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Need my head examined (beware monster pics)

More updating... Last night I reconnected the vent hose to close the airbox leak. No real change. Crap. Yank the appropriate covers and find that I had aligned to the wrong mark on the crank. Duh! Throw it all back together and hit the road about 8:45. That was about 2.5 hours to pull the both cams, fix the timing, reassemble and hit the road. I may be getting good at this.

So where do I go first? Straight to Dayton where Josh helps me out with getting the forks and springs swapped. That's right Jim, the forks too. I had a nice, clean set off of ebay that I was planning to swap on anyway. We started disassembling things, and Josh pronounced the seals good. I had not bothered to look at them yet, so I'm pleasantly surprised. That saved us some time. We polished most of one of the lower tubes before I decided I really should do that some other time. Put it back together, did some testing, and figured out that the stock steel spacers gave me the right preload. Oh, and I finally got to meet Rose and Cole. Nice people.

Back on the road by 2:15ish AM, and the new Progressives are behaving as advertised. Less dive under braking, and a bit quicker steering. I find the ride to be slightly harsher.

When I got home, there's oil all over my right toe. *sigh* The bottom right side of the engine is wet. I don't know yet if this is faulty gasketry or some new stage of the previous oil problem. I'm tired everywhere this morning. What was the trick? Talc on a clean engine to help find an oil leak? Why didn't I try that a month ago?
 
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One other thing. The back light on my speedo blinked out on the ride home. What's up with that? It came back on when I banged on it.
 
Clean the engine with brake cleaner and get some spray on foot powder.
 
Dogma said:
One other thing. The back light on my speedo blinked out on the ride home. What's up with that? It came back on when I banged on it.
Click to expand...
Clean and assure it has a good connection. I went nuts tracking a 'works when it wanted' signal/running light...just a bad and dirty connection...

On the oil, what Bill said, track it down, your motor is pretty clean now, but some clues will be WHERE is the oil ending up. its tough sometimes, cause it ends up all over the place. I remember on my 1100G that i thought i had a blown base, ended up being yet another CRAP Cometic tensioner gasket... but it BLEW EVERYWHERE...

Also, how FULL is your oil? Ive found that if you fill it at ALL above the F mark, it will find its way out. Leave it just under, and my bikes dont leak a drop...
 
Brake cleaner huh? I thought that stuff ate paint.

Tensioner gasket... Mine is now a Felpro homemade number, since it's not in the "complete" gasket kit. Wherever the leak is, I'll find it. The oil is doesn't seem to be any further forward than the clutch cover, so I'm hoping it's that. I have 2 on hand. I'll think about the speedo light later.
 
Dogma said:
Brake cleaner huh? I thought that stuff ate paint.

Tensioner gasket... Mine is now a Felpro homemade number, since it's not in the "complete" gasket kit. Wherever the leak is, I'll find it. The oil is doesn't seem to be any further forward than the clutch cover, so I'm hoping it's that. I have 2 on hand. I'll think about the speedo light later.
Click to expand...
Double check your torques, but theres not much in the way of pressure behind that clutch cover, so its PROBABLY not the culprit unless its simply loose or you've managed to gouge it some how (i know you better than that tho) Id hate to think the base gasket rings are a problem...i hope not.. Double check your galley bolt too... if you took it out that is.
 
What's a galley bolt? That little cover where the oil pressure sensor is?

Gouge the clutch cover? I've never had to scrape it. The gasket always stays on the case whenever I have the cover off, and never sticks even slightly to the cover. It still has the gasket from the PO, which means it's at least 18 yeas old.

Anyhow, de-oiled, de-greased, and mostly de-road-grimed the bottom side of the engine today. Some of tat stuff is really on there. thankfully, it doesn't need to come off for this test. I also got the rust cleaned out of the airbox. There wasn't much crankcase breathing going on through there. I should look for a spray can of that rust converting/sealing paint to shoot through there.

Tomorrow I'll reassemble it and see if de-rusting the airbox relieved enough crankcase pressure to stop the leak. My guess is that whatever gasket let go is permanently compromised though. Even if I can't get it to leak, I'll change the clutch cover and oil pan gaskets just to make sure they're fresh and undamaged.

In my cleaning today, I only saw oil on the bottom of the engine, and some oil on top of the case. The stuff on top is possibly left over from the stuff that didn't make it through the airbox. Or maybe my tensioner gasket didn't hold. At any rate, I saw nothing around the head gasket area, and nothing on the front. Nothing new on the left side of the engine, and it wasn't very wet (maybe misted) in the area of the right side oval o-ring. I'm cautiously optimistic.
 
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Dogma said:
What's a galley bolt? That little cover where the oil pressure sensor is?

Gouge the clutch cover? I've never had to scrape it. The gasket always stays on the case whenever I have the cover off, and never sticks even slightly to the cover. It still has the gasket from the PO, which means it's at least 18 yeas old.

Anyhow, de-oiled, de-greased, and mostly de-road-grimed the bottom side of the engine today. Some of tat stuff is really on there. thankfully, it doesn't need to come off for this test. I also got the rust cleaned out of the airbox. There wasn't much crankcase breathing going on through there. I should look for a spray can of that rust converting/sealing paint to shoot through there.

Tomorrow I'll reassemble it and see if de-rusting the airbox relieved enough crankcase pressure to stop the leak. My guess is that whatever gasket let go is permanently compromised though. Even if I can't get it to leak, I'll change the clutch cover and oil pan gaskets just to make sure they're fresh and undamaged.

In my cleaning today, I only saw oil on the bottom of the engine, and some oil on top of the case. The stuff on top is possibly left over from the stuff that didn't make it through the airbox. Or maybe my tensioner gasket didn't hold. At any rate, I saw nothing around the head gasket area, and nothing on the front. Nothing new on the left side of the engine, and it wasn't very wet (maybe misted) in the area of the right side oval o-ring. I'm cautiously optimistic.
Click to expand...
Dude...for god sakes, change your clutch cover gasket :p They're not made to last forever...
 
Worst possible news... Yes Brian, I was warned. It is the oval o-ring on the right side. I didn't think they looked all that bad, but it makes a steady stream within seconds of starting the engine. Ah, euphemism!

I need a source to get new gaskets here by Wednesday. Any Suggestions?
 
Dogma said:
Worst possible news... Yes Brian, I was warned. It is the oval o-ring on the right side. I didn't think they looked all that bad, but it makes a steady stream within seconds of starting the engine. Ah, euphemism!

I need a source to get new gaskets here by Wednesday. Any Suggestions?
Click to expand...
uhhhmmm... PM Terry (Blowerbike) He MIGHT have a gasket set or bits of laying around..I dont know. The other possibility is maybe asking Brian or one of the other guys about a temporary fix that will get you thru till you get back? High temp silicone or something of the like? I know its a no-no but you're REALLY in a pinch now... Brian MIGHT have something laying around as well...

If I had another running bike, or the G was good enough I trusted it, I would simply let you take that. But I dont think its a good idea at this point...
 
Thanks for almost offering me the G. Seriously, I know you mean it.

I don't know about trying a temp fix. The stuff was pumping out of there pretty quickly, and I think it would find a way around whatever I used. Unless I can lift the cylinders and put it all the way around the o-ring. Since I was doing the gasket sealing experiment, I probably can't separate the cylinders from the case without destroying the gasket. Not that I shouldn't try that as soon as the cams are back off...
 
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Considering that the base gasket isnt made of anything special, you MIGHT could try to replicate one out of gasket material, then put those orings back in with a good coating of some sort of high temp something or other...I know thats prolly not a great idea, but im just spitballing here, hoping to stumble on something....
 
That thought crossed my mind as well. But I have to get the head off to remove the cylinders, and the head gasket is going to have the same problem. Unless I take the engine out of the bike, and that's just not going to happen. Even if I could manage it myself, there just isn't time.

Hmmm... Nah, I wouldn't trust that '83 engine for this trip. I've never turned it over, dunno how long it's been or what shape the valve clearances are in.

Brian's inbox is full.
 
If you just put this together the base gasket can be reused. Even the head gasket.
I've had to lift the cylinder quite soon after a full rebuild and was able to reuse gaskets but the head gasket will be sketchy.
 
Bwringer to the rescue with overnighted parts. Hopefully, I can get it back together to leave for WV on Thursday with the rest of the gang.
 
OK, I didn't actually get to work on it last night, due to family-type obligations, but I knew it wouldn't take long to get it stripped down again. Less than two hours from complete bike to jugs off. I'll need daylight tomorrow for gasket removal.

I looked at that o-ring, and I don't see an obvious failure yet. It looks as though it may have fallen down out of the seat for some reason. I'll get a better look when I have better light.

On schedule.

I hope Brian thought to throw a cam chain tunnel o-ring into the package. Otherwise I'll have to attempt to repair it with high-temp silicone. It's torn. It's too late now to be calling people (I think), so I'll leave messages where I can.
 
12:45 AM and I just got out of base gasket hell. It looks like the oil was going right past the o-ring and blew a hole through the gasket. Reassembly should go quickly tomorrow, stating about 3:30. Rule #1: Removing the base gasket will take much longer than the amount of time you scheduled.

Except for a couple little hiccups. For example: the dowel I improvised is just plain gone. I didn't take it out of the head, but it's not in the head or cylinder block. It's not in the pile of oil absorbent stuff on the floor. It's not in the bin of parts I took off the bike. The other issue is really an attack of the stupids. I took off the old oval o-rings before I stuffed rags down alongside the pistons. Sure enough, I fumbled one right past a piston, and it's not on top of the crank. Pretty sure that gasket kit came with an oil pan gasket... Hopefully both surfaces are accessible to the Ruloc wheel.

It's gonna be mighty close.
 
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So, you have it rough...

We pulled Coles starter clutch tonight on the GK...totally destroyed. Also found out that the GK used a different set up than ALLLLLL of the other bikes...we have a fix however. Small end 1100E Rotor, starter clutch and flywheel. ID and OD of the bearings, and all essential contact points on the crank snout are exactly the same, as is the diameter of everything else. This SHOULD work just fine. We hope.....
 
ARGH! I guess the GK had a little more generating capacity or something, huh? I hope that fix works out.
 
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