Oil seals - valves

Anyone out there have a 955i engine that has had problems with the oil seals on valves?

I ask because I've got an '03 Sprint ST with ~5K mi that is using 1.2cc of engine oil per mile (!) No smoke ever, and it doesn't matter how hard/easy I ride - 1.2 cc / mi.

It's done this since I bought the bike w/1700 mi. on it... hasn't gotten better or worse.

I had the airbox off, and there is no oily film or residue near the crank case breather (so no blowbye problem), but I did look down the intake tracts, and saw a sheen of oil on all (6) intake valves - so my thought is - maybe the valve oil seals are damaged or even...missing?

The bike runs great otherwise. It just uses more oil - the $12 a liter stuff - than my 2-stroke KTM dirtbike!

Anyone know if the valve seals can be replaced w/o removing the head?

Thanks for any thoughts and/or ideas...

gj

[deller4210]

Wow! That’s a good one. Have you checked you plugs to see if there is an indication of oil there? If you had bad valve seals, or bad enough that is, you should get smoking out of the exhaust when you first start the engine. The oil will collect in the cylinder or around the valve head if it’s closed, and burn off at start up, after which you probably wouldn’t notice it. A buddy of mine had a seal missing on one of his valve cover hold down bolts. It made a huge mess out of both his bike and garage floor, but it sounds like your not having oil collecting in your fairing anywhere. Is there anything collecting under your bike after it sits over night? If it’s not burning it there must be a leak.

Thanks for the reply!

No drips, no leaks - a local shop technician asked if my chain was "oiling itself" (implying a leaking coutershaft seal), but no problem there...

And I swear - NO SMOKE on start-up - I've looked. Now, there IS an oily "smell" to the exhaust, and not just the gassy smell of a cold engine.

For now, I plan on just adding oil at every other gas-up (~400cc)and wait 'till the first valve adjustment, at which time I'll look and see if the seals 1) are there, and 2) are installed correctely. The factory manual implies that there is a correct and incorrect way to install these seals, and if incorrectly done, the engine will "use excessive oil".

Hmmm. :wink:

Dang! Forgot to mention that yes, I've checked the plugs...

No oil per se, but a tanish "cauliflower-like" growth that I've seen before on engines with worn rings (my '91 K100RS BMW with 131,000 mi.).

gj

[dolson]

Hi GarySt,

Have you gone to a dealer? If not do so and document the oil useage. These engines should never use or leak oil. It's an '03 so the warantee should be no problem

Don

Gary. You're under manufacturer's warranty. Give it back to the dealer.
Brian.

Snap, Don.

Gary, do you know who had the bike before you? There is a chance it wasn't run-in properly. If it was filled with fully synthetic by mistake from new, and not mineral, then the rings will never bed-in.

The other thought is that it was treated too gently and the bores are glazed. There are people who think running-in means riding for 500 miles at 50mph in top gear.

If there is a problem with valve guide seals then it should show up after you slow down from speed with the throttle shut, giving a lot of vacuum in the inlet port so sucking the oil down the guides, then opening the throttle.
Do that with a mate riding behind you to watch for smoke.

[deller4210]

Brian50 has the best advice for this problem. Give it to a dealership and let them fix it, and the sooner the better.