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Thread: Water pump housing seeping oil

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mesozoic's Avatar
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    Water pump housing seeping oil

    First off, I have to state my appreciation of the 1125CR. It is an absolute hoot to ride and handles incredibly, sounds awesome and has power wherever it's needed as long as it's above 4000 RPM. I have no idea how much power mine is making, with the only modifications being a K&N air filter, APH Fabrication exhaust system, quickshifter and custom tune by yours truly, but I assure you it's gnarly and it's nasty and downright dangerous!

    The engine has about 31K miles on it and it's obviously seen 2 valvetrain adjustments. The last adjustment I upgraded to the 2010 MY clutch/water pump cover and all the associated water pump guts to go with it (and the blocking of that oil vent or whatever). It's been running great and still runs great, but I did just notice that the clutch/water pump cover is seeping oil out of the small orifice at the rear of the water pump housing section. To test how badly it's leaking, I washed the whole bike thoroughly yesterday and rode it this evening on a 45 mile canyon sprint through the mountains. Enough oil had seeped out to almost reach the bottom of the clutch cover, but admittedly that is a spirited ride in comparison to my more mundane commutes.

    I've researched this a bit on Badweb and other forums, but not sure whether it's truly a concern at this point or not, if it only occurs during hard riding at high RPM. Is this a known common issue for the Helicon engine? I was planning to ride the CR up to the White Mountains at the end of the month for Memorial Day weekend, but may need to choose another vehicle if it would get worse. The trip from my town to Greer and back is around 600 miles roundtrip.

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    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    Got a pic? Not sure what orifice you mean. I'm pretty familiar with those inner clutch cover housings, and revisions... against my will

    There is a weep-hole orifice on the water pump cover, just under the protrusion, but only coolant would come out?

  3. #3
    Senior Member Barrett's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooter View Post
    Got a pic? Not sure what orifice you mean. I'm pretty familiar with those inner clutch cover housings, and revisions... against my will

    There is a weep-hole orifice on the water pump cover, just under the protrusion, but only coolant would come out?

    He's referring to the cover weep hole. It's approx 4.5MM ID and is threaded for some unknown reason. Designed to vent the cover and allow coolant that has leaked past the pump seal to exit via that hole. Even with pump seal replaced, it is not uncommon for the hole to "weep" or "mist" a small amount of motor oil if the engine is run very, very hard.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Mesozoic's Avatar
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    Barrett is correct, the cover weep hole... I'll post a pic when I get back to the garage this evening.

    Admittedly, I've learned how to ride the 1125CR harder, especially with the use of the quickshifter and I'm definitely getting closer to redline during rides. Several other factors may be contributing to weeping, including the steadily increasing ambient temperatures, suspension tuning and cockpit adjustments that enable more spirited riding.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    So its a weep-hole?

  6. #6
    Senior Member Mesozoic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooter View Post
    So its a weep-hole?
    This hole:
    IMG_0073.jpg

  7. #7
    Senior Member Mesozoic's Avatar
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    If I do need to order some parts, it looks like the simplest thing to do is go straight to Buell Motorcycles and order from them, is that right?

  8. #8
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    Yep, that's the hole I was thinking of. It is a special "rotary seal" on the water pump shaft that takes TWO specialty tools to install. If you have coolant coming out, no biggie, keep an eye on the level, it makes a bigger mess than it seems. If you indeed have oil coming out, then your coolant and oil are mixing. A tiny bit... for now. But it's definitely happening.

    I have bought an NOS part and also sourced the seal and attempted that job myself. Twice. Unsuccessfully

    If you buy a new cover, make sure its at least the REV 2 one, or the EBR 1190 one is a bolt-on replacement with a slightly different color. The WP comes installed in the cover already, but I worry because it's a NOS part and been sitting a long time. I would recommend sending yours to Chaz at Aagard Moto Foundry for repair.

    You know what it takes to swap that cover so proceed accordingly

    My solution for future Cooter:
    https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showth...BR-Exhaust-mod
    Last edited by Cooter; 05-09-2023 at 04:42 PM.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Mesozoic's Avatar
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    Haha nice... I knew it was going to be a royal PITA. So initially, the seepage looked like it was oil mixed with coolant. Now, after a hard ride the seepage looks like oil only. Neither the coolant expansion tank or the oil dipstick are showing cross contamination at this stage, though.

    The cover I've got on there is a new 2010 MY unit, which I believe is the same as the 1190, perhaps. The cover I got did not have the water pump installed on it, I had to get a new shaft assembly, all the new seals, etc. My big question is whether I should keep riding it or not because I'd love to kick this can down the road until it needs another valve adjustment in 5000 miles!

  10. #10
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    It wont be much (yet) because the leak isn't much (yet). I mentioned it because theres no way to leak oil out that hole without being exposed to coolant. How bad the problem is, is up to you.

    Yes, 2010 Buell is the same as 1190, the colors are a little different. If you got one without the WP assembly somehow, how was special seal installed last time? Maybe thats the root of the issue?



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