Drop of oil in rear boot

[Beemercobby]

Hi all,
After some vigorous cleaning of my backend, oooh err missus, I noticed I had dislodged the rubber boot between the final drive and the swing arm. Ahh I thought, time to have a look inside. I noticed a very small amout of oil, probably just enough to cover a fingertip, lying in the swing arm side. A sniff of the offending lube and I knew it was either from the gear box or final drive as it had the distinctive niff of Mobil1. Nothing had leaked out of the boot cos there wasnt much to leak but need I be worried, and where was it likely to have come from??.

Thanks, beemercobby

[Moybin]

Beemercobby:

Are you sure about the sniff of Mobil1? The grease used to sometimes lube the splines can separate producing the oily residue you found. Since you probably don't have Mobil1 in the gearbox, the Mobil1 would have had to leak from the rear of the engine, through the dry area of the clutch, into the gearbox, through the gearbox and out into the paralever volume. Doubtful at best. OR, it was picked up off the highway surface or through migration from a slow leak at the crankcase drain (more likely).

I have a slight amount of oily residue creeping out of my boot, but I know I did a bang-up job of lubing the splines when I did the tranny 3 years ago. Using a nylon cable tie (ty-wrap) to hold the rubber boot in place does NOT make a liquid-tight seal.

[markjenn]

I'd guess this is gear lube from the final drive. The seal there is prone to small leaks. If it doesn't get worse, I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt it is grease residue - in my experience, oil is oil and grease is grease.

Good luck,

- Mark