Changing Water pump seal and oil seal - any advice?

[Jovesil]

Hello:

I am gathering info on How to change the oil seal behind the water pump? I have a 2011 RTS with 18000 miles and I am the 2nd owner. This spring I decide to change the oil and filter, but I find there is oil all over the right side bottom panel. I trace back to the a wiping hole behind the water pump. This indicate the water pump oil seal is damage and suggested to replace the water pump seal and the oil seal.



Reading the shop manual it said to remove: the clutch cover and the clutch housing in order to get to the back of the water pump. Once that is done, this will gave me access to the water pump seal and oil.









Does anybody had try to do this and there is any advise on how to tear this down? I have purchased the water seal, oil seal and the clutch housing gasket. I am a bit enthusiastic in complete this job my self. I would like to gather more info before I am crossing a point of no return.




Thanks.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hello:

I am gathering info on How to change the oil seal behind the water pump? I have a 2011 RTS with 18000 miles and I am the 2nd owner. This spring I decide to change the oil and filter, but I find there is oil all over the right side bottom panel. I trace back to the a wiping hole behind the water pump. This indicate the water pump oil seal is damage and suggested to replace the water pump seal and the oil seal.

View attachment 189452

Reading the shop manual it said to remove: the clutch cover and the clutch housing in order to get to the back of the water pump. Once that is done, this will gave me access to the water pump seal and oil.

View attachment 189454

View attachment 189455





Does anybody had try to do this and there is any advise on how to tear this down? I have purchased the water seal, oil seal and the clutch housing gasket. I am a bit enthusiastic in complete this job my self. I would like to gather more info before I am crossing a point of no return.




Thanks.

I recall reading about this " hole " .... however it didn't have anything to do with the "seal " ..... " suggested to change the water pump seal " .... WHO suggested this ???? .... I would PM " Billy Bovine " a member on this site ..... good luck ..... Mike :thumbup .... also :welcome:

 

[CopperSpyder]

I have not done that before but I would make sure it's that before I change it. If you did not see coolant in your oil and your not seeing oil in your coolant tank it may not be the problem. Parts Diagram "click: https://www.cheapcycleparts.com/oemparts/a/cam/500b5db7f8700228ecf59ddd/clutch-cover-and-water-pump

 

[Freddy]

http://www.spyderryders.net.au/forum/index.php?topic=251


:gaah: For those ignorant, the purpose of the drain hole is to prevent precisely this : coolant in your oil and/or oil in your coolant


The tool I show in that link is what I had on hand to hold the diaphragm. Other types of tool will do the same job, but that diaphragm must not be twisted.

 

[Jovesil]

Freddy:

Thanks for the explanation, Do you have an idea, why oil is scaping out this hole. In my last oil change I am only collected 1 1/2 quarts and the right bottom tray has a small quantity.

 

[billybovine]

Freddy is exactly correct. The bled hole purpose is to show that one of the seals is leaking.

When my 2013 STL was done it was done under warranty by the dealer. They had never done one before. Got warranty approval to proceed and ordered the seals. The dealer told me BRP stepped in and changed the parts order to an assembly instead of just the seals. Also I believe there was a TSB issued about this because many failed again after being fixed by the dealer. Sorry don't have a copy of the TSB. May also check on the Aprilia forms. Same issue, same basic engine.

 

[Jovesil]

BillBovine:
The water pump seal is an assembly: the shaft and the seal P/N 420220414. I also order the oil seal and the clutch housing seal.

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Jovesil - Let's see if we can answer some of your questions.

Why is oil leaking out of the hole? Check out all of those pictures in your shop manual that show the gear train area and the clutch housing. The shaft that drives the water pump passes through the clutch housing. The drive gear is in the gear train area of the engine behind the clutch housing. All of that area is lubricated with oil. Thus, that requires an oil seal to seal the shaft as it exits that area. At the other end, the shaft extends into the water pump housing where the impeller is attached. That area requires a coolant seal.

Rotax put a void space in the housing in between the two seals in order to detect if one of them is leaking. Whichever fluid is coming out of the hole indicates the leaking seal.

My experience was that my water seal started leaking about 3 months after delivery in 2012. It leaked about a drop every 5 minutes with the engine running. Clearly a mess. It was replaced under warranty. Fast forward 7 years. Parked it after returning from out west and there appears a couple drops of oil on the floor under the front end after sitting a day or two. Like you, found a stained area trailing from the hole, but really had no idea how bad it was leaking.

Trying to make a long story short - Thoroughly cleaned everything with Gunk degreaser including flushing out the hole. Engine was as clean as when it came out of the crate. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Glad I waited. I see that you already have your water pump apart, but the leak rate may have been useful information for making a decision.

Now about 1 1/2 quarts. When you do your oil change, you need to drain oil from both the black oil tank and the engine sump plug. It's all in your manual, as well as how to change your filters. If you only got a grand total of 1 1/2 quarts from both the tank and the engine sump, then you need to check your oil level a lot more often, since you were almost 3 quarts low. That is not related to the leak. The 998 engine will use oil faster than most people think. You want to be checking it every 500 miles when the oil is hot. Again, its all in your manual.

Additionally, changing the oil will cause oil to flow all under the frame and make a general mess. Don't confuse all of this residue with an oil leak. It can even show up days later. Again, a thorough general cleaning is required after an oil change.

Good luck with it.

 

[CopperSpyder]

http://www.spyderryders.net.au/forum/index.php?topic=251


:gaah: For those ignorant, the purpose of the drain hole is to prevent precisely this : coolant in your oil and/or oil in your coolant


The tool I show in that link is what I had on hand to hold the diaphragm. Other types of tool will do the same job, but that diaphragm must not be twisted.

Freddy It's not ignorant to suggest that someone make sure that what they are about to do is in fact what they have to do to fix a problem. As I clearly stated I had never done the job before and I provided a link to s drawing of the pump. I knew full well that others with more knowledge than myself would also reply to this post once they saw it. So my post just keep it going for a bit while waiting. I'm glad you at least tried to share some knowledge, the way you did it shows something in your character.

 

[Freddy]

Freddy:

Thanks for the explanation, Do you have an idea, why oil is scaping out this hole. In my last oil change I am only collected 1 1/2 quarts and the right bottom tray has a small quantity.

Simply because the oil seal is leaking. The non-genuine one I fitted seemed to be better quality than the one removed. As I recall, I used the utmost care in removing the water seal unit, which was not leaking (and still isn't after refitting it) to access the oil seal behind it. It was unavailable at the time.

:cheers:

 

[Jovesil]

To you all:

I am Thanks to all of you for you comments. In my experience as technician in a different field. I learn to ask around for advices, but like in any other circumstances there is always some comments more positive than negative. I like to collect this positive nugget of knowledge and flows away the rest.

Sincerely

John.

 

[Freddy]

A pity some of us are not as wise as you, John. :cheers: