| Author | Message | ||
     Mark_weiss |
My rear rocker box had been leaking for a while. There was no mess that I could see but it was dripping onto the rear exhaust and I finally tired of the smell and looked for the leak. It turned out that there was a mess, I just could not see it. I'm at about 75k miles, so I decided to replace the front gaskets as well. While I had easy access, I decided to replace the O2 sensor, the spark plugs, and the breather grommets. Plug wires look fine as does the general wiring harness and all of the stuff between the cylinders. Is there anything else that I "might as well do" before I button things up for the weekend? | ||
| Jasonmcelroy |
How about the engine temp sensor on the rear cylinder? Looks like it'd be a pain to get to otherwise. I'm not familiar with the expected life of these or the quality of the replacements so I don't know whether advisable to replace while you have access or not. Jason | ||
| Froggy |
If you have a spare fan, swap it in. Rear rocker leaks tend to kill the fan. I agree about doing the engine temperature sensor. | ||
| Steveford |
PCV valves are easy to access while it's down, too. I think you can clean them out with brake or contact cleaner. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Buy a Zero. | ||
| Nillaice |
check that your exhaust studs are intact. if they are, DO NOT 'snug' them up. | ||
| Nillaice |
.... if you do, I have the JIM'S exhaust stud drilling jig to drill out the broken stud from your cylinder head. the rear studs are harder to replace than the front | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I decided to forgo the temperature sensor because I needed my bike back in action before a sensor could get here. It just occurred to me that there might be a part crossover and the sensor may have been available at AutoZone. Too late now. The leak was from the rear cylinder's rocker box, at the left rear corner. I could not tell if the leak was at the cover or at the box/head junction. Both gaskets are replaced though. The box/head gasket seems to be nearly the same as the original, coated metal shim. The cover's seal rings are made of a different, stiffer, material. The fan was quite clean. Maybe with the earlier fan logic grime may have built up in the shroud or on the blade ends, increasing resistance to movement. One thing that I did discover was that the rear cylinder's spark plug wire had slid up a bit in the boot. I noticed when I removed the wire that I did not feel the 'click' of the clip releasing from the spark plug's nut. Sure enough, the wire was slid up into the boot until the clip was just at the bend in the boot. With the wire slid down, it connected to the plug with a 'click' that I could feel and now the bike starts more easily. Rather than repainting the muffler, I used a product that converts red iron oxide into black oxide. It does not look as nice as paint, but it does stop corrosion. I cleaned out both crankcase vent valves and they are a tight fit into their new grommets. I also used small hose clamps on the vent hoses because I noticed that those had been leaking a bit, even the one that I replaced last year. I had to warm the velocity stack quite a bit to get it to fit back onto the throttle body. Even then, it was a struggle to fit. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Oh yeah that rubber thing is a right bastard to get on! | ||
| Falloutnl |
"Oh yeah that rubber thing is a right bastard to get on!" Tis indeed. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I struggled with it for a while, greased it and struggle some more. Then walked away. I could get it over the first lip, but not all of the way down so that the inner surface of the intake would be smooth. The next morning the idea of using my heat gun occurred to me. Even then, it was not easy. I was pretty sure that something was going to fail before it snapped on. I have NO idea why that thing need a retaining clip. If I have to rotate the engine again some day, I think that it will be worth the trouble to try to work around the stack. | ||
| Steveford |
Try K&N air filter grease inside the velocity stack and just press down. You'll want that clip on there for when you need to pull the air box base, otherwise the velocity stack will pop off with it. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The spring clip thing was what really got me. I lubed the stack up with my tears and bleeding knuckles  | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Accidentally pop off with the base? Could that really happen? Maybe with a new stack, but with a ten year old, partially petrified piece? I always push the top lip through the hole anyway. | ||
| Steveford |
You really want to use that goofy clip. Even with some specialty pliers I hate that thing. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I have pliers with a groove cut in them. I think that they were called 'washing machine pliers'. Access is still not great though. It gets just about into place, then twists. |
