TOPIC:

Hi
I have oil appearing around z1300 a1 base gasket, I believe it is probably coming from the seal behind the water pump, bearing in mind the joints relating to this have not been apart for 30 years I am worried about breaking something if I try to replace this myself, can someone give me a brief idea of whats involved i.e what has to be removed to get at it I presume the rad for starters
many thanks
Paul

The tachometer cable adaptor bit in the top of the head on mine was leaking leaving oil on the front of the engine it might be worth checking. I bought a kit from zedparts to fix it.

Thanks Aus
I checked the areas as best I could and it definitely seems to only start to get wet around the base gasket and worse under the water pump housing, I have a horrible feeling I foolishly caused it when I fitted an exhaust and ran the engine for a minute to check it before adding the coolant
many thanks
Paul

Hi All,
I also have an oil leak from the base gasket and not sure if it is Connected to the seal on the water pump or not.
I've attached a photo of the point of where the leak is coming from ( barrels in photo not mine)
Any info thanks. Pete.
Sorry but for some reason unable to attach the photo. But maybe as mentioned in the first comments posted, there is a small hole below the water pump housing that doesn't exactly line up with the base gasket and engine casing,it's here that I can see the oil coming out.

Hello Paul:

The only suggestion I have for this is to thoroughly clean the area, possibly multiple times and see what weeps out of the area. Sounds like you have done this.

Kawasaki put the water pump "weep hole" in a terrible spot didn't they? It's hard to differentiate if the base gasket is leaning or the weep hole. On larger leaks, it can be more apparent. On slight leaks it can be a bear to locate.

If its just oil seeping out of this area, I would think Base Gasket. This due to water and oil, and mainly water should be coming out of that water pump weep hole.

I'm sure it's possible to have oil but mainly water is expected to appear out of that leak detection hole.

I also thought I had an oil leak from the base gasket but it turned out to be the oil seal behind the water pump. All I would say is use a genuine Kawasaki replacement mechanical seal as you don't want to have to do this job twice. Also follow the manual to the letter for the procedure. You may have a problem removing the water pump impeller as most have on here, including myself. And yes, that drain hole is primarily intended to indicate that the mechanical seal is shot, but it can pass oil as well.