Oh No! After the extreme cold weather my V Star 650 is pretending to be a Harley Davidson again! (Its just a joke people jeez, bikers are so sensitive. I know HD’s quality is not anywhere near as bad as the AMF days anymore)
Sooner or later if you have a xsv650 variant you will get this annoying leak by the kickstand. Not to fear this is a very easy fix that even the most non-mechanically inclined can fix. For me this problem seems to happen most often in the cold of winter, I think it is due to the plastic switch being set into the aluminum engine and the different materials expanding at different rates, or it could just be the cold O ring not sealing as good. Who knows, but eventually all bikes seem to get this leak.
- Pull the fake Transmission cover off. There are only 4 bolts holding it on, they will be the ones with the washer and rubber behind it. The other bolts on the Classic cover are fake and for show only, they don’t go to anything. Your guess is as good as mine why they put fake screws on there, maybe its supposed to make the cover look cool and less like a fake tranny or as we would say “lipstick on a pig.”
- Remove the crescent moon shaped cover, just 2 bolts here.
- Check your stator wires grommet for leaks. Another leak can happen from here that is much more difficult to fix. These look good and seem to be holding since the Stator Replacement.
- As you can see my leak this time is from the plastic neutral switch. 9 times out of 10 this will be the source of your oil leak from the kickstand area.
- Use some degreaser first to clean up the mess as best you can. This will make it easier to check for new leaks after you repair it.
- First loosen the small phillips screw holding the wire clip on. See previous picture.
- Next remove the 3 torx screws and pull the plastic switch out. You will need a T20 screwdriver for this.
- You can see a small amount of oil dribbles out, not much. A rag or paper towel is all you need to catch any spillage, you do not need to drain the oil.
- These are the two parts you need. The plastic neutral switch 1L9-82540-00 and O ring 93210-29196
- Make sure you put the new Switch back in the correct position. The most difficult part of this whole procedure is getting the first one of those screws to thread in while being in an awkward position better suited for a Chinese Acrobat.
- Replace the covers and you are finished! See that wasn’t so hard.
Alternative Fixes:
If the plastic on your Neutral Switch is not cracked near the screw holes you can clean it up and reuse it. You can also take the O ring to NAPA or another car parts store with a good O ring selection and find one of the same size to save money. I prefer to just buy a new one from Yamaha because they aren’t that much.
Others have told me that cleaning up the engine with degreaser, tightening the Torx bolts and coating all the edges of the switch with RTV sealer will work also without having to replace anything.
Oh WOW! That’s alot of work to do on the Yamaha bike.
I just bought a 2000 V Star 650. It was dented and rough, but running fine. Rode it a few times in the cold clear January and noticed the oil leak. I was worried that I’d overlooked a major issue when I bought the bike. My friends told me just to “take it to the dealer.” I did research instead, found your blog and fixed the whole thing myself for about $10. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience online!
THANKS! this is xactly what I needed… keep it up!
Great Post! Had persistant leak near the kickstand when the bike sat for a few days. Thought it was the oil strainer cover or gasket. Ugh!
The only thing I did differently is to put the bike upright in a front wheel chock, and loosened the front kickstand bolt and removed the rear kickstand bolt and let the kickstand swing down to get a little more room. No more leaks.
Thanks for the pictures and the post. Solved my mystery leak.
Followed your instructions – thanks! didn’t realise thats where the oil leak was coming from, my plastic bit was snapped off on one edge and cracked on the other two, I’ve owned the bike from new (1999) and never visited this bit, it cost me £14 (less than $20). Excellent fix.
I just did the switch and I had to finally give up on the third freaking torx bolt (the one in front). I hope that two hold.
Lee
Hey awesome tutorial! Thanks a million.
One thing to notice. I’m not sure if it’s the Canadian bikes but my 2004 has T-25 screws as opposed to T-20… who knows.
e.
Thanks for the info I will be doing my switch here pretty soon. I have a question as to where you go the temperature gauge oil fill cap from? we don’s have a lot of heat issues in the Northwest but I can travel to the hot spots we do have in eastern side of the state.
Temp gauge comes from Shane @SS Custom Cycle. Kind of spendy but I was ordering a bunch of stuff from him after our close encounter with a Ford Excursion and insurance was paying for everything so why not. It measures the air temp in the crankcase not really the oil, but does give you a good heads up should the temp change beyond its normal range.
Thanks a million.
My wife has an 05 v star 650 custom. I fixed the oil leak by replacing the nuetral swith and o ring. No more leak. But now the nuetral light won’t come on. The switch is in the right position. Any suggestions? Thanks
If you are sure the switch is in the right position you need to determine if the switch is grounding in neutral. Get a multimeter and check for ohms or continuity, touch one probe to the wire connection part of the switch and the other probe anywhere else on the bike with bare metal. If you get a beep or non 0 reading the switch is working and the problem is elsewhere, if not you need to figure out why it isn’t contacting.
If the switch isn’t working then for some reason the brass bit that goes through the plastic isnt contacting the shift position indicator that you can see in one of the pics above with the switch removed. Either the switch is not put in the correct position or the brass bit is not extended far enough through to make contact. You may be able to push it in or screw it in slightly till it makes contact if that is the case.
If the switch is fine then its something with the wiring, unhook the wire and touch it to the engine, the light should come on regardless of what gear you are in. If that works the wire is fine and just not getting a good connection to the switch, clean up both sides of the connection and try again. If touching the wire to the engine does not make the light come on then you have a short somewhere and thats beyond the scope of a simple comment.
I have 06 vstar 650 custom..I bought the biki not running n no spark. I check the ignition ciol n it was goog on both of them, but I notice my safety switch on right handle bar wen turn on I cant hear the pump turning on. Im goin to take out the tank n test tbe fuel pump n c if it works n do u think if the switch is faulty my bike wont get spark? Tnks in advance.
If the bike is in Neutral and all safety switches working the starter should turn the engine. If any of those switches are bad (kickstand switch, Neutral switch, handlebar kill switch) nothing will happen when you hit the button.
If the engine is turning but you are not getting spark check the pickup coil: http://ziariderblog.com/2010/10/v-star-650-pickup-coil-and-stator-replacement/ The pickup coil connection is under the gas tank it should read 182 to 222 ohms.
Hope this helps you get it running.
I sure wish I had seen your post earlier. I had a broken neutral switch that worked but leaked oil. I tore my hair finding the leak.
How important is the TPS sensor specs? Mine seem out of the books tolerance but the TPS is a rather expensive part at Yamaha dealer. The bike seems to run fine and I am reluctant to “fix what isn’t really broken”.
If the bike runs fine at idle and under throttle then I wouldn’t worry about it. The TPS on these bikes is very simplistic and basically acts as an on/off switch for idle timing and throttle timing. There are no advanced curves or anything.
Thanks for the info. I just bought a 2002 650 v star with a small oil leak after it warms up. I think it maybe what you are talking about going to check it out tomorrow. Will let you know what I find. Thanks again
I was able to look at the bike and it was neutral switch. Thank you so much. You were a great help in posting this. I thought I’d bought a bad bike. Your post help me to realize it’s the great bike I know it can be. Thanks again
I just wanted to say thank you for posting this. This was sooooo much helpful and yes, it wasn’t so hard to fix it! My only mistake was that the Hex I got from Home Depot first (http://www.homedepot.ca/product/dewalt-locking-hex-key-mm/953807) was not long enough to work with (I thought it was good deal!). So I had to run for the second leg for Home Depot. Anyways, my 2001 Vstar 650 classic is good to go. Thanks again!
so my 650 (03) developed a leak but now wont even start.. head light doesnt come on or anything
Have you checked the battery or fuses?
My plastic switch was broken in 2 spots so there was definitely an oil leak coming from that but the grommet where the wires are has oil around it to. Have you ever fixed that leak?
Fixing the leak at the stator wires grommet is a huge pain. Each wire goes through a hole in the rubber and it could be leaking from any or all of them and you pretty much need to seal around each wire. There isn’t enough space to see what you are doing.
First clean everything off with some degreaser and let it dry out. Then I squeezed a blob of high temp RTV in there and used a toothpick to try and get the stuff around the base of all the wires. Let it cure over night and go for a long ride or just watch it for more oil weeping. I had to reapply RTV several more times where I didn’t get a good seal and I noticed more oil after a few days of riding, the leak was smaller each time and took a month or two to finally get it sealed. My RTV patch held for 2 years with no leaks until my pickup coil failed. When I replaced that I really sealed the wires good so I would not get a leak there again: http://ziariderblog.com/2010/10/v-star-650-pickup-coil-and-stator-replacement/
Man, I’m from Brasil. This article is insane, great photos.
But something is killing me. What the f… Is that hole right under the neutral switch? I have checked other bike photo and there was a screw (M10 maybe). But in your pictures there is nothing. Só I continue with this doubt.
The hole can be a drain?
Hi Rodrigo, That hole is used during shipping the bikes from Japan. They are bolted to the shipping crates. Not used for anything else.
Mechanic said my oil leak was common for my bike and a $300-$400 fix or I could just learn to live with it. I read your post and thought it couldn’t hurt to look. Found exactly what you said. $30 fix. Greatly appreciate your post. Thanks
Glad I could help Marc.
I have a 05 v star 650 custom. I fixed the oil leak by replacing the nuetral swith and o ring. No more leak. But now the nuetral light won’t come on. The switch is in the right position. also when I put the kick stand down when running it kills the engine, any thoughts???
That can happen when the switch is not in the right orientation. Other than that I would check that the metal contact inside the switch is down all the way and has not been pulled up somehow.
Thank you for this post! This was exactly what was wrong with my bike. Unfortunately while fixing it, I ripped that grey paper-like material (possibly a gasket) at one end. Do you know if that’s a problem? Thanks
The gasket sticks out in one area, I’ve broken it off right there twice. Don’t worry about it, the part outside is not actually sealing anything. There is also a big hole in the cover underneath near the shift shaft, that whole area is open to the air and there is no fluids behind it. If you look at my stator replacement writeup there is a picture with the cover off where you can see the open area below the shift shaft a little clearer, no oil in that area. http://ziariderblog.com/2010/10/v-star-650-pickup-coil-and-stator-replacement/
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FYI, you do not have to buy this switch & o-ring from your Yamaha Stealer.
http://www.RPMracingCa.com has them in stock. They have them including the o-ring cheaper than I could find just the switch. One more thing. I live in NC, I ordered it on Monday and had it in my hands from California on Wednesday.
http://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1L9-82540-00%2B93210-29196