oil leak

[berger]

David i watched mine drain to what i thought was nothing but when i jumped on the kicker it blew more out and drained properly , somehow it had vacuumed and was holding the rest of the oil. strange i know but it happened . luckily over the last few years since i rebuilt it and seated the ball in the crankcase and fitted an srm pump it has never filled the sump and can be left for months. i now have great pleasure in taking the oil cap off and seeing it at the same level

[sean]

Pop the timing cover off and check the cork  breather gasket … note all the bolts are different lengths , I draw a  pic of the cover on a piece of cardboard and push the bolts through in the order they come out … if needed I have  a spare oil pump as i switched mine to the SRM one .

[Worty]

David i watched mine drain to what i thought was nothing but when i jumped on the kicker it blew more out and drained properly , somehow it had vacuumed and was holding the rest of the oil. strange i know but it happened . luckily over the last few years since i rebuilt it and seated the ball in the crankcase and fitted an srm pump it has never filled the sump and can be left for months. i now have great pleasure in taking the oil cap off and seeing it at the same level

My oil drains out of the tank so fast that I remove the magnetic sump plug to create an additional return to the tank.  This has taken the form of getting on my hands and knees before every ride, bleeding off the oil in the sump then returning it to the tank - all part of my pre-ride prep now.  Last time I did this, it seemed so long for the oil to start to return I was concerned that the rockers would be starved, so I switched off, waited five minutes, and lo-and-behold the oil started returning again.

I also reckon it's the breather but, as advised, don't strip down unless it's causing a problem.

[David Tinsley]

So I drained the sump again this morning. maybe 1/4 cup. Started it up and sure enough no oil return initially, but built up to steady stream after about a minute. That leads me to believe the oil feed and return system is working as it should.
Took it for a 5 mins run and sure enough, still leaking from what I think is the breather. (Too hot right now to go poking about). Next stage then is to remove timing side cover and have a look at the cork. One thing I am not sure of yet is how can you check camshaft end float with the cover on as advised? That might become obvious when I get inside it, but a bit confused right now.

Thanks for all the help and advice, this is one great forum.
David

[berger]

David you can get various thickness corks that sit in the camshaft gear, you need to fit one and put the inner timing cover on and check for end float, a good rule of thumb is to go for a cork that just compresses when the inner cover is on with the breather on as well of course. i have always fitted corks that compress a little bit, but not enough to restrict camshaft rotation. this will be hard to tell with the top end on but you don't want any float

[David Tinsley]

Well, I just drained 700ml of oil from the primary chaincase! This is more than just a compressed cork! Crankshaft oil seal?
The oil was also black and it has only done a couple of miles on new oil. I think I am going to b3 pulling the engine and tearing right down. Nice winter project.
I will have lots of questions

[berger]

David oh dear it's been chucking it out of the chain case oil will seep into there if it super wet sumps and has been stood a while , i wouldn't strip it just yet now you've found that, give it another try.

[David Tinsley]

David oh dear it's been chucking it out of the chain case oil will seep into there if it super wet sumps and has been stood a while , i wouldn't strip it just yet now you've found that, give it another try.

It would be nice if that is all it is, I will give that a try tomorrow. I think I will leave the sump plug out while the bike is stored for our Canadian winter to stop this happening again

[muskrat]

G'day Dave.
The crank seal is easy to replace. A few hours tinkering, job done.
Cheers

[sean]

Well, I just drained 700ml of oil from the primary chaincase! This is more than just a compressed cork! Crankshaft oil seal?
The oil was also black and it has only done a couple of miles on new oil. I think I am going to b3 pulling the engine and tearing right down. Nice winter project.
I will have lots of questions

if you decide to strip the motor let me know... I am in Kitchener not far from you, I have an engine stand and any special tools dial indicators, micrometers pullers, BSW wrenches ,sockets ,taps dies etc ....however I would do more investigation before you decide ....not cheap these days to do a rebuild .

[David Tinsley]

Well, I just drained 700ml of oil from the primary chaincase! This is more than just a compressed cork! Crankshaft oil seal?
The oil was also black and it has only done a couple of miles on new oil. I think I am going to b3 pulling the engine and tearing right down. Nice winter project.
I will have lots of questions

if you decide to strip the motor let me know... I am in Kitchener not far from you, I have an engine stand and any special tools dial indicators, micrometers pullers, BSW wrenches ,sockets ,taps dies etc ....however I would do more investigation before you decide ....not cheap these days to do a rebuild .

Thanks Sean,
I sent you a message

[David Tinsley]

Finally found the time to look at this issue again.
I started the bike without the primary cover on and left it on high tickover for a while.  Could not see a leak from the breather.
However, when I put my hand near the crank sprocket I  could feel considerable pulsing air pressure from that area, in time to the engine. That makes me think that the crank seal maybe leaking. Plus, I also found 700ml of oil in the primary when I drained it!

Is my thinking making sense? I dont want to strip anything down more than I have to.

Is the crank seal an easy replacement? as in pick out the old one and set the new one?
cheers,
Dave

[berger]

i would be looking at the timed breather now, checking for end float , i think this has been mentioned.

[David Tinsley]

i would be looking at the timed breather now, checking for end float , i think this has been mentioned.

I checked the end float from the timing side when I got the bike. Can't recall the value, but I know I was OK with it. .003" if I recall.
Do you mean the engine breather? That is dry, nothing coming out of there. Could it be that the breather is blocked causing the problem? Certainly the "puffing" from the crankshaft does not seem right to me

[berger]

the camshaft timed breather is driven off a peg on the cam gear, it needs a cork washer pushed into the face of the gear to take the float out of the breather cylinder that fits in the inner timing side case. this i think was mentioned by me earlier in the posts. if i remember rightly there are two types of this breather with holes drilled in the outer circumference at slightly different positions, you have to have the correct one for your model of bike so i am told or it will upset the breathing even if there is no end float on the camshaft. i think you are on about crank float and that figure is fine