My banshee started leaking oil out of the vent under the water pump. I figure that I will have to split the cases to repair this. No big deal as I was planning on an engine buildup anyhow. What is causing this? I was thinking crank seals, but that doesn't make sense. No oil in the coolant, but I shut it down pretty quickly after it started. Any help here is appreciated.

 

Check your oil level.

 

The oil is leaking out of the vent below the water pump. All of the oil leaks out.

 

I had this happen on my quad too, and i also first thought it was the crank seal, but if your oil is filled to the proper level, the vent is above the level of the oil. Mine did it right after i melted a clutch... The only thing i could thing of was that the oil got hot and either boiled or expanded to the point of where it pushed out the vent. I put a new clutch on, dumped some more oil in and have never had a problem since...

 

I took the clutch cover off and found no reason for it to be happening. It started right after a serious side-hilling session at Glamis so I was abusing the clutch and it was hot. I came to the same conclusion you did and I am on my way to the garage W/gaskets in hand. Thanks for the help. Oh, one other thing, my oil was due for a change and maybe the viscosity had broken down enough with it being so hot that it was just easier to get going up that tube. Later.