nagging oil leak

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i WE'LL TALK AT THE BROWNIE RUN , I HAVE A GREAT STORY ABOUT THAT ! .. REMINED ME ! . :wkwk: . :biglaugh: . :biglaugh: . :biglaugh:

does it start off with " this one time at band camp........."

hahahhaha
 
does it start off with " this one time at band camp........."

hahahhaha
i KIND OF , SHE COULD SURE PLAY THE " FLUTE " ! . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200:
 
After using two stock gskts and still having this prob, I ended up making a gskt with a bit thicker material, and using blk RTV. I carb sprayed the grommet n wires, then gooped them with blk RTV.
Loctite makes a blue, plyable anaerobic. I found this when I bought some CAT gskt maker when working on their engines. CAT must of quit having Locktite contract it under the CAT number. The last tube I got, it was in a Locktite number and tube. I have a tube at work, in my tool box. If anyone would want the number by chance, hit me a pm.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions....I've got more ammo to throw at this problem if it persists. Problem is, I was home from school for just a weekend and always have a million and one things to do along with my "vmax time". I tried the threebond friday night. Didn't get a chance to ride on saturday, too much other stuff to do and weather was kind of ******. Took it out sunday morning, discovered it leaking, took it apart and then used the hylomar. Then time to drive 4 hours back to school, no chance to take it for a ride and see if it leaked again.

It's extremely annoying trying to diagnose/fix something when you only get to "see" the problem for a day or two every few weeks. Now it's getting to the end of term and I'm getting swamped with papers, projects, finals, ect so in all likelihood I won't be home with the bike for another 4 weeks when the semester is over.

Tim, after the ride on sunday I wiped the oil off and let it sit on the sidestand for a while, checking it every couple minutes since the motor was still hot. Within maybe 5 min, oil became visible from the frontmost of the "bottom 3" bolt holes. It steadily ran back from the bike's natural tilt, eventually dripping off at the lower point right at the gap between the stator and gear covers. It's definitely from the bottom edge.

If it's apart again I'll
-Check for warpage with some kind of compound, use file if apparent/necessary.
-Try a fresh double gasket + yamabond

I had considered trying that "stop leak" stuff, but I thought that stuff worked mostly by making the oil considerably thicker and less able to penetrate small openings. Also as you said if it would affect the wet clutch. I'd kind of like to "fix" this rather than band-aid it.

Hopefully by BR11 I won't be leaving an oil slick in Dan's driveway....that could seriously throw off your antics and end with "......someone go get a crowbar!"
 
i KIND OF , SHE COULD SURE PLAY THE " FLUTE " ! . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200: . :rofl_200:

:punk:

Thanks for all the suggestions....I've got more ammo to throw at this problem if it persists. Problem is, I was home from school for just a weekend and always have a million and one things to do along with my "vmax time". I tried the threebond friday night. Didn't get a chance to ride on saturday, too much other stuff to do and weather was kind of ******. Took it out sunday morning, discovered it leaking, took it apart and then used the hylomar. Then time to drive 4 hours back to school, no chance to take it for a ride and see if it leaked again.

It's extremely annoying trying to diagnose/fix something when you only get to "see" the problem for a day or two every few weeks. Now it's getting to the end of term and I'm getting swamped with papers, projects, finals, ect so in all likelihood I won't be home with the bike for another 4 weeks when the semester is over.

Tim, after the ride on sunday I wiped the oil off and let it sit on the sidestand for a while, checking it every couple minutes since the motor was still hot. Within maybe 5 min, oil became visible from the frontmost of the "bottom 3" bolt holes. It steadily ran back from the bike's natural tilt, eventually dripping off at the lower point right at the gap between the stator and gear covers. It's definitely from the bottom edge.

If it's apart again I'll
-Check for warpage with some kind of compound, use file if apparent/necessary.
-Try a fresh double gasket + yamabond

I had considered trying that "stop leak" stuff, but I thought that stuff worked mostly by making the oil considerably thicker and less able to penetrate small openings. Also as you said if it would affect the wet clutch. I'd kind of like to "fix" this rather than band-aid it.

Hopefully by BR11 I won't be leaving an oil slick in Dan's driveway....that could seriously throw off your antics and end with "......someone go get a crowbar!"




cant have that now can we hahahah
 
Managed to sneak away for the weekend, drove the truck home and took the bike back to school.

I let it run for probably 20min in the garage until the fan came on, and the oil pressure was at it's lowest, the covers were as hot as they ever get, then put it on the sidestand and watched it. Drip formed at the shift shaft, ran down the shaft, and dripped off the gear cover. The stator cover remained dry along the bottom edge.

Got a new shift-shaft seal and swapped it in. Using a sanding drum on a mini dremel, I lightly ran it around the surface of the cover, exposing fresh metal, and discovered over the bottom bolt hole it was raised, you could just feel a little "bump" running the drum over it. Ran over it until the bump was gone. Roughed up the engine side as well to hopefully promote the sealant sticking. There was a small amount of oil on the stator wires, that worked it's way through the grommet. Cleaned it off, pulled the wires out as far as possible, coated them with sealant, and shoved them back through. Otherwise, the stator cover seems to be sealed up. Used the hylomar again on the gear cover. Now the leak is considerably slower, only a drip or two after like 10 minutes. But still not sealed.

I can see there is no longer residue/drips on the shift shaft seal, so that's no longer contributing. I'm 99% sure the stator cover is not leaking anymore, and now the gear cover is the culprit. I suppose I'll pull it off again, maybe sand it some more, and since I'm now out of Hylomar, I'll try the threebond again. If that still doesn't work, I suppose I can just replace the cover. I bet Sean has some lying around from chain drive bikes....
 
so how'd u replace the shift shaft seal from the gear side?

also, how tight are all the gear cover bolts? like i said before i just cranked mine to 110 inlbs and i haven't seen a drip on the ground yet.
 
Garrett, just put a screw in the seal and pull out. I used PVC to put the new one in.
 
I used a smallish flat blade, but long shaft screwdriver, put it between the edge of the seal and the case, then gently tapped it with a hammer. It slipped in, rocked the screwdriver out, it popped the seal out on that side, then just worked the blade around to pop it out all the way. Slid it off, cleaned the shaft, slid the new one on.

110 in/lbs, roughly 9 ft/lbs. I'd have to think it's at least that tight, if they go much tighter I'd be afraid of snapping one off. I don't think we have an in/lb torque wrench around, we just have a giant 3/4" drive "micrometer" style one that's lowest setting is like 50 ft/lbs.
 
Garrett, just put a screw in the seal and pull out. I used PVC to put the new one in.

i follow

mines not leaking anymore so more of an FYI for me

I used a smallish flat blade, but long shaft screwdriver, put it between the edge of the seal and the case, then gently tapped it with a hammer. It slipped in, rocked the screwdriver out, it popped the seal out on that side, then just worked the blade around to pop it out all the way. Slid it off, cleaned the shaft, slid the new one on.

110 in/lbs, roughly 9 ft/lbs. I'd have to think it's at least that tight, if they go much tighter I'd be afraid of snapping one off. I don't think we have an in/lb torque wrench around, we just have a giant 3/4" drive "micrometer" style one that's lowest setting is like 50 ft/lbs.


got it, makes sense.

and yea, that was my best idea, sorry bro, you'll get it eventually. did u think about using the plastic-gauge on the gear cover now that you should have it narrowed down to that?
 
Another update...
I rode the bike back up to school for the week(200mis) and when I got there the left side of the bike was all dingy and oily once again. *sigh*. Wheeled it into the student shops and took the gear cover off. Cleaned all the old sealant off both sides, then put the cover metal-to-metal against the case. It visibly rocks back and forth, opening or closing a probably 1/16" gap between the upper-left and lower-right corners. I brought it over to the giant disc sander, grabbed it with vise-grips, and pressed the face against the wheel. Kept doing that, then checking by putting it back against the case. After like 3 good grinding sessions, it sat pretty damn flat....maybe just a teensy bit of "rock", but I could more "feel" it than see it. Cleaned it up and put it back on with the threebond.

Rode it back home (200mis), and after letting it sit at home on it's side stand for a bit, a small bit of residue appeared, this time at the bottom-right edge of the stator cover. As far as I could see crawling under the bike with a flashlight, the gear cover was leak free. Not enough residue to make any drips on the floor, but almost. I gave the stator bolts and extra oomph of torque, maybe another 1/8 turn, went for a short ride today and so far it's oil-free again.

So the issue definitely was/is a warped cover. I suspect the stator one is warped as well, and if this issue persists I'll have to take it apart again, remove the stator and trigger coils, and try facing the stator cover also.
 
Well, the issue did persist. Not nearly as bad, after an hour or two of riding everything would be oily and drips forming from the bottom edge of the stator cover. Both came off again, and I did the same sander-facing trick on the stator cover. The upper front corner seemed to be a "high spot" relative to the rest of it. Sanded it until flat, then drew a line with a sharpie on the surface and quickly ran it across the belt, noting where the ink hadn't been rubbed off. Repeated until there was no line visible after a quick pass.

Cleaned the cover out, used the threebond, put it all back together. Won't crank. Starter gears are bound up...as I remember Sean saying they would. Took it apart again. Dashed down to the local dealer, they had a stator gasket in stock, added gasket, put it back together once again (still just used threebond on the gear cover).

I also drained the Mobil 1 "4T" full syn oil, since it has been drained and refilled like 5 times now, every time picking up some crap from having the covers off. Since that crap is way too expensive, I bought a fiver of regular 15-40 Rotella and gave that a shot along with a new filter. On a short ride, shifting seemed overall a bit smoother and easier than before, with neutral a bit easier to find. So far leak free, but time will tell.
 
wow lucky the local dealer had that in stock, no local dealer out here has anything in stock every.
 
Yeah the only saving grace of the dealer by me is they tend to have a pretty good parts inventory. The sales people have a highly irritating "buy something or get out" attitude, won't give you the time of day without seeing cash waved around, and their helmet/gear selection blows. But the parts guy is competent(only one there) and they almost always have what I need in stock.
 
Yeah the only saving grace of the dealer by me is they tend to have a pretty good parts inventory. The sales people have a highly irritating "buy something or get out" attitude, won't give you the time of day without seeing cash waved around, and their helmet/gear selection blows. But the parts guy is competent(only one there) and they almost always have what I need in stock.

thats incredible, unless its a oil drain crush washer, mine never has anything.
 
thats incredible, unless its a oil drain crush washer, mine never has anything.
Mine keeps a few things I need like oil filters and the like but not much else. They do have some basic apparel for motorcycles/ ATV's but they have much more during the winter for snowmobiles.
As far as parts guys go they are poor, they get orders wrong, and it takes forever for the parts to arrive. They have a couple long time mechanics that know Vmax's as the owner had owned one for many years so I guess I'm lucky there. The previous owner had them clean the carbs before I bought it and they did a good job.
 
The warehouse I use to get my parts has a HUGE inventory of helmets and gear (which I can get you guys some deals on too). Plus about every brand of bike you'd ever see.
 
I thought that my 89 had finally given up fighting back and fallen in line. Not.... It doesn't matter if I run it 40 miles or start it up and let it idle. It's still got a one drop spot right under the Shift Shaft in a few hours... That's not enough to be of danger but It Annoys The **** Outta Me.....:th_biggun:

I think I'll paint the Motor with Black Gasket Maker!!!!!!!!!:bang head:


BTW: The Shift Shaft is Bone Dry.....
 
Maybe give your covers a ride on the belt sander! lol

Is it leaking from the bottom bolt of the gear cover? Mine had a bit of oily residue there when I first got it, so I got a new copper washer and it's been fine since. Then my starter clutch had to go take a dump forcing me to remove the covers, starting this game of leak police.
 

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