oil leak

my '11 990 Adventure R has developed an intermittent oil leak. I think I have it tracked down the the place where some wires go through the case below the countershaft sproket ( in fron of the shift shaft). I tried searching but couldn't find anything? Any help would be appreciated. It appears to be 2 allen head bolts that hold the piece in place so I am assuming an O ring or gasket needs replaced, just wondering how...

thanks

Finally found it on the microfiche. it appears to be the gear position indicator O-ring? is it a simple repalcement or is there more to it than that??

This is from the Big Oil Leak thread:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14483320#post14483320

I just found I had a small Oil Leak from the Rear of the Engine and found it came from the Gear Position Sensor (Engine/ Shifting Mechanism #25, #26 per the microfiche '06 ADV) by the Red Arrow.

Hopefully the Formagasket used will do the job.



This worked for awhile, but ended up replacing the Switch (Oil was leaking through the Wires)... The New one is made different and seemingly better but DOES NOT Come with an O'Ring.

Good Luck with your fix...

is it connected to anything on the other side? or just take out the two bolts, slide it out and replace the O-ring? I'm pretty sure it is not leaking through the wires, but through the O-ring.

No, when you take it out, little Oil will weep out and the Back Side of this Sensor has Contacts that senses the Shifting Position.


You can bolster the the O'Ring with some Gasket material and or formagasket... it seems the Plastic(sensor at least the Older ones) tend to get out of shape against the face of the Engine.

perfect, thanks!

This shift sensor o ring leak can be facilitated by over filling your oil sump. Also over filling will cause the balancer shaft seal to leak too. Be mindful of the finnicky oil checking procedures on these bikes, and that it's always better to have the oil level slightly lower on the stick then higher.

NEVER check the oil when bike is cold. ALWAYS run the bike to warmest operating temp then let sit for 2-5 mins after engine has been rev'd through.

AND ABSOLUTELY NEVER fill beyond the high mark on the oil dip stick. In fact, the mid point of the dipstick should be considered the high point. On 950's, in low gear, high rev situations... the bike will burn 3cl's per 500 miles and variations in levels should be monitored and replaced more frequently then later 990's.

It was mentioned by several KTM sources that crankshaft and crankshaft bearing designs were modified on the Adventures to help improve oil consumption on later models.

When checking the oil in these bikes, you need to make sure the oil is well heated and has the opportunity to pass back into the oil sump to measure the level. Thus the proceedure of running while hot and putting the engine through it's rev cycles.

The back pressure buildup of these motors is significant and is highly increased when completely full with oil.

Just a head's up.

I just did the o-ring replacement on mine. Second time for this little fix. I now keep extras of these o-rings in my little bag of tricks. Takes about two minutes, you will drip some oil out, but once re-installed wipe it all clean and you shouldn't have any more leaking from that spot. They seem to last about 20,000 miles or so. Replaced my first one around 19,000 miles, the second was replaced with 40,000 miles on the clock.

THanks, I have an O-ring ordered so should be good in a few days. I did have my oil level a bit high so will keep a closer eye on that as well..

thanks again!

Thanks Black Hills for posting this. This is the exact issue I just ran into

Another important note on shift sensor... Do not over tighten the bolts. DO NOT use a powered socket wrench on install. The bolt threads are not deep here and have a tendency to strip out requiring heli-coiling. Torque to manufactors specs by hand here.

being impatient, specially when waiting or parts, I took it apart and inpected the o-ring. It looked fine (under magnifying glass) so I cleaned everything up and reinstalled it. Took it for a short ride to the car wash and then parked it in the garage. All is still dry this morning so I think it is fixed.

I find the same thing. Keep a few in tool box if you stack up miles on these bikes.

I change mine once a season, just to be on the safe side. Easy and quick to do if you have the CJD side stand relocation bracket.

Cool. Found it.
I'm having these issues on my '06 with just under 30,000 miles.
One of the pictures in the link to the oil leak thread shows the guy laying the bike on its right side so as to no lose much oil. How much oil would you lose if the bike is on the centerstand?
TIA

It does a small consistant drip.

Just replaced the O-ring, I laid my bike over on it's side but I also had to take my BDCW relocator off (easy) to get to the sensor/o-ring.

Just lay it over, clean the area (mine was really messy) and then pop it off, clean it up, put the new o-ring on and mums the word.

I can't find the torque specs for those bolts, but I'm going to go with the "other" bolts on the engine torque page and go to 6 NM. Anyone have the correct torque spec on these?

VERY LIGHT, 6 NM, could even be too much.

These are so easy to strip out. Better to go easy and add a bit of blue locktite, than need to put in a heli-coil.

I find these tend to go about every 20,000 miles. So keep a few on hand if you ride your bike often.

Yeah 6 is probably too much. One of them started feeling light so I backed it off to 4.5 and seems to be holding, did the other to 4.5.

Talk about soft, geez!

My first thought was to tighten it. I hope I didn't overtighten. I was approximately at 10nm when I stopped. :eek1

Any one got a measurement of the O ring to get? Just a standard one or is it special in any sort of way?
Will be swapping mine out before it starts leaking.
Cheers.