My 02 F4i has developed a slight oil leak over the last few weeks so I took it to Honda to be repaired. They told me my counter shaft (or shift shaft) seal had gone bad and it would take 2-8 weeks and around $1000-$1500 in labor fees alone just to fix it. WTF!!! Have any of you repaired this yourselves and if so how hard is it to do?

 

its hard, sounds like you've lost your chain once or twice huh..

time to buy a new motor.

 

u gotta split the case or actually tear the motor apart?(question not answer)

 

Yes its a big job to get to that seal, to change that seal properly youll need to split the engine cases....

 

just split them or actually take the motor apart?

 

take the motor apart. (spliting cases is takening motor apart btw)

 

Yes and no depending on the bike, my 01 R6 for example didnt have to be taken completly apart to get to the counter shaft and seal...I was able to lay the motor upside down remove the oil pan and lower case half, and in about 30min I had access to the counter shaft and that seal. The oil pump and chain were a litte hard to get off and back on to allow the lower case to be removed but I got it done...I did this to fix a slipping 2nd gear but it would have been the same for that seal...

So you do have to spilt the cases but depending on how that motor is assembled you might not have to take the "whole" motor apart....

That being said $1500 is alot of money even for that job, but Im sure their charging you at least 4-5 hours labour to drop the motor and put it back in the bike. Bring in just the motor and it should be ALOT cheaper..

 

i've SPLIT THE CASE on a gixxer to replace the clutch rod seal and it wasn't hard/bad at all, but i've never taken a MOTOR APART.

 

its from all them burnouts and belts tearing it up, I would just use some rtv seatler and call it a day......

 

That doesnt work.....Its an oil seal that uses a spring on the inside of the seals lip to keep the seal tight....... not a gasket so RTV sealer aint gonna do **** but make a mess....

 

So would it be doable by some friends and I? We all have experience working on car engines and one of us has done some light bike motor work. I've got the seal and a garage full of tools at my disposal. I think that by doing it myself I'll be able to save time and money as well as gain some valuable knowledge of my bike.

 

Wow, this thread died fast...

 

how much is it leaking?

 

About 5 or 6 drops after each ride. Maybe a little more. The real problem I noticed earlier is that it's getting oil on the very outside edge of my rear tire. It's only a thin film and I seldom ride hard enough to get over to it, but it's still not in any way safe to have on there.

 

just try to do it yourself!
if all else fails, take it to the stealership!

buy a manual for your bike and see if u can do it yourself!!!

 

try JB Weld a possible temporary fix to keep you ridding till you get time to fix it.

 

Alright, we started tearing the bike apart last night. Taking the motor out today.

 

on some bikes people have been able to tear the seal out, and then press the new one in. Only thing that needs removing then is front sprocket.

but the seal needs to come out with violence and force then.

http://www.tlzone.net/forums/help-fo...ng-engine.html

you may need to register to read this link, but it talks about changing the seal to TL suzuki without splitting the engine.

sometimes the seal fails because the bearing is failing, so then you have to slip it anyways.

 

Yeah I talked to them about how much/long it would be if I brought just the motor in and they told me less than 3 hours. So if dropping the motor, changing the seal, then reinstalling it would have been 2-3 weeks with the seal taking less than three hours to change, that would mean it would take them basically 2-3 weeks to do what I did in less than 4 hours.