Your thoughts on transmission problems

[matthew b]

Hey everyone

 

So I have a 2000 v11 sport. I bought it a couple months ago and there seems to be a slight leak from the transmission. It drips on the pipes and smells/burns....Its a pretty slow leak but I am thinking since my clutch feels worn out (24k miles on this thing) How much would it cost to get the clutch replaced and while they already have the tranny out maybe fix the leak at the same time.

 

Is this common for v11 sports from 2000? ANyone else have this happen?

 

Anyone know a repair shop in the Washington DC area or the San Francisco bay area? (I am moving to DC in a few months, currently in san francisco)

 

Please inform

 

Thanks so much! I LOVE THE bIKE!!!

[Guest ratchethack]

Matt, while not common, it has been reported several times that a crack in the gearbox housing can appear after a crash, or (in the case of a friend of mine) from doing wheelies. The crack occurs at the top rear of the gearbox case where the casting lugs are bolted to the spine frame, and lube seeps down the side at the rear of the gearbox (the LHS in the case of my Pal). The crack itself can be nearly impossible to see with the trans in the frame, and results in more of a weep or a seep than a leak.

 

If I were you, before jumping to conclusions (easy enough to do here!) I'd do my best to discover exactly where the source of the oil is, and find out exactly WHAT KIND of oil it is (you have 2 choices -- trans or engine). It can be easy to confuse a trans leak at this point with a cracked breather hose, which is very common at your mileage. A cracked breather hose is a relatively minor thing, but semi-tough to replace. Consider yourself lucky if this is what it is. It will weep ENGINE oil from the top rear of the ENGINE case, typically down the LH side in front of the clutch housing. If you can ID either the oil (engine or trans) or the source exactly, you should have a solid diagnosis. I would use whatever method makes best sense to you (cleaning thoroughly followed by getting it warm enough on the road --not idling whilst stationary! -- to induce the leak, then apply talcum powder if necessary, etc.) to nail down the source. You'll want a strong flashlight or other light source you can get in there to look very closely.

 

The fix for the cracked gearbox case is a new gearbox or case. If this is the problem and you're at all inclined to do the work yourself, I've had my trans out and back in over a weekend, but it's not exactly what most would think of as a trivial operation. Searches on "crabbing the frame" will point you to the method I used.

 

In San Francisco, Munroe Motors, munroemotors.com, has (or did have a few years back) a good rep.

 

In San Jose, it's Moto Italiano, motoitaliano.com, same on the rep.

 

Good luck, my friend. Post back with progress.

[matthew b]

Thank you for the quick reply.... I brought it to munroe and they could not find it. They said its very very slow and not something to worry about or drop $1000+ on until there are other problems. But I am now thinking my clutch is worn out and I should get both replaced at the same time.... The guy who sold it to me of course told me that there were no accidents although I didn't verify on carfax and either way there is a leak.

 

Do you have any idea on costs / labor hours to replace the casing if thats what it is? Is it a good idea / safe to live with this and just add fluid until something happens or will that cause more damage?

 

 

 

 

 

On a side note, How can I be sure that I am not effected by the v11s recall ? http://www.guzzitech.com/V11STrannyRecall.html

 

Can this be done 4 years after the recall or is there a time limit?

 

 

 

 

Matt, while not common, it has been reported several times that a crack in the gearbox housing can appear after a crash, or (in the case of a friend of mine) from doing wheelies. The crack occurs at the top rear of the gearbox case where the casting lugs are bolted to the spine frame, and lube seeps down the side at the rear of the gearbox (the LHS in the case of my Pal). The crack itself can be nearly impossible to see with the trans in the frame, and results in more of a weep or a seep than a leak.

 

If I were you, before jumping to conclusions (easy enough to do here!) I'd do my best to discover exactly where the source of the oil is, and find out exactly WHAT KIND of oil it is (you have 2 choices -- trans or engine). It can be easy to confuse a trans leak at this point with a cracked breather hose, which is very common at your mileage. A cracked breather hose is a relatively minor thing, but tough to replace. It will weep oil from the top rear of the ENGINE case. If you can ID either the oil (engine or trans) or the source exactly, you should have a solid diagnosis. I would use whatever method makes best sense to you (cleaning thoroughly followed by getting it warm enough on the road (not idling whilst stationary!) to induce the leak, then apply talcum powder if necessary, etc.) to nail down the source. You'll be using a strong flashlight or something you can get in there to look carefully.

 

The fix for the cracked gearbox case is a new gearbox or case. If you're at all inclined to do this yourself, I've had my trans out and back in over a weekend, but it's not exactly a trivial operation. Searches on "crabbing the frame" will point you to the method I used.

 

In San Francisco, Munroe Motors, munroemotors.com, has (or did have a few years back) a good rep.

 

In San Jose, it's Moto Italiano, motoitaliano.com, same on the rep.

 

Good luck, my friend. Post back with progress.

[GuzziMoto]

This past summer my wifes V11 had a leak from the front of the gear box. There was a small drain hole for the clutch housing that would drip a little. At first I thought it was from the back of the sump, but after taking the sump off and replacing the gasket I realized it was from the bottom of the clutch bell. I figured it was the rear main seal. I road her bike (doesn't get to happen often, she doesn't share well) and found that the clutch would occasionally slip, further confirming in my mind that it was the rear main seal. I thought it was leaking from the seal and getting on the clutch. Took it to a shop south of Harrisburg Pa (I live on the south side of Baltimore). There is a shop right near me (and you if you your moving to the DC area) but I hope to never take my bikes there again. Nothing personal, just don't like the way they work. The shop in Pa is a wild place. Their main income is from old Porsches, they do Guzzis for fun. They took the bike apart and found the breather hoseabove the clutch was not secured to the spigot (the bike just had the trans recall work done at the other shop, hmmm...) and that was mostif not all the leak. They changed the rear main seal and replaced the clutch friction plates because of the mileage and that I asked them to. They also were very thorough and found some other issues that had been missed.

I hope all this sheds some light on your situation.

Michael

[fotoguzzi]

If it's gear oil from the tranny it will have a distinct smell and should be easy to identify. what are the symptoms that make you think the clutch is gone?

[Guest ratchethack]

Matt, it would be almost unheard of for your dual-plate clutch to be worn out at 24K miles, unless the PO had abused it pretty severely. If Munoe couldn't find a leak (weep or seep included), I wouldn't be inclined to worry about this unless or until it can be found. Any tell-tale evidence that the bike has gone down should be pretty obvious.

 

Since Munroe couldn't ID a source of the leak (weep or seep), I'd be inclined to enjoy every Fall day without rain on the road if I were you. Just keep an eye on it. It's not the kind of thing where a catastrophic failure looms 'round the next bend. . . Sorry, as a dedicated DIY-er, I have no idea on labor costs for any of this kind of work. No telling if it might qualify for warranty work without knowing what the problem is. There's a range of VIN's that were affected by 2000 Sports. I think it's listed somewhere on this Forum. Mine was in this range, and I had the work done "over the counter", doing removal and installation myself, and had an authorized dealer do the "inside the box" work. In your case, if this work was done and you DON'T have a warranty receipt signed off by an authorized dealer, it doesn't mean it hasn't been done. MGNA used to keep an accurate record of warranty work done by VIN, and you could call them for a verification, but they've re-orged themselves a couple of jumps ahead of me since then, and I wouldn't have any idea how to determine this. Maybe Greg and the boys at Moto International could help you with this one.

 

That's all I got, my friend. Good luck (Part II).

[gstallons]

Matt,

Please look around and find a garage or bike shop that uses dye to find oil leaks. Any independent or dealership should be able to help. You will be amazed at how quick this will show up. I use this in my work and it is great. You want to install it in one oil only so you will know what is leaking.

[Baldini]

I dunno if the earlier bikes had same, but from new my 02, & a lot of others I think, had failrly slight gbox oil weep somewhere on lower left side (unsure of source). It would pool on exhaust xover box & burn off. Only occasionally a few spots on floor. I changed to Redline Shockproof Heavy gear oil & no more leak.

 

What are symptoms that suggest clutch is knackered? As GuzziMoto suggests, the two issues could be related.

 

KB

[Greg Field]

Is the drip from the weephole in the bellhousing? If so, it's probably the pushrod seal. That'll dump fluid on your plates and could cause a slip. If this is the problem, fix the pushrod seal, and I can tell you how to clean the plates without disassembling the motorcycle.

[fotoguzzi]

Is the drip from the weephole in the bellhousing? If so, it's probably the pushrod seal. That'll dump fluid on your plates and could cause a slip. If this is the problem, fix the pushrod seal, and I can tell you how to clean the plates without disassembling the motorcycle.

Greg, you mean they haven't fixed that PR seal problem yet? do they still put those crappy plastic cone seals in at the factory? I thought when I finally graduated to a spine frame I'd have left those problems behind. is there an O-ring fix for the 6 speed?

[emason]

Anyone know a repair shop in the Washington DC area or the San Francisco bay area? (I am moving to DC in a few months, currently in san francisco)

 

 

Mathew, in the DC area, there is Speed's Cycle in Elkridge, MD. It's just south of Baltimore.

http://www.speedscycle.com/

[dlaing]

The first step is to find the source of the leak.

cleaning, and riding will usually show you wear the leak is.

A digital camera can go wear your head can't.

Some use baby powder to help reveal the source of the leak.

 

In my case I could not find exactly wear, but I could narrow it down to limited area.

My gearbox leaked along the second seam from the rear.

I had to pull the rear cover to access the allen heads inside the case. I tightened them up, reassembled, using the Permatex that never hardens, and all was good.

Keep the sealing goo thin. There are no gaskets and the tolerances are critical.

I still get a little leaking from two circles on the left side of the case, but it is a very slow leak.

[Greg Field]

The V11b six-speeds have an improved pushrod seal. Still, if tranny juice is getting on the clutch plates, that's what I'd look at first.

[Allan56]

Since I bought my Lemans new in 2002 I had the same problem. Like Baldini, Redline Shockproof heavy stopped the very very slow/minute leak from the rear of the gearbox onto the xover.