SV650 oil leak

[goz1960]

Seem to have developed slight oil leak on the right hand side of the engine casings, anyone any ideas.

[Morticia]

PM Jonneyflame, he's fixed my sv (now a gladius) a mllion times, he might be able to point you in the rght direction

[squirrel_hunter]

Going to need a little more information...

Its slightly more traditional to have a leak on the right (if its the model in your avatar) as the plastic clutch cover can warp against the main right hand metal cover, but leaks on the left are not unheard of.

So on the left you mainly have the alternator. The timing marking plug would be unlikely as this is a copper washer gasket. However the bigger plug that covers the alternator rotor bolt is an o-ring gasket and this is more likely to fail. If its leaking from this then just take it out clean it up and replace the o-ring.

If its from behind the sprocket cover that could be old chain lube, grease from the clutch worm, the clutch rod oil seal (can't remember the replacement technique for this one), or if its from behind the sprocket it would be the output shaft oil seal which also indicates a loose front sprocket nut (very dangerous). Or it could be the alternator cover gasket having failed. Or it could be from one of the cylinders, or even from the crank case halfs. Or the case or cover itself might be damaged.

The left hand side of the engine cases can be quite a large area. My first suggestion clean the engine, make it dry of oil then properly locate the leak, after that it should be straight forward to solve the problem...

[goz1960]

Sorry all it is the right hand side.

[Jon_W]

Check which side it is coming from as the bike tilts over to the right when on the kick stand. It may be tracking from the left.

[goz1960]

I'm not mechanical at all but it looks as if it is coming from the clutch casing (bottom).

[squirrel_hunter]

If its on the right then it is most likely the clutch cover. The engine case cover of the right of the bike is made up of the main metal piece, a plastic clutch cover, and the metal water pump cover. As we have metal and plastic joining each other this can warp, its a known issue with this engine.

If it is this remove the cover, replace the gasket or alternatively seal it with instant gasket or similar rather than the Suzuki part. However first you need to be sure where the leak is coming from. Clean the engine casing up and track back the leak to the source. Also posting a picture of the area might help...

[jonneyflame]

Have pm'd you

[goz1960]

Have pm'd you


Have replied cheers mate. :)

[goz1960]

I think the oil is originating from the clutch casing, have striped down cleaned the area up and used instant gasket. This would appear to have worked, not sure if this can be considered as a permanent repair though. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

[squirrel_hunter]

So long as you have taken the cover off, removed the old gasket, cleaned it up and not over tightened the bolts when you put it back together then it should last. Like I say the plastic cover is an issue and I have used this technique on my bike. Interestingly Suzuki changed the design on the later models...

[goz1960]

Looking at this subject on another forum it would appear to be a design fault on the curvy model.