Oil Leak, Left Side: Advice Sought

Sabre · Posted: March 28, 2009, 6:54 pm Post subject: Oil Leak, Left Side: Advice Sought

Hi all, new guy here. Just picked up a bone-stock '83 XS650 Midnight Special for my dad. Brought it home and it starts and runs perfectly, except that a pretty steady oil leak starts up when the engine is running. No leak at all when the engine's off.

It's coming from up inside the left side engine cover ("crank case cover") somewhere. When you pull the left exhaust pipe you can see it running steadily down from up inside that left cover, where there are some wires.

Any wisdom as to what's likely leaking? What's involved in getting to that area...just drain oil and pull that left engine cover?

Thanks in advance! Cheers!

weekendrider

Most likely it will be the push rod seal (replace seal, bushing and 2 short rods with one long one and check xsjohn's tip for the centering dimple) . You will want to check the drive sprocket nut also it can weep there when loose. While you have it apart clean and regrease the push rod rachet and lube the clutch cable.

xs1961

Is it leaking from behind the sprocket , clutch pushrod or from behind the alternator? If it either of the first two then the seals are pretty easy to renew , if the crank seal behind the rotor has gone then its a bit more fiddly to replace , some herewill insist the motor needs stripping for that one but it can be done in situ with patience ....

Sabre

Many thanks. It's been many years since I did any serious work on a bike. This is a situation where I have minimal shop space and few tools available. Do I need to pull the round stator cover before pulling the entire left side cover?

Once in there I'll have a look at the pushrod seals and countershaft sprocket.

Thanks again for your prompt assistance!

xs1961

No mate , you can leave that on, just the footrest & gearchange lever before the case bolts..

Sabre

OK, brilliant, it certainly looks like that clutch pushrod seal has failed.

So now it sounds like you lot have a better way of doing this than OEM, is that right? Weekendrider said to replace the seal & bushing, which are straightforward enough, but I'm curious about the two rods vs. one rod thing. I see that there's a single long rod available that replaces both the short inner and outer rods. The outer one is easy, as it's here in my hand. What's involved in extracting the inner rod? Just pull the seal and bushing?

I'll look up the centering dimple thing. Thanks again for hand-holding me through this!

weekendrider

It's easier to get the ball and inner rod with the seal and bushing out.
A strong magnet robbed from speaker or something similar on the end of the outer rod will pull them out. Or a pencil sized pocket magnet.

xs1961

You can extract with a telescopic magnet tipped thingy or tilt the bike over & give her a shake to dislodge the inner rod & bearing.. Personally Ive never had any issues with the original set-up..Japs must've designed that for a reason - the nips aint stupid Wink

Sabre

OK, the seal is out and I've drilled the bushing. It came out very easily with the 11/32" drill bit. Mike's instructions say to drill again with a second bit of 23/64". Is there something else that's got to come out besides the split sleeve that came out round the 11/32" bit?

I'll have to order the stuff, of course.

You guys are great. Thank you SO MUCH!!

jayel

think that's just to clean it up nothing else to come out and that shaft is hardened so don't push it to hard and mess up your drill bit

weekendrider

If you do decide to get the long shaft, a flat washer welded to the short shaft is handy to start the new bushing.
I'm not sure I helped much. 1hr 10min you had the case off, seal and bushing removed. With minimal space and tools. Wink

I'd say you've got a purdy good handle on things. Go ahead and service the pushrod rachet and check the torque on the countershaft sprocket. You've a day or two before parts arrive.

Sabre

weekendrider wrote:

If you do decide to get the long shaft, a flat washer welded to the short shaft is handy to start the new bushing.
I'm not sure I helped much. 1hr 10min you had the case off, seal and bushing removed. With minimal space and tools. Wink

I'd say you've got a purdy good handle on things. Go ahead and service the pushrod rachet and check the torque on the countershaft sprocket. You've a day or two before parts arrive.

Hahaha...don't sell yourself short. Every bit of advice I get here is help and DEFINITELY appreciated! I feel totally out of my depth because I'm in a tiny space with poor light and just a few hand tools after enjoying years with a huge shop space, barn, and enough tools to build a space shuttle. Plus, I feel pressure from the fact that my dad is only in town for a short visit, and I was hoping to have him enjoy this thing!

Yeah, I was happy to see what the problem was. I had envisioned a cracked case or something really, really ugly. Tomorrow that pushrod ratchet will get serviced for sure. I went ahead and ordered a new clutch cable as well...might as well!

It's a great bike. Wonder if my dad will mind if I hook on the sidecar I'm working on when he's not around? It might be a better tug than the KLR650 I'm using now.

What Happened to 650rider.com?

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