Oil leak; Front sprocket/pinion

[alf885]

Hi All, A small pool of oil has appeared beneath my 06 955i, 5,000 miles. After investigation I have traced it to the rear (inboard) of the front sprocket. I removed the cover and cleaned all the gunge collecting in the crevices. A wipe of the finger behind the sprocket revealed engine oil! It's defintiely not chain lube from the Scotoiler and there's no visible source other than the rear of the sprocket.

I believe there is an oil seal behind the sprocket. Can anyone confirm this please?

The bike is less than 2 years old (July 06) and I intend to request that my dealer fix this under warranty at the next service (6,000 or maybe a little sooner).

Have any other owners discovered this problem and how did you cure the leak? Have Triumph issued a Service Bulletin/Notice to dealers because I've heard of this problem before with both Tigers and S3's with the 955i engines?

Any info would be welcome.

alf

[blacktiger]

I've seen a (very) few posts on various forums with this happening. However mine's covered 48K miles and is still good so I don't think it's an inherent weakness. I suspect running with an over tight chain could put a strain on the bearing and seal there.

Yes, get it reported to your dealer ASAP.

[zopilote]

My 885i -99 leaked a little at the exact same place when i bought it. I took a VERY thin (0.10mm) feeler gauge and cleaned the surface between the seal and the axle and it helped. It seems like the chain had brought in a lot of sand/dirt that had in some way ended up inside the seal and made it leak.

[Digger3]

My guess would be your Scott Oiler being on too high a lube rate.  Over oiling a chain results in most of it being slung off the rear (and onto your rear wheel) but the rest ends up collecting around your counter-sprocket.  You can also see the same results by over-applying spray lube, it can end up dripping from the rear of the cover also.

Now if what you see is a PUDDLE of engine oil, ignore this post and get the seal changed out.

[alf885]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm certain that it is engine oil it has that distinctive dirty-ish amber colour to it as opposed to the blue Scottoil.

Call the dealer time, alf.

[NortonCharlie]

The seal behind the counter shaft sprocket could be leaking, it has happened to a few of us.  Mine started leaking at about 60,000 miles but some others have had leaks early on (though most of the leaks were actually chain lube).   The shop manual makes a big job of replacing it, I simply drilled a small hole in the flat part of the seal turned in a sheet metal screw a couple of turns and pulled it out (I used an old slide hammer body puller).  Then drove the new one in with an appropriate sized PVC coupling.   But with it under warranty have the dealer fix it up for you.

[Stretch]

...The shop manual makes a big job of replacing it, I simply drilled a small hole in the flat part of the seal turned in a sheet metal screw a couple of turns and pulled it out (I used an old slide hammer body puller).  Then drove the new one in with an appropriate sized PVC coupling...

Egg-cellent!  Thanks for the tip.

[alf885]

Dealer's taking the Tiger in next Monday. No quibble, they'll investigate and if that's the fault it'll be fixed. alf

[alf885]

As suspected, oil seal at the end of the output shaft behind front sprocket. Dealer happy to repair under warranty. alf

[alf885]

Collected the Tiger today, mechanic says that the seal had "popped" it's seating. He couldn't say whether it was due to poor assembly at manufacture or due to wear and tear. He did say though this was the first example he'd seen were this seal had failed. Taking him at his word then this would seem to be an uncommon fault. Happy again. alf

[flux]

On my old KTM the front sprocket seal would leak if the chain was too tight.  Check your tension.  As I learned yesterday, Triumph's tension rates are wimpy.