oil from L vent tube, onto ABS plastic cowling?

[bamico]

Was wondering if any of you have had this issue...

i have a 2007 RSV

 

I was looking at the bike last weekend and noticed the lower cowling on the Left side of the bike (as your sitting on it) was cracked in several places. ~2" long total, 2 or 3 cracks where the plastic screw in piece/protrusion joins the cowling.

 

I took the cowling off and found the vent tube that is mounted near the back of the air intake was dripping oil down into the cowling. Not enought to have it run out the bottom of the cowling, but enought that it pooled a bit by the plastic mounting bracket on the cowling. The bracket/protrusion was broken clean off.

 

So, couple of questions.. what is it venting and why would there be that much oil?

I've had the bike for about a month, have had the cowling off to install some chrome, and this is the first time I've had oil leaking. The vent tube did appear to be butted square against the air intake (so it wasn't venting freely) if that make a difference...

 

If the oil was sitting on the abs cowling, would that weaken the plastic enough to have normal vibration cause the cracks?

 

I didn't drop it or bang it against anything, its almost as if the cracks came from stress of the cowling nuts being over tightened? Just to make it fun, the dealer was the last one to take the cowling off and re-install it.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts...

 

Bob

[Freebird]

You may be looking at two different issues. It is common to get oil out of that vent hose if you overfill the crankcase. These bikes are very sensitive to be over filled. With the bike in the vertical position, NOT on the side stand, you want the oil about half way up in the sight glass. if you fill it to the top, you will get oil in the left air filter and out of that hose.

 

As for the cowling cracking. That is an issue that Yamaha has covered under warranty many times. If the dealer or Yamaha tries to deny it, scream long and loud because they have replace many of them. Some think that it is caused by over tightening that middle screw. I'm not sure but I do know that they can break.

[davecb]

The cowlings are not made to to have the screws tightened completely. I had mine off, and when I put them back on I heard a crack!!! It was the moulding inside that the screw goes into. After glueing it back together, and reinstalling it, I noticed the rubber strip that goes almost the length of it. I just tightened the screws enough so the cowling was snug against it. It hasn't loosened any. I bet your dealer cranked down on the screws and that is the cause of your cracks. Take it back to them and have them replace it...

[bamico]

Thank you for the responses.

Seems like the cowlings were torqued down too tight... back to the dealer we go...

 

I'm going the check on the oil level this weekend.

 

Have a great long weekend.

Hopefully you're somewhere away from NH where we're expecting rain through the entire weekend...

[V7Goose]

Couple of things - first, there should be no "oil" coming out of those front vent tubes - those are the carb overflow tubes, so the only thing that could come out of them is gas. Over time, gas vapors mixing with dirt could look a bit like oil, but any visible liquid is cause for concern. It is slightly possible that the bike was put together wrong, with the air plenum vents that should be routed down near the end of the kick stand incorrectly connected to the front hoses, but I doubt the stock hoses are long enough for that. If you are getting any liquid gas out of those vents, then your float levels are probably way too high (in my experience this is true for the carbs on EVERY RSV as they are set up from the factory).

 

As for the cowling screws, the only one that can be over tightened is the one that goes in from the rear. The front two screws go through a rubber grommet with metal washers on each side and a spacer in the center (just like the saddlebag bolts). These cannot be over tightened to damage the plastic, since all the force is metal to metal. Even if you Magilla them suckers down, you can still move the cowling around on those grommets.

 

The cracked cowling is always covered under warranty by any decent dealer as long as there are no signs that it has been hit by anything. But here is a "secret" about what causes the cracking and how to prevent it: All the mounting points for the three cowling screws are very soft metal brackets, and they are easily bent. Before mounting the cowling next time, just start the rear screw and hold the cowling in place to make sure the holes for both front screws are centered without having to push or bend the plastic. If they don't perfectly line up, just bend the appropriate bracket slightly to solve the problem.

Goose

Edited July 4, 2009 by V7Goose

[Ponch]

If you are getting any liquid gas out of those vents, then your float levels are probably way too high (in my experience this is true for the carbs on EVERY RSV as they are set up from the factory).

 

Every since buying my RSV used about two years ago, I have always had a strong gasoline smell in the garage for about an hour or so after parking. Since the carb. float setting adjustment, I haven't noticed it anymore.

[N3FOL]

Just curious, Ponch. Why did you have to have your Carb Float setting adjusted?

 

When I checked my air filters at 4000 miles, removing the cowling was not too bad. I torqued the bolts back on using little pressure and I can see if these bolts are overtightened, it may easily crack the lower cowling. However, it sure was very nice to be able to see what is inside and behind that lower cowling.

[Ponch]

Just curious, Ponch. Why did you have to have your Carb Float setting adjusted?

 

 

I followed Goose's research on carb float levels. He found that on all of the bikes he looked at to date, the levels were too high. Since my mileage was suffering, I wanted mine checked as well.

Four of us (all G2's) rode some thirteen hundred miles to Freebird's maint day. I consistantly got the worse gas mileage. Goose consistantly got the best. Goose and I (bikes) were loaded about the same and we did the same miles and speed. He did his carbs months previously to the trip.

When we tore into mine, we found the levels about 3/16" too high. he did three bikes at the maint day and all were off the same.

After resetting and changing spark plugs, I got better mileage than Goose on the way home. About fifteen miles per tank.

[bamico]

Thanks again for all the direction.

Dealer ended up ordering the replacement cowling under warrentee.

Griped a little bit, but once he saw how obvious the damage was, he ordered the part.

 

Have a great day.

Bob

[ebat]

Thanks again for all the direction.

Dealer ended up ordering the replacement cowling under warrentee.

Griped a little bit, but once he saw how obvious the damage was, he ordered the part.

 

Have a great day.

Bob

 

I had my left side cowling start developing a hairline crack after about 3k miles. Had to strongly reassure the dealer that I didn't hit anything. Dealer took some pics and said he would submit it to Yamaha...Yamaha said they would replace it under warranty. Glad to hear they are covering yours too.