Anybody know of a recurring oil leaking issue with and 81 ( or comparable) xs400? the bike has been sitting for 15-20 years inside, stored free of gas and after running it for a day it leaks oil considerably. Do you think it just needs time for the seals to become moist again and expand?

Anybody know of a recurring oil leaking issue with and 81 ( or comparable) xs400? the bike has been sitting for 15-20 years inside, stored free of gas and after running it for a day it leaks oil considerably. Do you think it just needs time for the seals to become moist again and expand?

where is the oil coming from?

Anybody know of a recurring oil leaking issue with and 81 ( or comparable) xs400? the bike has been sitting for 15-20 years inside, stored free of gas and after running it for a day it leaks oil considerably. Do you think it just needs time for the seals to become moist again and expand?

If it's anything like mine was, after sitting 13 years (prepped for storage first) the seals in the top end all turned to rubber rocks. I had to replace all the external rubber seals (cam seal, the rocker rod seals etc) to get the hemoraging to stop (it's the only way I can describe it). On mine the seals that had oil against them while stored all seem to still be fine, and I think I still need to replace the valve seals yet, but the major leakage is gone (90% was from the cam oil seal).

If it's anything like mine was, after sitting 13 years (prepped for storage first) the seals in the top end all turned to rubber rocks. I had to replace all the external rubber seals (cam seal, the rocker rod seals etc) to get the hemoraging to stop (it's the only way I can describe it). On mine the seals that had oil against them while stored all seem to still be fine, and I think I still need to replace the valve seals yet, but the major leakage is gone (90% was from the cam oil seal).

I'll keep that in mind. I'll be checking that out first thing sunday hopefully

Where did you get all your seals at? The leaking on mine is becoming less than it was but I'd like to replace the cam seals most likely when i have the time.

Where did you get all your seals at? The leaking on mine is becoming less than it was but I'd like to replace the cam seals most likely when i have the time.

I got mine from bikebandit.com. They have a LOT of parts for vintage yamaha's available.

I got mine from bikebandit.com. They have a LOT of parts for vintage yamaha's available.

Do you have the part numbers for the rocker rod seals and the cam seals? That would be really convenient for me thanks

Do you have the part numbers for the rocker rod seals and the cam seals? That would be really convenient for me thanks

I'm not sure that the part numbers would be the same for the 1981 model as for the 1980. If you go to their web site, you put in your model and year and they give access to the parts diagrams. It's easy to get the parts number from there, and as far as I can tell, the only way to order them is from the parts diagram listings. There might be another way, but I haven't seen it. IIRC you said you have the DOHC model which will have different parts than my SOHC model, but being a year newer if anything they should have more parts available not less.