Help with leaking forks

[Nordrum]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my right fork started leaking. Searched this forum and other websites to find the quick fix. I cleaned the dust wiper completely and the inside of the fork leg (beneath the dust wiper) on both sides. I have cleaned my forks regularly and it stopped leaking until yesterday.

whenever I compress the forks manually there is oil being pumped out and it starts dripping down the fork leg. The whole bottom part gets covered with a thin layer of oil.

I am aware that fork oil is very thin and therefore it might look like there is a lot of oil coming out. But in this case the oil sets at the bottom of the fork and drips down to the tire and floor.

It does not seem like a huge amount of oil but I am worried that the seals might be blown. Any suggestions to what I should try to fix this?

Is there any special silicone grease or other things I can use to stop the oil leaking out?

The seals have never been changed as I never had any problems with them until now!

thanks for the help in advance:thumbsup:

[djcr]

now would be the time to get them puppys replaced, either have someone do the seals for you or do them yourself. dont keep trying to mask the problem.

[hackman162]

Order up a set of oil seals, dust wipers and both sets of bushings. If they've never been apart on a 5 year old bike, it's all due.

[willbilly]

Sometimes small partilces of dirt or sand can work their way into the seal and cause a leak. Before you replace them try taking a piece of 35mm photo film or air conditioning foil tape (sticky side away from fork slider) and slide it around the seal. This will often pick up any dirt and stop the leak. A tool called the "seal mate" or "seal buddy" is made specifically for this task. The foil tape has saved me a few times. Good luck.

[Nordrum]

Sometimes small partilces of dirt or sand can work their way into the seal and cause a leak. Before you replace them try taking a piece of 35mm photo film or air conditioning foil tape (sticky side away from fork slider) and slide it around the seal. This will often pick up any dirt and stop the leak. A tool called the "seal mate" or "seal buddy" is made specifically for this task. The foil tape has saved me a few times. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips, but I have already tried this several times with no luck.

Which kit should I go for below? :

or

?

I was told it is enough to just switch the fork seal (oil seal). I have those so I could do that. I have all the tools needed except for the fork seal driver. It costs $100 here and that is BULLSHAT!! ? Any other suggestions to what tools I can use or if I can make anything out of PVC pipes? All suggestions are appreciated

[hackman162]

I prefer OEM parts versus aftermarket. For your forks, you will want to replace both bushings, and oil/dust seals. OEM Honda is good stuff, and may be cheaper than the aftermarket stuff. You can make a seal driver out of the correctly sized PVC, split in half length-wise, and held together with a hose clamp.

[Feral Donkey]

The 43mm KYB forks I rebuilt this spring are leaking like the Titanic. The only thing I can think of was I but the seal in upside down. Is that possible? If it is possible, what end do I feed into the leg, the skirt or the narrower solid end? I'm going to start tearing things down tomorrow after work.

[hackman162]

It is possible to put the seals in upside down. It would have leaked right away though, I would think. The spring side of the seal should go towards the inside (oil side) of the fork.

[Feral Donkey]

That makes sense because I hardly rode it at all and most of that was on pavement. It was leaking a little but I thought that was residual stuff from assembly. Then I took it on some serious off road last week and it gushed.

[Feral Donkey]

It is possible to put the seals in upside down. It would have leaked right away though, I would think. The spring side of the seal should go towards the inside (oil side) of the fork.

Not only is it possible but it's what I did. ? I just took the forks apart and saw. The former owner had it leaking like crazy. I just copied what was there when I put it back together so I'm not the only one with half a brain. It makes sense now, the way it was if you put oil pressure against the seal it'll fold the sidewall in and let oil past like a reed valve. So the flared, skirt end goes in the hole first and not the narrow end.

[SuperChief]

Thanks for the tips, but I have already tried this several times with no luck.

Which kit should I go for below? :

or

?

I was told it is enough to just switch the fork seal (oil seal). I have those so I could do that. I have all the tools needed except for the fork seal driver. It costs $100 here and that is BULLSHAT!! ? Any other suggestions to what tools I can use or if I can make anything out of PVC pipes? All suggestions are appreciated

I used a kit from rocky mountain ATV with great results and took less than a couple of hours to do total, but I did the whole fork. I did not end up using all the bushings, just the bigger ones. Smaller ones had little to no wear. As far as the fork seal driver I cut my old seal with a dremel and put that around the lower fork tube and used that as the driver. Works great and when your done you throw the old seal away. Not a hard job by any means. Most of the sub forums here have great stickys on fork seal replacements. Good luck

[Greta Fauchi]

For a "seal driver" i used electrical tape. Wrapped it around the inner shaft between the seal and wiper, built it up so it was big enough around and hammered the seal home much the same way they came apart. Took the tape off and used a rubber mallet and tapped around the wiper to seat it. I was WAY nervous to do seals and bushings, but it wasn't hard at all. If you can clean a carb, you can service a fork.

(P.S. I used a pivot works kit this spring and still dry as a bone.)

Edited August 20, 2011 by Jethrobolas
I wanted to.

[Greta Fauchi]

Btw, I researched on utube a bit before i did it.

[DBMX 925]

I rebuilt my forks with a Pivot Works kit. Its all there in one package and was happy with the results, once I put the seals back in right side up. About 30 hrs on them now with 0 issues. Just take your time, follow the manual, real easy to do. As for seals leaking again and again, you need a total rebuild bushings, collars, o rings and seals. If there is just a little wear on things they will leak, trust me on this one. That kit was 80 bucks well spent. Use the old seals to make a driver. I'm sure I saw that somewhere, Do a search it was a great idea, I can't remember where I saw it though. The Tusk driver works great wasn't that expensive. Or get them rebuilt by a competent shop. By the time you buy all the tools it may be a wash on cost.

[Nordrum]

Thanks for all the replies. Got all the parts now and the tool from a friend so this weekend I will change them on both sides!

Thanks again for the help!