The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Ian_Jenkins on January 11, 2011, 04:40:28 AM
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I picked up my R65 in November and have ridden it most days since then. Serviced myself changing all the fluids brake and oil's. On emptying the gearbox it was contaminated with water which I can only think came in along the speedo drive grommet which was badly perished this has been replaced. Since then I have changed the gearbox oil twice and it is still showing signs of water! So much so that on checking the gearbox level it frothed out. Sham I never had my phone handy as it was quite a sight ! Any ideas?
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Yes.
Does the drive shaft oil also come out milky?
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Even a brand new speedo cable boot has too large an opening and will allow, even encourage, water entrance into the gearbox. I coat the speedo cable and the area around the transmission opening with grease before putting the boot back in place.
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I've seen some owners put an RTV type sealant on the boot/cable joint and then put heat shrink tubing over area and heat it up to get a tight seal .
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On an old rubber which had got slack I filled it with grease and used a very small zip cable tie around the top.
The new rubber I got from Motobins is a reasonably tight fit on the speedo cable but I still filled it with grease.
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It doesn't take too much water to make a white frothy milk mess in the gearbox. If you've got a good gob of grease packed in under the speedometer boot, and perhaps put a but of black electrical tape tight round the upper part of the boot to prevent water from finding a way in between the boot and the cable sheath, I'd suggest that you just aren't draining out ALL of the old "goop" from the gearbox, and what remained in last time just served to re-contaminate the new oil.
I haven't had to do this myself, but some have mentioned that the best way to "clean" out the old gearbox in severe cases is to take it out of the bike, fill it well with kerosene, and give it a good sloshing around/shaking to get any bits of the white goo, water, etc. that may be trapped in crevices or upper galleys washed out, then drain the mess out, carefully tilting the gearbox around to ensure that everything drains out. This might have to be repeated until one observes that what drains out is essentially "clean" kerosene. Then refill with gearbox oil of your choosing.
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Hi Bill, with luck the drive shaft oil came out clean? I have put on a new speedo cable boot from Motobins. I'll pack out everything with grease at the weekend and hopefully that will be the cure. Though I think the old gearbox oil was in there for along time. So some new bearings may be in order in the summer.
The water would go to explain why changing gear on some of the cold mornings we have been having in London, have been hard going until everything has warmed up.
Many thanks for all your replies. Ian
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OK V. I've got bad news for you. If the drive shaft oil is not milky, then water is getting in through another way. Usually what happens is
1) Water gets into the drive shaft through the speedo boot or down the speedo cable from the speedo which is leaking water thought the push button on the face glass. Then...
2) The shaft drive is filled to 150cc (book spec and believe it or not too much -- it only needs about 100-120cc). When you get going fast (70mph+) the oil (and the water) in the drive shaft gets slung through the vent hole between the drive shaft and the gear box, into the gearbox. Thus overfilling the gearbox with oil and water from the drive shaft.
If the drive shaft oil is not milky then there is another path that has not been considered. Possibly it could be the bolt hole that holds the airbox to the top of the gearbox. You might try some blue RTV on the threads of this bolt. Other than that I don't have a clue.
Right now I change my oil twice a year. I use 85W140 in the summer and 80W90 in the winter so any moisture doesn't stay in very long. My gearbox has exceeded expectations as it is at 104,000 miles and counting. The warranty expired at 80,000. What year and month is your R65?
Good luck.