Oil from countershaft....I think

[Dumb_Fee]

Went to wash my bike after a race last weekend and noticed oil on the countershaft sproket.  Figured the countershaft seal was leaking again (did ~100 hours ago).  Took off the sprocket, drained the oil and refilled it.  Turned bike on its side and nothing.  Checked for play in the countershaft itself and it has no up and down play but a miniscule amount of lateral play.  I didn't know if this was normal so I took the countershaft sprocket off of my other 300 and it also has a little bit of lateral play in the countershaft as well (a little less than my race bike, but some play nonetheless).  Soooooo...what can it be?  Where is the oil most likely coming from?  Is it gonna be one of those things that I'll have to ride the bike to see if it does it again?

 

 

Opinions please 

[KTM370]

The minor lateral play in the countershaft is normal. It doesn't seem unreasonable that the counter shaft would leak again after 100 hours of riding, that's quite a lot. I would probably just replace the oring and seal again considering how cheap they are. It may just need to be cleaned in there.

[Shhhh]

+1, I had a leak on my 03, cleaned it thoroughly and the leak stopped.

[Alfonzo]

You can get an Enduro Engineering repair kit that includes the seal, o-ring and collar for $17.  It's a simple fix.

[Dumb_Fee]

That's what I did to the bike at 200 hours. Looked at it this morning and I see a little oil weeping from the o-ring so at least it's a slow leak. Looks like it's time to do it again. The thing that worried me this tine about it was the motor has about 15 hours on it fresh off of a top and bottom end rebuild and I was worried something was jacked up. From what I remember doing the seal was easy and the hardest part was getting the snap ring from the countershaft sproket on and off

[Mike in Fresno]

I always clean my seal and buff the spacers in the KTM systems first and then if it still leaks do the seal. I replace the o-ring just cuz Im in there to clean it as its a pain if it turns out it was the o-ring and have to do it again.

[BenIsRipin]

Im going through the same thing but ya i getting the parts soon

[ktmrider125sx]

Had a problem with my bike like that, ended up the seal on the shifter went

[ddpemberton]

The minor lateral play in the countershaft is normal. It doesn't seem unreasonable that the counter shaft would leak again after 100 hours of riding, that's quite a lot. I would probably just replace the oring and seal again considering how cheap they are. It may just need to be cleaned in there.

 

Went to wash my bike after a race last weekend and noticed oil on the countershaft sproket.  Figured the countershaft seal was leaking again (did ~100 hours ago).  Took off the sprocket, drained the oil and refilled it.  Turned bike on its side and nothing.  Checked for play in the countershaft itself and it has no up and down play but a miniscule amount of lateral play.  I didn't know if this was normal so I took the countershaft sprocket off of my other 300 and it also has a little bit of lateral play in the countershaft as well (a little less than my race bike, but some play nonetheless).  Soooooo...what can it be?  Where is the oil most likely coming from?  Is it gonna be one of those things that I'll have to ride the bike to see if it does it again?

 

 

Opinions please 

I went through the same thing, and I think I just fixed it last night! My first swap was with a Tusk I think, and it actually made it worse. The kit didn't come with a new snap ring. I just replaced with the all balls kit, and whabam! presto fixo. The All Balls kit came with two O-rings (thick option and thin option) with a note that said some people have better results with the bigger o-ring. It also came with a thicker than stock snap ring. I used the thick o-ring and the new snap ring, and there it was. It was really tough to get the snap ring on. It took some force, but it's keeping a good seal now. I would recommend it. It's $20 and an hour to weed out the seal as an option. The old snap ring was really thin, and so was the o-ring. There was no play, but I really think that was it. 

 

(2010 KTM 250XC)

[Ridinthemtrails]

Just recently did a seal/oring change on my sx125 and my word of advice is grease.that sucker up...the outer seal where it contacts the case and the inner part of the seal and oring...the grease helps with sealing it better and puffs up the oring a tiny bit. If there is any play while trying move the cs sprocket back and forth put a washer between the bushing/spacer piece and the sprocket

[BenIsRipin]

Removing the seal was a pain you need to brute force it a little because you cant get anything in there but a screwdriver.

[Ridinthemtrails]

Removing the seal was a pain you need to brute force it a little because you cant get anything in there but a screwdriver.

If you take a real small drill bit and an drill you can make a hole in the metal large enough to handthread a drywall screw into.(note dont go to far with the threading or you may damage the spacer/shim that sits in there behind the seal). Next use a pair of pliers to yank that sucker out with the screw.(so much easier than trying to dig it out with a screwdriver

[BenIsRipin]

It still &%$#@!ing leaks. I replaced the parts but still. So i am just going to squeeze some silicone in between it sprocket and spacer

[Ridinthemtrails]

If you havent tried that shim id try that first. The silicon might deteriorate due to the friction of the cs spinning or the oil up against it. If all the parts are new and greased and the cs sprocket has no play it will NOT leak. You want it to be tighter than a virgin on prom night (ronnie mac)

[Mike in Fresno]

read the FAQ questions and it has most of the issues and fixes there

[GlennR]

I recently replaced mine.  To remove the old seal I removed the spacer and then was able to slip a 10mm or 12mm open end wench in the space and just pry the seal gently out, sort of like a can opener. 

 

I'd read about drilling and using a screw, but didn't really like the idea of metal shavings there.

 

Be careful when driving the new seal in, because it can be tapped in too far since there isn't a lip on the back side to prevent it.  I used a large socket that wasn't slightly larger in O.D. and realized I'd "almost" screwed up.

[BenIsRipin]

if the new seals dont wort some silicone will between the sprocket and the spacer

[KTM370]

I recently replaced mine.  To remove the old seal I removed the spacer and then was able to slip a 10mm or 12mm open end wench in the space and just pry the seal gently out, sort of like a can opener. 

 

I'd read about drilling and using a screw, but didn't really like the idea of metal shavings there.

 

Be careful when driving the new seal in, because it can be tapped in too far since there isn't a lip on the back side to prevent it.  I used a large socket that wasn't slightly larger in O.D. and realized I'd "almost" screwed up.

 

An easy way to avoid driving it in too far is to use the sprocket so that it will stop when its flush. 

 

And to the OP. I should have mentioned this but you should replace the clip that holds the sprocket on as well. That's what puts pressure on the sprocket to seal it and if its worn it won't put enough pressure on it. 

Edited June 11, 2014 by KTM370