need your help with an oil weep

[ninjaneer]

I've been hunting down an oil weep that's been leaving a mess on my left exhaust pipe, not to mention the underbelly of the beast. I cleaned up the gunk with some degreaser and after monitoring the situation over the course of the past week or so, I jacked up the bike onto its centerstand and slid underneath with a flashlight to find three likely possibilities.

These first two sites are "unlikely" I think and are victims of a site higher up.


What do you think? If my suspicions are in line with your thoughts, then
1) what is this allen bolt supposedly tightening up (i am very curious and would like to know just for my information)?
2) can i simply tighten it down?
3) what is the torque spec (very important to me because, I twisted the head off of one similar to this a while back when i repaired a weep from my crankcase breather housing)?
4) if tightening down the bolt proves inadequate, then what is the correct remedy?

Thanks everyone.

 

[NHVmaxpower]

Ninja looks lust like my oil seepage & it was my shift shaft seal. Not saying its your leak but from what I see in ya pics makes me suspect the seal.Good luck
Oh far as that allen bolt I have no idea what it'ss for .

 

[Ryanneal]

Geeeeze, I'd like to help, but I think waaay over my head.
I have a service manual if you need pages scanned.
The only reference I found was talking about the shafts being bent (roll test) = replace.

 

[dannymax]

Looks like the bottom bolt to the slave cylinder, if so it doesn't go into any oil gallery and is probly not the source of the leak. Also, that appears to be a regular lock washer and not a copper crush one (like the bottom bolt on the middle gear cover for example).


Question: Is it motor oil or brake fluid?

 

[ninjaneer]

NHVmaxpower, I dunno about the shaft seal. Not totally ruling it out, but if it's my sole problem, than how is oil getting up on the allen bolt that's above it? Either the shaft seal isn't it, or I have two probs. hmmm maybe it's so turbelant in there that the oil seeping out of the shaft seal actually does get flung up there.

Ryanneal, thanks for uploading pics of the user's manual, but I hard copies of the Clymer's and Haynes manuals and have been reading them

dannymax, I did rebuild the slave a couple years back, but the fluid level hasn't dropped in the master, plus the weep most definitely smells like oil. I was pretty anal about rebuilding the slave, it being my first "major" repair, so if the repair manual said to replace the copper washer, I would have, but now you got me down to 95% confidence that I installed a copper washer. hmmmm.

It's difficult for me to snake my head up underneath--is there a possible weep higher up above that allen bolt?

 

[1967vmax]

Mine leaks at the rubber grommet on the stator and runs down the wire loom

 

[alorio1]

Most likely an oil seep is from a seal that has a moving mechanism,Ie shift shft or clutch rod. I would change these first and apply sealant to the outer surface of the seal itself and to the inner surface of the casing itself. You can change the shift shaft seal by using a sharp pointed screw driver that will penetrate the metal casing of the seal when tapped on and then pry out the old seal. I recomend using sealand on the outer surface of the seals because some seals just don't fit tight enough to make a proper seal to casing. When I changed these two seals on my 85 ,I actually pressed the clutch rod seal in with my thumb. These were OEM seals so they were suppose to be made to specs. If you change these seals don't forget to put a piece of eletrical tape around shift shaft to avoid scratching the inner part of the seal when installing it over the splines of the shift shaft. I always find somthing that will fit over the shift shaft, that is about the same diameter of the outer part of the seal and give it a few taps with a hammer to insure the seal has bottomed out on the inner side of casing. I used a piece of PVC pipe for the shift shaft and a 9/16 socket attached to an extension for the clutch rod, with rod removed. All this was done after I had replaced stator gasket and resealing my stator wires, thinking that was where my leak was coming from. I was chasing my tail when the most obvious was right in front of me and the oil would not seep until I took a ride and parked the bike, put the kick stand down and leaned it to the left side. I actually believe my oil leak was from around the clutch rod seal itself after noticing how easily it popped out. I strongly suggest using sealant on the seals if you decide this is your problem.

 

[Redbone]

Since my internet was out yesterday I was watching Damon's video and he mentioned that the slave cylinder bolts do penetrate a oil galley but the factory does not use any sealant or even a copper washer on it.
Maybe I heard him wrong so I'll go back tonight and re-watch this portion just to be sure. Maybe Sean or Kyle could shed some light on this?

 

[MaxMidnight]

If memory serves me well (which it may not!), I seem to recall a (relatively) recent post that suggested that the large bolt in the centre of the picture is a drain plug. If so it could be the source.

I also have a leak in that region and thought that it was the shift shaft seal.
The seal and shaft were replace but I still have some weeping.

I can't see in the service manual or parts fische what the bolt does Anyone know its function?

 

[gamorg02]

it sounds like you're on the right track but mine had a similar leak on the middle gear cover somewhere. i ended up cranking all the bolts down to 110 in lbs and gave it some time and it went away.

 

[ninjaneer]

thanks everyone. i'm better off now with all y'all's input. i really didn't know what to think.

i did have a prob with the stator cover leaking onto the wireloom, but i believe i finally solved it.

i'll wait for some more advice and formulate an attack plan if what to try first. am very curious, though, about that bolt in the center that mm mentioned as well as rb's belief of the slave cylinder bolt penetrating the oil gallery

Regards from my Taptalking Hercules Android

 

[dannymax]

NHVmaxpower, I dunno about the shaft seal. Not totally ruling it out, but if it's my sole problem, than how is oil getting up on the allen bolt that's above it? Either the shaft seal isn't it, or I have two probs. hmmm maybe it's so turbelant in there that the oil seeping out of the shaft seal actually does get flung up there.

Ryanneal, thanks for uploading pics of the user's manual, but I hard copies of the Clymer's and Haynes manuals and have been reading them

dannymax, I did rebuild the slave a couple years back, but the fluid level hasn't dropped in the master, plus the weep most definitely smells like oil. I was pretty anal about rebuilding the slave, it being my first "major" repair, so if the repair manual said to replace the copper washer, I would have, but now you got me down to 95% confidence that I installed a copper washer. hmmmm.

It's difficult for me to snake my head up underneath--is there a possible weep higher up above that allen bolt?

Don't let my confusing way of wording things shake yer confidence Ninj....I'm sure you did a great job of rebuilding the slave and you were correct in not installing a copper washer there cause there isn't s'posed to be one.

I was just saying the fact that there is no copper washer called for on those bolts would probly indicate there isn't anything to seal off so that may not be the source of your leak. If I'm seeing it right and that is in fact, the lower slave cylinder bolt.

Now boost that confidence back up to 100%...ya done good!!:rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200:

 

[Redbone]

I hope my time addled memory hasn't let me down again! Well maybe I was a little premature! I heard the faint sound of a couple synapses firing and lo and behold Damon's video has been with me all this time! I use a laptop for both work and home which when I started to switch out of work mode it dawned on me that I had the DVD with me!:bang head:
Lo and behold my memory failed me, at 21:16 or there abouts on the second engine DVD Damon points out that the slave cylinder bolts are indeed "blind" bolt holes, so no penetrating of any oil gallery. Sorry for the alarm! The torque setting is 10 newton meters.
On the plus side I just figured out how the slave cylinder works!:biglaugh:

 

[ninjaneer]

hahaha, redbone. thanks for looking at damon's vid. hmmm, so if that bolt is blind, then i have to turn my eye to the shift shaft. do y'all concur? or that big bolt in middle of my pics? do y'all reckon it's a drain bolt like mm suggests? still cant let go of the question of why does that allen bolt appears to have oil seaping out from behind its head.

Regards from my Taptalking Hercules Android

 

[marsmax85]

Has anyone ever used a form of stop leak or lucas oil treatment just curious?

 

[PATMAX]

Danger Will Robinson!!!! I just as a rule, stay away from stop leak products. Redbone, where can I find those avatars! Perfection Bro. Greg, just put a a 1/2 turn on anything you can get a wrench on. Doubt that would be enough to snap a head off but if it was one of my bikes, that would probably be the last Newton meter that broke the camels back or head in this case.

 

[MaxMidnight]

...just put a a 1/2 turn on anything you can get a wrench on. Doubt that would be enough to snap a head off...

...but it could strip the thread.

Better would be to loosen and re-torque.

...i have to turn my eye to the shift shaft. do y'all concur? or that big bolt in middle of my pics?

I have gone down the shift shaft route and that didn't sort mine - I'm going to investigate the bolt when I have time...and also some feedback on its function would be nice...anyone? Pleases??

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Looking at your pic it does appear that the small allen head bolt has oil on it, so I would think the large bolt couldn't be the leak because oil will usually go down with gravity....not up. Could it be residual oil left over from your last leak/repair of the wireloom?

 

[ninjaneer]

Bob, your exactly on point of why I can't seem to dismiss the oil on that allen bolt. The oil should be dripping out from some higher site and landing on some lower site. If it is as you think, though, then I would imagine the oil being a gringy black, because I addressed the stator cover leaking onto the wire loom late last year. I also cleaned out all gunk from the underbelly, granted it's very likely I didn't clean it out all that well.

 

[dannymax]

Looking at it from this perspective, it appears that the small allen head bolt is the lower mounting bolt for the slave....if so, then the leak must be from higher up.