| Author | Message | ||
     Arnhold |
Ok, i'll make this short and sweet. I wanted to take my cam and primary covers off to get powder coated. Turns out, taking off the cam cover is MUCH more involved than I had thought. I loosened the 7 screws attaching the cover and broke the seal the gasket had made. About this time, I realized I am in WAY over my head and tightened them back up. Is there a pretty good chance I will now have oil leaks and have to take it to the dealer? (Message edited by Arnhold on October 16, 2007) | ||
| Lions |
Yes! | ||
| Chadr81 |
Take it in and just tell them it is leaking. Don't say anything about messing with it. Maybe you can get it covered under warranty. Then they have to do all the pain in the a$$ work. Just a thought... | ||
| Hughlysses |
It certainly won't hurt to try it and see if it leaks. Buell uses a rubber-coated thin aluminum gasket on this joint, just like on the primary cover. Several people here have reused them on the primary side several times without leakage. You may well be OK. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
As long as it didn't get damaged, you should be fine. Fill it with oil and take it for a ride, find out. | ||
| Reepicheep |
It is one of those deceptive jobs, isn't it? It looks so easy, just sitting there with all those bolts... then 4 hours later you are up to your elbows in stacks of rocker box parts looking for stacks of new gaskets... I think you will be fine, particularly with the new metal gaskets. I reused a similar metal primary gasket on my M2 probably 4 times without a leak (unlike the paper ones, which seemed to only not leak about 50% of the time even the first time you use them). You might want to check the torque on those bolts after a couple of heat cycles, and make sure they are still snugged up to spec. | ||
| New12r |
I have reused my primary gasket with no leaks. Just fire it up and see. | ||
| Djkaplan |
If you didn't let the cam cover come off, you should be fine. "Take it in and just tell them it is leaking. Don't say anything about messing with it. Maybe you can get it covered under warranty." That is a ridiculous suggestion, so I'll assume it was in jest. If you have to take it in for a leak, do the right thing. A good mechanic will know something's up anyway. I suggest getting a shop manual even if you don't service your own bike. It would have kept you from loosening the cam cover in the first place. | ||
| Spatten1 |
If you only pulled the cover out a little, you should be fine. If you pulled the cover all the way off, did any of the cams slide out? If so, make sure that the dots on the cam gears still line up. It is fairly simple to do, a manual will help. If the cam gears are no longer lined up it could be catastrophic to start the engine. Either way, rotate the engine by hand at the crank nut first, to ensure that nothing is binding (valve hitting piston) before starting the engine. | ||
| Zac4mac |
""Take it in and just tell them it is leaking. Don't say anything about messing with it. Maybe you can get it covered under warranty." That is a ridiculous suggestion, so I'll assume it was in jest. If you have to take it in for a leak, do the right thing. A good mechanic will know something's up anyway. " Heheheh and that suggestion was from a sheriff, I'm sure he WAS joking. Z | ||
| Arnhold |
Well, sounds like a mixed report. I did not remove the cover completely. It pulled out about 1/8th of an inch, just enough for oil to start leaking out and I pushed it back into place. There was no forcing involved so hopefully everything inside is still lined up. If not, I guess I will be getting a crash course in Buell Engine servicing  The really frustrating part about all this is that I DO own a service manual, but being the idiot that I am, I just started tearing things apart before reading. Lesson Learned. Thanks Everyone | ||
| Chadr81 |
Sorry guys, I should have made it a little more clear that I was joking. Sometimes late in the morning, my humor gets a little dry... kind of like British comedy. To the point though, you should be fine. I've reused other gaskets before without any problems. I wouldn't see why this one would be any different. Just keep an eye on it, and if it starts leaking then replace it. I would think you would be safe. |
