2014 Thunderbird Oil Leak

[texas123]

I recently picked up a 2014 Tbird LT. I noticed a small oil leak and a little oil staining on the rear whitewall tire. Anyway, it was discounted accordingly and I grabbed it up. Bike runs perfect, but it leaks about 1 teaspoon of oil onto the floor after a 80 mile test run (I'm assuming a little oil while riding as well). I ripped into the right side belt cover & removed the fuel tank, but it was really hard to tell the source since there's a thin coating of oil from the throttle bodies to the front belt pulley. There was a drop hanging from the key holder. It's definatley not the valve cover gasket, even though a little film of oil is on the throttle tubes. There was about 1-2 teaspoons of oil behind the belt pulley and I could see an oil drop below the key, falling onto the crankcase. I thoroughly cleaned the bike, ran it around the neighborhood at 35 mph, but still can't locate the source of the oil. Any advise would be great.

 

[sikatri]

In cars I’ve put in fluorescent die in with the oil. I ‘m not sure if it would harm anything on a motorcycle, but might be worth trying.

 

[texas123]

In cars I’ve put in fluorescent die in with the oil. I ‘m not sure if it would harm anything on a motorcycle, but might be worth trying.

I was hoping it was a PCV hose or something common. I'll try the dye kit, but I don't think it's a leak from the engine casing since there's oil on the intake manifold.

 

[dazco]

Could it be the crankcase breather ? Maybe where it connects to the airbox?

 

[JBURNS659]

I recently picked up a 2014 Tbird LT. I noticed a small oil leak and a little oil staining on the rear whitewall tire. Anyway, it was discounted accordingly and I grabbed it up. Bike runs perfect, but it leaks about 1 teaspoon of oil onto the floor after a 80 mile test run (I'm assuming a little oil while riding as well). I ripped into the right side belt cover & removed the fuel tank, but it was really hard to tell the source since there's a thin coating of oil from the throttle bodies to the front belt pulley. There was a drop hanging from the key holder. It's definatley not the valve cover gasket, even though a little film of oil is on the throttle tubes. There was about 1-2 teaspoons of oil behind the belt pulley and I could see an oil drop below the key, falling onto the crankcase. I thoroughly cleaned the bike, ran it around the neighborhood at 35 mph, but still can't locate the source of the oil. Any advise would be great.

got rid of my 2012 street glide bought a 2015 thunderbird lts 2 weeks ago but same issue oil spots , random can go a day or 2 with nothing or a few teaspoons worth , seems to be moisture around filter. did u solve your issue

 

[emil.skowron]

Hi guys, I have Thunderbird Storm 1700 and noticed oil leaking on the front of engine trough little holes (I think) marked on the pictures below. Any ideas what those holes are for? it's scary to think it might be the head gasket ...

 

[SparkyMan]

I see this thread isn’t new, but thought I’d chime in on how I find the source of an oil leak.
Clean ALL oil off using a degreaser such as Simple Green.
Allow bike to completely dry.
Take it out for a 20 minute ride.
Using a strong flashlight carefully look for any oil. If none found, ride for 40 minutes and recheck.
The idea is to get the leak to start up but not splatter oil about, which obfuscates the source.
[I’ve always met with success when doing the above, so haven’t done the following suggestion, but the below completes the process as told to me.]
If still no oil is found, lightly dust suspect areas with talc, baby powder, cornstarch, or the like, then gently blow it off. If you got the powder on the leak you will know right where it is when you see powder that doesn’t blow off.
Hope this helps!
-Sparky

 

[CarlS]

I see this thread isn’t new, but thought I’d chime in on how I find the source of an oil leak.
Clean ALL oil off using a degreaser such as Simple Green.
Allow bike to completely dry.
Take it out for a 20 minute ride.
Using a strong flashlight carefully look for any oil. If none found, ride for 40 minutes and recheck.
The idea is to get the leak to start up but not splatter oil about, which obfuscates the source.
[I’ve always met with success when doing the above, so haven’t done the following suggestion, but the below completes the process as told to me.]
If still no oil is found, lightly dust suspect areas with talc, baby powder, cornstarch, or the like, then gently blow it off. If you got the powder on the leak you will know right where it is when you see powder that doesn’t blow off.
Hope this helps!
-Sparky

Good, helpful information.