after an oil change to make sure that there's no residual oil under the bike to catch dirt or drip later.

Exavid, leak was deffo filter Automobile Association mechanic cleaned up the filter and identified leak from filter, thentried to seal it with no luck. Changing a filter in office car park is not my idea of fun ! Check out my other post re front caliper, my Honda love is starting to wane. Much as I love the wing I am having serioous thoughts about time to swap, where does Suzuki mount their filters on Burgman's ?

Why are you using specifically using Hi-Flo oil filters? I'd never heard of them until I joined this forum. If they corrode through within a year then they're obviously not fit for purpose. They might be fine for use over the Pond where most motorcycles and scooters are put to bed before they start chucking road salt about.

The 650 Burgman also has the oil filter in the same position.

I have always used HF filters, and never had any corrode or leak.

I've been using a Fram PH6017A without incident. I would gladly use OEM, if the dealer were closer than the 50 miles it is away from me. I too spray it with some brake cleaner and let it idle on the center stand for a minute or two after I'm all done. Checking for leaks. Saving a couple of bucks on a filter is not something I'm concerned about. Darkside tires, tunnel bags, givi top cases, air flow 214's, ram mounts, and all the other stuff on this forum are all worthless if you can't drive them around because you saved a buck on an oil filter.

Jon

I suppose everyone has their own preferences for the brand of oil filter they use, just like they have for all the other service items. The problem is there's a lot of counterfeit items sold on the Internet, all branded and boxed up to look like the genuine items.

Isn't buck saving is the forte of the  Darkside community? They're always bragging about getting 40,000 miles from car tyres with brand names anyone could invent with a handful of leftover Scrabble letters!

thanks Meldrew for the comment on burgman filter, as im a good 30 mile away from a honda dealer I do alot of my shopping on the internet and Hi Flo is the brand that is popular. As old limey says he uses them and never has a problem with corrosion.

I emailed them about my concerns and got a prompt reply, customer service is still alive and well in the UK.

First reply from HF

Hello Philip,

I`m sorry to hear of this issue and very pleased an accident was averted, and as a goodwill gesture I am happy to send you an HF204 at our expense for the inconvenience.

Our Hiflofiltro oil filters are manufactured using the same gauge metal as the original equipment filter, but unfortunately due to the filter`s positioning all brands are susceptible to corrosion.

The Silverwing radiator and oil filter can corrode badly when subjected to winter road salt and it is strongly recommended to thoroughly clean these components weekly when conditions are bad. I would also recommend changing the oil filter with every 4000 mile oil change particularly before the start of winter. If you wish, you can follow Honda`s 8000 mile filter change interval when the weather is mild.

I`m on my third Silverwing and have experienced the same issue with the original oil filter after the first winter`s use. I now change oil and filter every 3000 miles during winter.

I hope this information helps, and if you could provide your address I`ll have a filter sent up to you.

Best Regards,

I then replied with my address and this is the reply


Hi Phil,

Provided the AA have used a reasonable quality oil I probably would not change the oil and filter again provided the oil on the dipstick looks clean. I`m normally not too fussy about the grade of oil I use in mine as there`s no wet clutch to worry about, and I sold my last S-Wing with 75,000 miles on it, the engine was still sweet and didn`t use any oil.

I`ll have 2 x HF204 sent out to you today, I`ll also include 1 x HFA1617 air filter for when you need to change it :-)

Ride safe, and enjoy the big scooter.

Best Regards,

Filters arrived today and included an air filter. so long as engine behaves itself I'm a happy bunny, once I can get the front brake fixed (different post)