Gear Oil leak?

theralchico · Post by **theralchico** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:33 pm

I rode home for lunch and noticed that my rear wheel on the CVT side was covered in black oil/grease. The gear oil is seems low I guess (how do accurately measure it on the Buddy?), but the stuff all over the tire, rim and housing is way to black to be gear oil. Also, I can't really see where its leaking from. I will throw out that I had a full service done (including changing the gear oil) about 2 months ago @16,000 miles. Any thoughts on what is going on and why?

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:22 am

First guess is that the gear oil was overfilled. This is usually the culprit in this scenario. It pushes through the rear seal when it's overfilled and can sometimes blow out the seal. You could be fine though. Was it serviced by a Genuine shop?

Not to make light of your situation, but this is hilarious:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UO9A4p1Qsvk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

easy · Post by **easy** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:30 am

No way to check gear oil level once it's filled other than draining and measuring amount drained. If shop that did last service wasn't used to buddies they might have filled it to the fill opening. Drain bolt tight and check engine oil level just to be safe

theralchico · Post by **theralchico** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:47 am

1) that monkey thing was damn funny. plus I loved lancelot link growing up so even better

2) I wondered about the seals and amount of oil put in. My shop is a genuine shop but the real good mechanic left a year ago and I have kinda of lost faith. may have to start working on my buddy myself.

3) for the sake of knowing for sure, do I need to drain whats in their and refill with 110cc? Or keep driving and let it work itself out?

theralchico · Post by **theralchico** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:48 am

Oh and thanks for the input

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:50 pm

Drain and refill with 90 cc's. Not 110.

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:02 pm

Found the same problem, have cleaned the rear tire rim with alcohol and shop rags and refilled the gear box with 90cc's of gear oil. First time I changed it I put in 110 cc's. With a spell of dry weather starting tomorrow I will be riding a lot so if I blew the seal it should be apparent quickly. Thanks to youall for the good advise.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:22 pm

I would have thought that if the rear gearbox has an overflow vent hole, it really wouldn't blow (over-pressure) a seal, just bleed out the excess. I'd imagine the seals are just for gravity weepage. Unlike a crankcase and oil channel system which is pressurized somewhat by an oil pump. There overfilling can rupture seals.

Just spitballin'.

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:27 pm

Interesting PeteH. Now where do I find a detailed diagram of the gear case??
What you say makes sense.

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:35 pm

Found a diagram on line for the Buddy 125 gear box, same as the 170i?, but it does not show an overflow vent hole. Will keep looking.

Source
was The Scooter Lounge.

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:37 pm

My Blur did the exact same thing and, as Pete opined, it was a combination of overfilling (thanks to a half-assed dealer prep) and the weep hole that resulted in the mess. In my case, I never noticed it until I wiped out while leaning into a left-hand turn.

My advice would be to clean everything up (especially the tire), then do a drain and proper refill and see if the situation repeats itself.

I cannot overstate the importance of getting that stuff off the tire - it's a real killer.

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:03 pm

I did just that, Charlie55. Never did get any on the tire itself, just
on the tire rim, both sides. My diagram of the 125 cc gear box does not show a weep hole. Where would it be located?

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:03 pm

I did just that, Charlie55. Never did get any on the tire itself, just
on the tire rim, both sides. My diagram of the 125 cc gear box does not show a weep hole. Where would it be located?

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:29 pm

Wolfhound wrote:I did just that, Charlie55. Never did get any on the tire itself, just
on the tire rim, both sides. My diagram of the 125 cc gear box does not show a weep hole. Where would it be located?

It's been a while since I had the Blur, but if memory serves, the weep hole is in the vicinity of the red arrow in the diagram. In other words, somewhere in the upper quarter of the rounded part of the tranny case that faces the wheel/tire.

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:28 pm

Thanks, Charlie55. I think I found it, has a bolt there. Since I changed the gear oil and rode it a mile or two today I find the the rotational play has almost dissapeared. The top of my gear box facing the wheel has a bolt but
the housing design is not quite the same as your Blur. Proof of the pudding will be in the riding over the next 3 days.

theralchico · Post by **theralchico** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:11 am

After cleaning it up a riding for a couple days, the only noticable collection point was near the lowest bolt, that coupled with the fact that the oil seemed pretty low I don't think it was weeping. Shop guys determined it was a failed seal. Wish I had the time, tools and know-how to fix this myself. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho I guess.