Page 1 of 1

380 Oil leak

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 5:10 am
by Bill
My 380 [1976 model] has a small oil leak which appears to be coming from an area behind the oil pump. It has been like that for sometime - not getting any worse just damn annoying. Removed the pump side cover and all appears fine there. Looked at the lube oil feed pipes under the carburettor area and no sign of oil on top of crank cases. It dribbles down to the large frame bolt /centre stand area.
Might mean me removing air box and other parts to trace the leak.

The oil is clean - and has the texture of lube oil

Anyone come across a similar issue.

Just joined the forum. Bill from Scotland

Re: 380 Oil leak

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:06 am
by oldjapanesebikes
Is the oil pump wet at all ? 8)

Re: 380 Oil leak

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:20 pm
by Bill
Only seen inside the outer cover [2 screws] where the cable enters that area is dry. Not sure how to check on pump without taking parts off - unless i am missing something

Thanks for taking the time to reply

Re: 380 Oil leak

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 3:44 pm
by karl pa
You may want to check where the sight lens screws into the oil tank,on my 77 GT 250 & 380 the oil leaked here and ran down the oil line onto frame and center stand.

Re: 380 Oil leak

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:56 am
by Bill
Just removed side cover and checked all round Lube Oil Tank and sight glass no leaks. Followed the oil feed line down too - no oil running down there.

BUT removed the air box covers to gain access to the cone filters and found them both saturated in Lube Oil - well not all the way up but the right one had less than left one say about third way up - reason being sits on side stand mostly so oil runs down to the left. This being the reason why I was finding black oil under the chain sprocket where the oil has been running down there picking up chain grease - but once on the main stand I noticed clear oil dribbling down.

Anyway - checked the maintenance manual where I find that it is recommended to soak the foam filters in SAE30 oil - Lube oil is too thin. Me thinks an over zealous previous owner did that but did not wring out excess. As there is now way oil can return up the carburettors into the air filter box. So I soaked the filters in petrol - now nice and dry and to test next week

The machine has hardly been used for 18 months or so - no more than 150 miles. So next week when I get my Higgs expansion chambers will give the old girl a well deserved run