It started innocently enough...

[pscook]

Brain bump. Or as Gru said (in Despicable Me): Light bulb! My drain plug wasn't leaking. I must have overfilled my gear box. I put in exactly (EXACTLY!) 900ml of fluid. I didn't account for any left over in the case. Could this be it? All of the fluid was on the loower right side next to the drain bolt, but! The vent hose ends right there.

Is it possible to over fill the gear box and have it evacuate fluid?

Another thought (don't like this one): Could my right crank seal be going out and pressurizing the tranny? My buddy mentioned that when I raised the needle clip the bike smoked more on the throttle. Seems strange that it would smoke more on the throttle when I leaned out the needle, especially at higher altitude. Sucking in trans fluid under throttle, pressurizing on deceleration? Guess I need to build a pressure test unit. Great.

Thoughts?

 

[Neil E.]

I doubt that you would have any trouble if you overfilled the gearbox. It's probably fine with 1L in it. An extra 100 ml over the surface area won't bring the level that much higher. Now if you really overdid it maybe some would get forced out the PV vent hose.

A bad crank seal usually causes your gearbox level to get lower.

 

[Jim Cook]

I doubt that you would have any trouble if you overfilled the gearbox. It's probably fine with 1L in it. An extra 100 ml over the surface area won't bring the level that much higher. Now if you really overdid it maybe some would get forced out the PV vent hose.

A bad crank seal usually causes your gearbox level to get lower.

I agree with Neil.
Since speaking with the factory tech about it in 2001, I have been running 1100ml in the '00 and earlier engines, and 1000 in the newer engines. (The left crank bearing was redesigned for the 2001 year, and they altered the cases a bit. It has caused me no problems, and my clutch and transmission is well lubricated.

The older models came with rubber o-rings on the drain plugs. I would get perfect torque on the drain plug using a t-handle. If I used a ratchet, it was too easy to deform the o-ring.
When they started using the copper crush washer ('02?), I was dubious about the seal, but it worked fine. I even tried the o-ring on the newer engines, but they seemed to leak, or not seal as well as the copper washers. I always use a flashlight to make sure that the crush washer has stayed with the cases, and has not fallen in the oil drain container.

Good Riding and Wrenching!
Jim

 

[pscook]

I agree with Neil.
Since speaking with the factory tech about it in 2001, I have been running 1100ml in the '00 and earlier engines, and 1000 in the newer engines. (The left crank bearing was redesigned for the 2001 year, and they altered the cases a bit. It has caused me no problems, and my clutch and transmission is well lubricated.

The older models came with rubber o-rings on the drain plugs. I would get perfect torque on the drain plug using a t-handle. If I used a ratchet, it was too easy to deform the o-ring.
When they started using the copper crush washer ('02?), I was dubious about the seal, but it worked fine. I even tried the o-ring on the newer engines, but they seemed to leak, or not seal as well as the copper washers. I always use a flashlight to make sure that the crush washer has stayed with the cases, and has not fallen in the oil drain container.

Good Riding and Wrenching!
Jim

I installed a teflon o-ring as suggested by GMP, I'll have results in a couple of days to if it worked or not. I had a bit of a get-off on Sunday (at the NW Meet-n-Greet ride) and the bike has been sitting, forlornly, waiting for attention. I did notice that the drain hole is not perpendicular to the outer case surface, which shows up as the head of the plug is not flush all of the way around when properly tightened. I'll inspect this weekend and take a pic, as I know the seating surface is fine, but the head looks a bit wonky.

Thanks for the info on over-filling, I had actually put that out of my head. But I'll have more results after the weekend.

 

[GMP]

The castings are very rough sometimes. The hole is straight its the extra case material that makes it look wrong.

If you snugged the plug down tight enough to flatten the teflon oring it will be fine.