| Author | Message | ||
     Jamesquick |
as many of you know ive been struggling with an oil leak for what seems like months now. I recently gave up on it and brought it the a Harley dealer (very buell friendly) and they took it in to the shop for a few hours. they said the drainplug was stripped, and replaced it with an oversized plug and also ended up tightening one of the stator cover bolts thinking a very small drip was coming from there as well. I was there just about all day. i rode it two hours home and went a good a week with no leaks. now its leaking again, i havnt touched it since. just drove it around a few times. every morning waking up to a spot on the floor anywhere from the size of a dime, to the size of a small orange. I'm really frustrated and called back the dealer, i spoke to one of there buell techs about it, and he said there was really nothing they could do besides taking the cases off (pretty much dismantling the whole engine) and drilling another hole and all that super expesive stuff probably in the thousands. does anyone have any other suggestions? i'm really irritated and am on the verge of just selling it. its a shame the bike runs beautifully and has no other problems. | ||
| Sir_wadsalot |
Is the current leak from the oil plug? If it is, take it to a good welder/fabricator (I mean good, aluminum's hard to work with and it'll still look ugly) and ask his opinion. They could weld in a plate with a new plug or something, you never know. You could also try (maybe) tapping a new oil drain into the sump somewhere and welding the old one to seal it. I know they make drain plugs to put in automatic transmission pans on cars... Don't hate, fabricate! You could try using RTV or gasket maker to help seal the oil plug as well. Or aircraft sealant. It's like really stickey black tar....all assuming it's the oil plug leaking. (Message edited by sir_wadsalot on September 05, 2013) | ||
| Jamesquick |
thanks for the advice. Ive been dealing with this for a long long time, i clearly over torqued the drain plug before and that's why they had to put in the oversize plug. My dad owns a fabrication shop and has a few good welders working for him. Ill have to see if they can do anything. im almost 90% sure its leaking from there. I hope its not from the ignition cover, i hate taking that damn thing on/off | ||
| Sir_wadsalot |
If that's all it is, the aircraft sealant would literally glue the bolt/washer to the pan. It's gooey black tar like stuff in a can with a brush. We used it in my nat Guard 3rd shop to glue gaskets to parts, used it on everything. It was mil-spec but I'm sure there's a civilian equivalent. I think it's something like this- http://www.all-spec.com/products/80017.html?gclid= CPjY9NnLtLkCFcyY4Aod2zIAWA We also used gasket maker in caulk tubes instead of valve cover or oil pan gaskets. They're high temp, and because the oil isn't under pressure, they never leaked. You may even be able to get away with putting a little high grade gasket maker on the washer, touquing it and then running a bead around the bolt. It would have to be absolutely clean and dry when you did this.... Chemically sealing the plug somehow is your best (cheapest) bet at this point, it'll be a PITA to clean and redo at oil change time, but it's better than having the dealer split the cases. When you say the dealer put an oversize plug in, what does that mean? Did they retap it and put in a bolt with different threads? Did they drill it out and put in a whole new plug? If they just cross threaded a bigger bolt into the original hole that will never work, and someone needs a foot in his ass. (Message edited by sir_wadsalot on September 05, 2013) (Message edited by sir_wadsalot on September 05, 2013) | ||
| Jamesquick |
I think they just cross threaded a bigger bolt in, i believe they said if they were to drill a new hole and all that they would have to split the cases to make sure it was 100% clean or it could hurt the engine. I need to go buy some brake cleaner again and clean the whole area down, go for a ride and make sure i can track the leak down again for 100% | ||
| Northernyankee |
I would just drill and tap larger...Fill the drill bit and tap with bearing grease and it will catch most of the shavings. HEAVY GREASE on both the drill and the tap will entrap filings and chips and prevent such intrusion. When drilling, stop often to remove grease and chips, re-grease and resume drilling. The same technique applies to the threading operation. | ||
| Crowley |
Once the area is surgically clean, sprinkle talc etc on the area to act as a witness for the leak. It sounds like the Dealer may have made the problem worse. A Helicoil(etc) would have been my first recourse - I sorted this on a mates bike because he refuses to use a torque wrench or even common sense when winding things down. If it is the drain plug, a good engineering company, rather than a bike dealer, would be a better bet for a long lasting solution. | ||
| Reepicheep |
You must mean the primary drain, not the oil drain. Either way, be glad you have a Buell. I had to do this for a friend on a SV-650 and we narrowly avoided a freaking disaster (long story). Anyway, on the Buell, just drill and tap, either to a larger sized drain bolt, or for a timesert. Put the timesert in with JBWeld if you are worried about it, but I think they are engineered to stick pretty well. A heli-coil probably won't seal the leak completely (though it will mechanically hold). At least that was the experience I had on the SV-650. Use the heavy grease, then flush the daylights out of it with some kerosene / gasoline / Diesel / WD 40, then nice thin cheap oil. We ran 4 quarts of the cheapest lightest oil we could find straight in one end and out the other of the SV. We followed each quart with a full dump of a compressor in the fill hole blowing out the drain hole. There was NOTHING loose and metal left in that crankcase. | ||
| Sir_wadsalot |
"I think they just cross threaded a bigger bolt in" -This is the problem with the HD shops, you've got guys who work on largely 50's era technology wrenching on your state of the art Austrian engineered modern marvel. At the very least they should have re-tapped the threads... It sounds like the Dealer may have made the problem worse. -Yeah man I would throw a damned fit over something like that. +1 to both of the other comments. You can always flush it out with cheap transmission fluid after the drill job, it's common practice in dirtbike shops, and cheaper than wasting good oil on it. I'm not surprised the HD shop wants to split the cases, it's cheaper for them to not bill you for two or three hours trying top fix it correctly than it is for them to risk being responsible for a blown engine. A machineist's gonna be at your own risk...but it'll get done. | ||
| Crowley |
Reepi, you're correct about the Helicoil, but I used a Dowty washer under the bolt and it sealed fine. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Never heard of a Dowty washer. I'll email that to the owner of the bike and let him know, he has been living with a drop a day for a few years now. Crush washers helped, but didn't fix it. Thanks! | ||
| Kevmean |
http://www.potterassoc.com/pdf/bonded_seal_informa tion_and_sizing_chart.pdf | ||
| Cravacor |
"Don't hate, fabricate." LOL!  |
