xt600e strange oil leak ?? hose
 

hi troops my 2002 xt600e 4pt has suddenly started firing oil out off the oil tank frame overflow /breather pipe .! it exits down behind the starter motor /sproket area but was going on my chain and back tyre!,i split the pipe to watch and it seems to happen worse when i switch off and its at rest on the side stand .iv drained the oil and filter and refilled with 2.8l its not overfilled? the air box filter just has an slight mist of oil but its dry so the engine breather seems ok any ideas or comments gladly accepted ,typical its happends at start of summer i enclose hopefully 3 pics its the left hand pipe next to the dipstick.filler does this just vent to air ,thanks john central scotland ,bike runs braw apart from this

p.s just relalised my mistake in cutting the hose !! duh i thot it went to air /drain behind the sprocket area i now see it goes back into the top of the gearbox crankcase DUUHH !have reattatched with hose connectors jubilee clips etc so it drains back to engine .any usual suspect places the oil would be coming from. at the front sprocket area or behind the starter and dripping down? is the starter easy to remove? T.I.A

hi
to make things clear, that small diameter hose (cut one) is for letting the extra oil from the tank down to the crankcase.
breather hose is just next to it, with bigger diameter, going to airbox.
if there's some leak, it could be from both of them; sometimes steel clips damage the rubber after the time and heat.
and on the opposite side of starter motor there's one more oil pipe (with pressure), going up in the to the tank. but this pipe is more secure and seems ok.

anyways, to inspect what's going on in that most hard-to-access area, starter motor indeed needs to go out.
for this you'll need to remove exhaust headers as well as small pipe going from the oil filter cavity.
you also might need to remove the small cover from the opposite side (where reduction gears are) to push the starter from that side.

If you can't identify where the oil leak is coming from, you can degrease the engine, gearbox, & frame oil tank & allow to dry, then run the engine checking closely unit the leak appears, to identify the source.
This could save you a lot of unnecessary dismantling e.g. it could be just the gearbox output shaft seal ?
Besides, it will need cleaning anyway.

Bob

oil cont
 

THANKS BOB , will have to replace front sprocket anyways , noticed its hooked so will get this off tonight hopefully, then run up the bike and watch CLOSELY! can the main outside drive seal be replaced from the outside /in situ ? or is it an engine split .i can remeber fitting outside seals to 2-strokes in the late 70,s from the outside ,cheers

if it's about the seal of the output shaft, it's possible to replace it from the outside.
old seal must be drilled (maybe 2mm drill) in order to make it possible to screw there at least two wood screws.
consider the depth before the bearing behind (new seal will give the idea) and maybe some kind of length limiter on drill for the safety.
that's how you could remove old one.
don't forget to have shaft clean and lubed, same for the new seal.