Oil leak under engine

[Philip44]

What does it mean when the motor is idleing and you ground the points to the left, then the center cylinder and the cylinder dies off but when I do that to the right cylinder there is no change????

[Cliff]

Right cylinder is not firing! Check the points, set the gap and make sure they are CLEAN and DRY! Pull out the right plug and have a look at it. Wet means it's not firing, dry means you might have a carb. or vacuum leak issue.

[Philip44]

I have a new set of points coming,as far as timing thats no problem,oh yea I replaced all three plugs ( B8HS ) and runs alot better, why did suzuki make it that you cannot change coil wires??? From what I see its a timing and carb problem......

[Philip44]

Checked intake leaks and nothing,didn't do a compression test,but what baffles me is before I removed th battery to charge, I no problems, I do know that when I ground the left cyl , center cyl,I loose that cylinder,the right cylinder just hits and misses and has no effect when grounded,should I just wait for the new points and time by dial guage????

[rbond]

It sounds like your problem is the battery, or more so the wiring to it. Disconnect the battery and check all the contacts for corrosion and a tight fit. It maybe simply not enough power to the coils.

[Cliff]

Ian, here's the part nos. for the water pump parts:
Oil seal-10x22x7 mm
Bearing-200
Mechanical seal-13mm T21
Just remember, the old stainless steel seat has to be resurfaced and reused.
hope this helps!

And Philip, yes double check your battery connections, fuse holder, bullit connectors, and ground.

[Madbuffalo]

I had the same problem with my waterpump breather line leaking oil.

[Philip44]

Thats what it turned out to be....

[pennell]

Mine is doing the exact same thing... Where do I find the water pump breather line? And how do I remedy the problem?

[Madbuffalo]

Pennell, I'm gathering this is somewhat of a common problem with these old buffalos. The problem is most likely not the waterpump breather line itself but the water pump o-ring. The breather line goes to an air space in the waterpump housing and is essentially a vent for pressure differences caused by the water pump metal heating and expanding inside the engine. There is an O-ring on either side of the air space, one stops oil and the other stops coolant. What happened in my case was the oil O-ring went bad and allowed oil to flow into the airspace and out the breather line. Unfortunately this can be a difficult fix since the waterpump has a tendancy to freeze itself in place and sometimes needs to be pushed out from the top by splitting the engine cases. There are numerous threads on this topic. Right now it's probably not a huge problem for you just more of an annoyance having to deal with the oil leak but if the other seal goes bad too the oil and coolant will contaminate eachother which is a huge issue. I hope that answers your question, otherwise I'm sure others on this board could offer more information for you than I'm able to. Good luck.

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[pennell]

Thanks for the help.. This may be a winter project for the end of this year. It is definitely just an annoyance at this point, and the underside of the bike is absolutely oil soaked and filthy from it. Any idea how long it would take to split the cases and do this? Also, since I have the cases split what other things should I do since its opened up?

[rbond]

If I am not mistaken, there is a thread here for removing stuck water pumps without having to split the case. From the amount of oil you are losing, it would be better to fix this problem now. Besides running the trans low on oil, you could be getting a significant amount spraying onto your rear wheel, an accident waiting to happen.

[Madbuffalo]

Agreed. I think Suzsmokeyallan made that thread. It's a sticky in this repair forum. You might try just pulling the waterpump out the bottom of the engine first as the manual recommends although I've heard they're usually pretty well stuck. Mine was.

[pennell]

Just went over the sticky, and looks pretty straight forward! Thanks for all the pointers folks! Also, once the water pump does anyone know the part numbers that I need? And if they are still available at the dealer?

[Cliff]

Ian, here's the part nos. for the water pump parts:
Oil seal-10x22x7 mm
Bearing-200
Mechanical seal-13mm T21
Just remember, the old stainless steel seat has to be resurfaced and reused.
hope this helps!

Pennell, splitting the cases is a HUGE job!
Here's what I did, just like in the sticky. Drain the fluids, remove the carbs., starter and exhaust. Remove the water pump cover and impeller. Remove the retaining ring holding in the pump cartridge. Drill through the upper case, as per the drawings in the sticky, with a 1/8 or 5/32 drill. With a pin punch drive out the pump. I drilled and tapped the hole to 1/8 NPT and installed a 1/8th pipe countersunk or socket head plug. You can then replace the seal and bearing (see above) BUT be very careful with the mechanical seal if you're not going to replace it! Also, check the shaft where the oil seal rides. If there is any damage in that area it will have to be repaired/hard chromed. Change the "o" rings on the outside of the cartridge and put her back together. The pain in the ass was getting the cartridge to line up with the locating pin in the case! If you want to replace the pump as an assembly, here's another option, ebay item 170613517554.