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PLEASE HELP - total noob w/ possible catastrophic oil leak?

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by cwhiley, Oct 18, 2009.

  1. cwhiley

    cwhiley New Member

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    Ok so I bought a 1985 Maxim X XJ700 air cooled model about 2 weeks ago for $770. Sadly, it has obviously suffered from a fair amount of neglect later in it's life. However, I bought it in good running condition, or so I thought.

    So I figured I should change the oil and I've never changed the oil on any motorcycle but I went to the dealership to get a filter and picked up 3 quarts of Valvoline motorcycle oil (20W-50 I think). I didn't know there was a drain plug for the oil besides the filter so I just pulled the filter off and I thought it pretty much emptied out. So I put the new filter in, and put the 3 quarts in the fill hole on the right side of the engine. At any rate, I think it held all 3 quarts because before changing the oil I noticed that the oil light would come on if I went up a steep hill. This made me assume that the oil must have been low when I bought it. So even though I didn't use the drain plug there probably wasn't much left anyways. Now the problem - today I went to the store and back and started to go back in my house to get something I forgot and left it running. When I got off I saw oil all over the patio on my back porch. I immediately killed the motor and looked underneath to see if I could tell where it was coming from. There is a black hose that comes out of the bottom of the airbox. Some seemed to be coming out of it. But I'm not sure if it's there or just somewhere else near or around the airbox but the entire bottom of the airbox is oily. Everything underneath it is dripping with oil too but I think it's just coming from that area and running down all over everything else. It's real hard to tell exactly where it's coming from. It does not seem to be coming from anywhere on the engine block itself or the crankcase. The oil light is not coming on and the sight window on the crankcase is black anbd appears to be full still, but I've obviously lost a lot, how much I can't tell. So my question is this. First off, is my bike just completely screwed? Did I just overfill it and it's now venting out? OR is this a sign of a much more serious problem.

    Please help guys, and thank you in advance.
     
  2. lopezfr2

    lopezfr2 Member

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    not to worry, you just way overfilled it with extra oil since you didn't fully drain it in the first place. if you look carefully above the right side foot peg theres a black hose that comes out of the crankcase and goes to the airbox. thats where the extra oil is coming from. just drain the oil again properly with the drain plug and you should be set
     
  3. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    The Oil Drain Plug is on the Lower Case ... Behind the Oil Filter and just above the center of the Exhaust Collector.

    Its a 19mm Hex Plug.
    Keep it nice by extracting it with a 19mm - 6 Point Socket.
    The Hex Plug sometimes looks to have a Cross-Head Screw in it.

    On the Engine Case near the Oil Fill Plug is a Stamp with the Metric Amount of Oil your Bike Needs.
    You can see the level in the Oil Level Sight Glass.
    Fill the Sump to the Top of the Window.
     

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