Valve cover leaking?

Hey everyone, I have a 2003 SV650S 8,000 miles

I went for my first ride of the season this year and when i got back after only a 20 miles i parked my bike and was chatting with my friends when they told me my motor was smoking every once and a while. After looking at my bike after they said that there was oil all over my engine mostly in the area of my rear valve cover and down the cylinder head. I mean the oil was sprayed all over. I had oil spatter on my boots and even on my frame sliders. Due to the fact that oil follows gravity down the engine my friends and i think that it must be the valve cover, because the oil was spead as far up as the valve cover.
Has anyone ever heard of a leaking valve cover gasket?
Or does anyone have any ideas on what may have caused oil to go everywhere like that?
We checked the lines and everything seems to be connected. I did not due any modifications that might have caused this.
Once parked the oil is not leaking anymore. My oil level does still read above low in the sight glass, so i did not lose all of my oil.
I am just thankful that the oil did not get on my rear tire as i was riding.
Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions.
Ryan

[yorkie_chris]

First things first make damn sure you check it if it's leaking, running your engine low on oil gets real expensive real quick.

Most common one is the crank breather hoses, they spatter oil all over the place if they come loose. They go into the bottom of the airbox.

The valve covers have a rubber seal round them so unless you've disturbed them checking the valves then it's unlikely, IMO, to be them.

Check that the rear sprocket nut is in place, these coming loose sling oil all over the place.

Just have a careful look round it basically

[BillyC]

Hi Ryan

It's quite possible that it's leaking. Your mileage is low, but given its age I wouldn't be surprise if someone had had one of the covers off to inspect valve clearances or something. Of course the official advice is to replace the rubber seals and use fresh sealant. In reality most people would get away without doing that - I know I have, several times.

The more likely reality is that through lack of use, the seals may be perishing or shrinking in some way. They're sealed in very well from the factory, but 8000 miles in nearly 5 years really isn't much.

I think you'll probably get away with removing the covers, cleaning off the old sealant, and applying some new. That's what I'd probably do...


I'll await for my adviced to be trashed now

[jambo]

I'd be checking all the breather pipes as per YC's advice. A leaky cam cover tends to let oil drip down from the point it's leaking from. A breather hose lets a fine spray of oil that's being thrashed about by the engine and gearbox out, so goes everywhere as you describe.

Good luck, hope it's nothing serious.

Jambo

Originally Posted by jambo

I'd be checking all the breather pipes as per YC's advice. A leaky cam cover tends to let oil drip down from the point it's leaking from. A breather hose lets a fine spray of oil that's being thrashed about by the engine and gearbox out, so goes everywhere as you describe.

Good luck, hope it's nothing serious.

Jambo

Nah I know from painful experience if your cam cover doesn't seal properly, oil goes everywhere.

The bolts that hold it on aren't done up tight so it maybe that ones worked its way loose so have a good look. Be VERY careful not to do them up too tight though. Not that I'd know about that

[jambo]

Originally Posted by Flamin_Squirrel

Nah I know from painful experience if your cam cover doesn't seal properly, oil goes everywhere.

The bolts that hold it on aren't done up tight so it maybe that ones worked its way loose so have a good look. Be VERY careful not to do them up too tight though. Not that I'd know about that

Good point, check that too. Use a torque wrench when in doubt and doing up bits of engine

Thank you to everyone that have responded with there opinions on my leak. I hope to get in to it this sunday and check everything thoroughly. One of my friends is a cycle mechanic so i will have him with me to go over everything. I picked up a new valve cover gasket today. Hopefully that will do the trick but we will definitely be checking the breather hoses as well.

Once again thanks to all that replied and i will let you know how i make out.
Ryan

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by dareme97

One of my friends is a cycle mechanic

It turns out that the breather hose came off the engine. It was so nice to find a quick and easy fix to the amount of oil that was sprayed all over the engine.
Thanks again to everyone for advice.
Ryan