Author Topic: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT  (Read 1093 times)

Offline Kevin1100

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Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« on: May 07, 2026, 04:02:48 AM »
This is the first bike I have (and have worked on). I have quite a bit of experience working on old cars but on this bike I'm still trying to find out what is what exactly. When taking the rear wheel off I noticed the wheel bolts were wet with fresh oil (I have replaced the final drive oil recently). At that point I wasn't sure if that was a problem or maybe that's normal on these bikes, but then I found a lot of greasy old oil on the brake disc as well. I have added a picture on which you can see black sooty grease behind the ABS ring and also in the brake disc vent holes. It's no big leak because there's no dripping or anything but an oily brake disc is not something I see as a wortwhile mod to this bike. I've been looking online a bit but can't find exactly what my problem might be. It's probably just a seal behind the brake disc but I was wondering if you all might be able to give me some pointers in the right direction, for example what the name of the seal would be. The PO kindly gave me his BMW service manual too which I have found helpful up until this point. It's great if you know what you are looking for, less great if you are grasping.

Thanks in advance!
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Offline Scott_

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Offline Laitch

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Offline Kevin1100

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Re: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2026, 09:57:42 AM »
That's awesome guys, thanks both. Looks to be a pretty simple job, or am I mistaken? From what I can gather it's a question of removing the brake disc and the crown wheel housing cover and it'd be the first thing I see. The manual says to heat the housing cover to 100 degrees C, is that really necessary? And is this job doable while keeping the bearings in place or would I need new bearings as well? They seem quite costly and mine are in good order still as far as I can tell.
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Offline Laitch

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Re: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2026, 10:31:52 AM »
The manual says to heat the housing cover to 100 degrees C, is that really necessary?
Somebody else might be able to put that manual to good use if you don't intend to believe it. Post it for sale for at no cost to anybody who is interested in it on eBay.nl. Consider that as your good deed for this month. :laughing4-giggles:
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Offline Kevin1100

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Re: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2026, 10:55:05 AM »
Haha that's fair, it's actually a pdf copy I'm more than happy to share with anybody who would like one too. I will rephrase my question. I have never seen the need to heat components on the cars I've worked on in the past. Since from the diagram it seems that it's parts bolted together, what does the heating do?
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Offline Laitch

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Re: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2026, 12:04:01 PM »
Just follow the instructions. Some components in both autos and motos are heated either to release, or fit, by expansion. Bricks are no exception. Also, in Bricks BMW occasionally used a type of Loctite on some fasteners that must be heated so the fastener can be unscrewed. Ignore all this and you'll likely be spending more time than usual with screw extractors, drills and torches.

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Offline Ingo

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Re: Leaky seal on rear drive? K1100LT
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2026, 03:19:35 PM »
I've never had that particular area apart, but nonetheless follow the manual.  There are plenty of parts that need heat and/or freezing for removal/install. For example steering bearings, certain housing covers like on the old boxer's gear box... This also applies to cars...
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