-
There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.
My Ryker 900 always leaks at the oil filter cap - what's going on?
- Thread starter blackphoenix38
- Start date
blackphoenix38
Member
Cool, I'll touch base with you later next week and let you know when I'll be in the area.
blackphoenix38
Member
I just put a brand new O-ring and screws in it. The same exact leak, same exact spot right away... so weird.
Is there any chance that anyone, you or someone else, may have ever used a screwdriver or other 'hardened tip' tool to scrape, clean, or pry on any of the mating surfaces &/or get the O-ring out?? Even a microscopic nick from a hardened tool in the cap or seat might allow oil to drip thru, and using a hardened tip tool on non-hardened metal anywhere can easily do that in such a way that you can't feel &/or see it without some degree of magnification...
Mind you, that 'magnification' comment does raise a thoughty - any chance you can closely inspect all the surfaces involved with some degree of magnification?? Even if you use a smartphone or camera on zoom to take pics or a vid might help you see what's going on...
And another thought - pressing a small enough piece of very lightly oiled glass to each of the mating surfaces and looking to see if there's any gaps in the oil film contact area might help reveal any warping or defects in either face - might be worth a shot??
And then there is that ^ - I know yours is a Ryker @blackphoenix38, but if so, it certainly wouldn't be the first BRP product to have casting &/or porosity issues.
Last edited:
blackphoenix38
Member
I looked it over when I had the filter out and I didn't see anything super obvious. No cracks or anything like that.
No one's touched this Ryker except me for oil changes and maintenance.
So my issue is if there is a defect that is forming, that would require a whole new block at that point. This thing is 2 years old with 14k miles on it, so not under warranty.
It's just weird that it didn't do that straight from the factory.
No one's touched this Ryker except me for oil changes and maintenance.
So my issue is if there is a defect that is forming, that would require a whole new block at that point. This thing is 2 years old with 14k miles on it, so not under warranty.
It's just weird that it didn't do that straight from the factory.
The fact that it's only been you working on it does make it easy to exclude other techs doing anything that might've caused it, which is probably a good thing; but unless it was a really savage crack or defect in the block, which I truly doubt wouldn't have been majorly obvious before now, then I really don't think you'd be able to 'see' anything with your naked eye or even under mild magnification - the porous bits in blocks tend to be microscopic and completely invisible except under high magnification. 
) That porous block thing generally takes a bit of a while for the oil to work its way thru the minute nooks, crannies, and channels, but once all the porous bits have been filled with oil thru sloooow seepage over time &/or use, maybe as many as tens of thousands of miles, then even if you wipe it away &/or heat that section of the block in an attempt to 'burn' all the oil out of the microscopic cavities & convoluted channels thru the supposedly solid metal, it generally won't take long to come back in a bloody obvious way! 
That's just the nature of the beast - if you put a normal kiln baked house brick, something supposedly solid and waterproof, into a shallow tray that holds about a half an inch of water, it'll take ages for that house brick to sloooowly absorb the water and suck it up thru the 'solid' material making up the brick. And metal is a lot more solid than that, unless it's porous due to any of the reasons mentioned above - but even if it is, it still generally take somewhat longer for oil to slooooowly seep thru that, only once it has...
And it sounds very much like like you've found out what happens! 
Now all you hafta do is convince BRP that it's something like that!
Good Luck! 
It's not really weird it hasn't become obvious earlier, especially if it's a porous block due to a manufacturing or material defect/shortfall and not a crack thru an over-heating event or similar (any chance of it being something like that??
) That porous block thing generally takes a bit of a while for the oil to work its way thru the minute nooks, crannies, and channels, but once all the porous bits have been filled with oil thru sloooow seepage over time &/or use, maybe as many as tens of thousands of miles, then even if you wipe it away &/or heat that section of the block in an attempt to 'burn' all the oil out of the microscopic cavities & convoluted channels thru the supposedly solid metal, it generally won't take long to come back in a bloody obvious way! That's just the nature of the beast - if you put a normal kiln baked house brick, something supposedly solid and waterproof, into a shallow tray that holds about a half an inch of water, it'll take ages for that house brick to sloooowly absorb the water and suck it up thru the 'solid' material making up the brick. And metal is a lot more solid than that, unless it's porous due to any of the reasons mentioned above - but even if it is, it still generally take somewhat longer for oil to slooooowly seep thru that, only once it has...
And it sounds very much like like you've found out what happens! Now all you hafta do is convince BRP that it's something like that!
Good Luck!
Last edited:
blackphoenix38
Member
Do you one better, I got a video of it.
nightfalcon
Member
Being it is so close to a bolt it is likely there is a crack around the bolt housing or the bolt has been cross threaded and not tight enough. Have you checked the torque is still in spec? (If it's cross threaded, it may torque correctly, but then loosen...) For that much of a leak, I would think a crack would be apparent so I'm picking that its the bolt being not tight enough. Some of the engineers looking in might have a fix to clean up the thread aside from using a tap to reset the thread.
Grabbing at straws a little here, but you haven't by any chance ended up with the cap not on in the correct orientation, have you (can you)?? Or maybe you've put a screw in that position that's too long for the hole in the housing just there so that it seems to tighten down but doesn't really? Or could it be that there's some crud (old locktite maybe??) that's been pushed down into the bottom of that screw hole that's now being compressed when you tighten the screw down and stopping the screw from tightening down/going in far enough to tighten the cap properly??
If it's not something like that, then going by the vid, I'd be leaning back toward it being the cap itself no longer being square so that it won't seal; the mating surfaces no longer being properly flat so that they won't mate together evenly/properly (see my earlier comment re 'lightly oiled glass' to test that); or somehow, there IS a nick or scratch in one of the surfaces just there or maybe in the O-ring or O-ring groove that's just too small for you to see with your naked eye, but it's a big enough nick to to let that much oil out!
There's clearly gotta be SOME reason for it to leak oil like that, so even if you think that it can't be one of the many options that've been suggested &/or looked at/tried already, maybe you need to re-visit and step back thru them all again to see if you've missed anything?!
It IS frustrating & weird I know, but there's gotta be a reason for this oil leak, and there's really only a limited number of possibilities. You just hafta accept that it IS one of them and then troubleshoot it to work out how to narrow it down to the real culprit - or you could pay someone else to do the same troubleshooting job, only they generally charge like wounded bulls - IF they'll even take on the job of trying to troubleshoot anything like that in the first place!
Ps: Just another thoughty, have you checked to make sure that the filter is inserted and mounted properly?? And/or that any old gasket or clear plastic seal, etc that might've been used to keep the new filter clean before installing ended up being removed properly?? IIRC, there have been a couple of instances reported here where the old gasket or O-ring was left in there; or the filter was either wrong or inserted wrong.
I know these are probably long shots, but sometimes, these odd things slip thru and cause all sorts of difficulties!! I had a fella bring his diesel engined Nissan Patrol around for me to check out a while back cos it was seriously down on power after he'd only serviced his air filter... It made much better power once I found and removed the old rag that he'd used to make sure the filter housing was clean before putting the new filter in - and then forgot to take out before putting the cover back on!!
Sometimes, these sorta things just slip thru! 
Last edited:
TheMariner
Active member
- Check the cover bolts aren't too long, or that the thread in the front hole isn't tapped short or has debris in the bottom of the tapped hole. Edit - Just saw Peter's response above with the same idea.
- Are the bolt holes in the cap equi-spaced ? Can you undo the bolts & rotate the cap 120 degress & re-fit ? If so, try it & see if the leak moves with the cap or stays in the same spot.
- Are the bolt holes in the cap equi-spaced ? Can you undo the bolts & rotate the cap 120 degress & re-fit ? If so, try it & see if the leak moves with the cap or stays in the same spot.
blackphoenix38
Member
I've taken off the cap a ton of times and put it back on in different ways and with different screws. Same result.
It would stop leaking after a new O-ring. Now, after the latest leak, even a new O-ring is not working.
I've tightened the screws down as much as they will go without breaking, It's as tight as it's going to get.
I don't know, maybe there's some weird internal damage or something, I think at this point, I'll try to trade it in and just get rid of it. No idea how anyone is going to fix that.
I just went out and unscrewed that one bolt. it seems like there is oil on the bottom of the screw and on it.. very weird.
It would stop leaking after a new O-ring. Now, after the latest leak, even a new O-ring is not working.
I've tightened the screws down as much as they will go without breaking, It's as tight as it's going to get.
I don't know, maybe there's some weird internal damage or something, I think at this point, I'll try to trade it in and just get rid of it. No idea how anyone is going to fix that.
I just went out and unscrewed that one bolt. it seems like there is oil on the bottom of the screw and on it.. very weird.
Last edited:
Mikey
Well-known member
There are ways to check for cracks in Alum - dye penetrant will show a flay or crack the best. Either the case is warped and not a flat surface, or there's a flaw there. Both surfaces have to be flat, my bet is the case is the problem, and you can tighten the screws all you want, but until their flat, it will leak. Something is stopping that O-ring from doing its job. If you could find yourself a piece of flat glass to lay across the case to see how it lays on that surface, it would help you, a straight edge. Have you tried maybe cleaning the face of both pieces and applying a lite film of gasket maker, RTV, etc. then let it set, and see if that will stop it! If the case has a flaw, or a crack, JB weld might help, or a welder could be your friend, rather than the cost of a new case. Stop trying to wrench the bolts too tight - all you're doing there is stretching the bolts and ripping the threads out! If you have a high spot on the case, a flat piece of metal and some Emery cloth could help you resurface the edge of the case, but make sure your bolts aren't too long! Good luck, hope you find the fix!!
blackphoenix38
Member
I was thinking of some sort of gasket sealer or something to get it to stop, but I wasn't sure if I'd mess anything up with the filter being right there.
I wouldn't do anything until you have Ron look at it.
Who knows what he might find.
I know something like this would drive me crazy.
Been there, done that and then it turns up to be something simple.
Then it's, why didn't I think of that before.
Good luck
Bruce
BajaRon
Well-known member
I'd hate for you to dump an otherwise good machine for this oil leak. I'm looking forward to seeing your Ryker. I am hoping we can come up with a solution. We just need for you to call and make an appointment so we can get to it as soon as you pull in.
I just looked at your pictures and noticed that the bolts used are not OEM. I'm wondering what, and why, the OEM bolts are not being used.
I just looked at your pictures and noticed that the bolts used are not OEM. I'm wondering what, and why, the OEM bolts are not being used.
TheMariner
Active member
OK, the cap isn't the problem then. It's something else... I'd suggest the housing because changing o-rings doesn't seem to help either. I agree with Raven & Mikey.... book it into Rons ASAP & return the cap bolts back to the OEM torque figure so you don't damage the housing threads.
Good Luck !
