Oil Leak - Griso 8v 2008

[szasz]

Have a Griso 8v (2008) - been very reliable - love it! Have about 34,000 kms on it. Went out for a 300k ride the other day without any issues, but notice some oil on the garage floor the next day. The mechanic who serviced it until recently is no longer available, so before I take it to a new shop, I thought I'd share these photos and gets some opinions first. Thanks in advance!

Here's 2 shots - but I've posted a gallery with more photos here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r8olqrrszgm61zt/AABzuF3KnN59UbqC91aEdo9La?dl=0


and

[Waterbottle]

Hi Szasz, that's most likely coming from the seals on the spark plug shroud tube. If you ride another 1000 miles it will leak another 2 or 3 drops of oil 😊 nothing much to worry about but it will make a small mess. One oring  is in the rocker cover. Another of The same size oring down lower in the cylinder head. Not to hard to sort out . About an hours work for your local shop ? 
 Oh if it gets a bit leaky, it will wet the fuel injector on that side.
 There is a cooling airflow port that takes air in from just above the exhaust flange - in around the spark plug - and out just above the fuel injector. There is a drain hole , ( the one in your photo ) to drain water etc from around the spark plug.

[Vasco DG]

Don, look at the leak on the block, not the head.

For the head leak I'd say o ring on plug tube, top or bottom.

For the big splurge on the block I'd suggest.

1.) The phase sensor.

2.) The blanking plate on the timing chest, (Hang over from other models.)

3.) On. The breather box there is an unused spigot. As far as I can make out it serves no purpose but it is capped by a sort of plastic condom held on with a hose clamp. These age badly and can crack or leak and sometimes rub against other bits and get punctured.

Any of these can cause leaks. I'll post up a pic from the parts site for the last one if I remember. If I don't remember? Nag me. It's past my bedtime!

Pete

[Phang]

3.) On. The breather box there is an unused spigot. As far as I can make out it serves no purpose but it is capped by a sort of plastic condom held on with a hose clamp. These age badly and can crack or leak and sometimes rub against other bits and get punctured.

The one in the service manual has a proper red plastic cap/plug





Parts diagram show a rubber cap (part number 978781)  ::)

[Cage Free]

Its the threaded plug in the cylinder, my dealer said that on my Stelvio that it had been cross threaded from the factory and  had just come loose after a few thousand miles.  Since it is used only for the assembly process their easy solution was to pull out the plug, clean the threads and JB weld that sucker back in place. 5k miles later and no leak. Mine was not the first they had seen with this issue. Mine was the left cylinder (shifter side) the right side has not leaked.

[Vasco DG]

Sorry, can you expand one that? I'm not aware of any threaded plugs in the cylinders?

Pete

[guzziownr]

Hi Szasz, that's most likely coming from the seals on the spark plug shroud tube.

New O-Rings are easy to fit:  Remove plastic wing, valve cover and spark plug tube.  Leave the spark plug in.  Remove, clean the area carefully and replace the O-ring in the valve cover.

The lower O-Ring is close to the base of the spark plug.  Stab it with a dental pick and remove.  Clean that area and roll in a new O-Ring.  If it leaks again use a VERY thin coating of Three-bond (Yama-bond, Honda-bond) when you repeat the process.  It was a stupid design that they fixed in later iterations of the Griso.

[szasz]

Thanks for all the replies and information. Very helpful and glad to hear it's nothing serious. :-)
I'll report after I take it in for repair.

Nick

[Waterbottle]

Don, look at the leak on the block, not the head.

For the head leak I'd say o ring on plug tube, top or bottom.

For the big splurge on the block I'd suggest.

1.) The phase sensor.

2.) The blanking plate on the timing chest, (Hang over from other models.)

3.) On. The breather box there is an unused spigot. As far as I can make out it serves no purpose but it is capped by a sort of plastic condom held on with a hose clamp. These age badly and can crack or leak and sometimes rub against other bits and get punctured.

Any of these can cause leaks. I'll post up a pic from the parts site for the last one if I remember. If I don't remember? Nag me. It's past my bedtime!

Pete

Yep your right again Pete, too much oil, and from in front of the cylinder. :)
Have had the breather box spigot and phase sensor leaks myself .
Good luck with it Szasz, it's still not an expensive fix  ;-T

[Cage Free]

Sorry, can you expand one that? I'm not aware of any threaded plugs in the cylinders?

Pete

There is a drain hole for anything that might get in the sparkplug area that exits at the side of the cylinder then two fins down and to the left is a threaded plug that the dealer called a freeze plug and is used at the factory for assembly purposes only, this is the one that was cross threaded. The mechanic said Guzzi uses a sealant when installing it but it had cracked when it started to become loose and leaked. My bike is still under warranty but dealer said only other fix was to replace cylinder and Guzzi wouldn't cover that for such a minor issue, minor my ass, my new bike was leaking.

[beetle]

You can actually see the plug in szasz's first pic.

[Vasco DG]

You can actually see the plug in szasz's first pic.

Ahh, gotcha. It's the head not the cylinder. Yes, they are tha cross drillings for the cooling galleries around the exhaust valve seats.

Pete

[beetle]

You can also see that it's not leaking. :D

[szasz]

Thought I'd post a follow up.

Apparently the seal around the "Oil Pressure Switch" was the cause of the leak. My mechanic replaced it and I'm back on the road!

Nick