Sump oil leak.

[FirstShafty]

Hi guys.
I have an oil leak on my 1200 explorer sump which I traced to a small hole next to the sump plug. It looks perfectly round so I'm not sure if it is meant to be there or whether it is a casting defect.
I closed it up with pratley steel, so not sure if it will start venting oil somewhere else.
I posted a picture in the gallery. Hope it helps.

[FirstShafty]

So it turns out, the small hole next to the sump plug is for water to leak out if the water pump seal fails.
The leaking oil from that hole is due to O rings that are damaged due to the sump being taken off and not fitted back correctly.

[FR8TRN]

Glad that you figured it out!

I just took my bike in for the 600 mile/1000km service. Actual mileage 793. All was well at the time. Dealer performed the service. Went to pick up my bike. Manager told me that he did an oil change without taking off the sump guard (required for changing oil per manual). He did it to save time. Though he said that he spilled a bit of oil and cleaned up all he could. And said “So don’t be alarmed if you see a few drops here and there until the oil dries.” That was this past Thursday and it is now Saturday. The bike has been leaking ever substantially since! I even checked the drain plug and it was a bit loose. Oil was definitely coming from it. I tightened it a bit but didn’t want to over do it because I didn’t have a proper torque wrench (required).

Could need a new drain plug, or new drain plug washer.

Upset

And I am supposed to trust these “Certified Experts” with my $26000 bike?! I would have been better off buying the tools and doing the job myself. I will next time.

I am going to find a new dealer.

[soft]

Did he unscrew the plug and drain the oil, or did he suck the old oil out through the filler neck?

[FR8TRN]

I think getting a totally honest answer from him at this point is near impossible.

 I called and told him about my observations and what I thought; 1) Oil sump drain plug issue/not seated correctly/improper threading. Or 2) the new washer (on the drain plug was failing/ installed properly.

He apologized, though not assuming responsibility for anything specifically done wrong. But I expressed that it wasn’t simply excess oil on the engine. He looked at the plug again and said “it looks like the washer, I’ll replace it”. He changed it while I waited. Happy about that. Seemed to stop any dripping immediately. Hopefully the issue has been resolved. 

I appreciate the honest efforts of these technicians, I really do. And I try and give them great latitude to address any service concerns on my bike. I think he appreciates that as well.

Future solution: DIY!! - I asked him “what torque wrench do you recommend for working on the bike?”…

[FirstShafty]

I think it is common practice to not remove the sump guard. The hole in the guard is big enough, but not tightening the plug properly is a big mistake that could end up costing a fortune.
In my case, I even changed the sump plug washer and the discovered the small hole.
My question is why would the O rings be leaking at 16 000 km. That's still brand new.
Or like the dealer technition told me, the sump was probably removed. Why at such low milage?
Any way, I take the sump off and check it out.

[FR8TRN]

So did the O ring replacement stop the leaking? Yeah 16000KM is very much still brand new. If there is one thing I can’t stand on any vehicle is an oil leak. They just bother me  .

I referred to the manual whilst trouble shooting my issue. And it specifically states in the oil change section that the sump guard should be removed during. Maybe that is to 1) enable inspection of the entire sump prior to refilling, and 2) ensure that the washer and plug are properly seated during reinstall?

I know it would take much more time to follow the book but I like doing things as they are stated. So if something goes awry I know that it’s less a mistake I made. But I do see that it’s possible to do it without removing it. Because when I took the bike back in and the tech replaced the washer he did not remove it - again. Luckily this time the washer was seated properly.

I think that techs and mechanics can often fail to annotate the entirety of their efforts during bike maintenance. In effort to save time perhaps? But that leaves the owner in the dark about what was actually done to the bike. Like - why would they have to remove your bike’s sump at that mileage and not tell you 

[soft]

The first and second oil changes are very important due to the very large amount of metal filings in the engine.
Maybe the oil pan is removable to clean the filings?

[FirstShafty]

I have not done the O rings yet. I will attempt that in the week and give feedback.
I do work in various car workshops and there I have seen, if there is a short cut, the mechanics will find it and use it.

[FirstShafty]

Originally Posted by FirstShafty

I have not done the O rings yet. I will attempt that in the week and give feedback.
I do work in various car workshops and there I have seen, if there is a short cut, the mechanics will find it and use it.

So I have now taken the sump off and replaced the O rings.
The sump was fairly clean, probably due to the low milage and it seems like the sump has not been removed previously.
The O rings were not damaged, that I could see any way, but I replaced them anyway with O rings that are a fraction tighter over the tube as well as in the machined out section in the sump. It seems that they were just letting oil past to drip out of the small hole in the sump.
So far, so good.