found oil leak....what is it?

[jclaude]

Ok, I went back and looked at the bike again, and the oil leak is coming from above the far left header. It looks like there is some sort of round cover about the size or a little smaller than a soup can lid. Can anyone tell me what this is? The guy said he has had to replace a screw in that cover because it "backed out on him". Could there be a 0-ring under the cover?

1980 GS550L ...... I told him that I would come back next Tuesday and pick up the bike if I decided I wanted it. I rode it today and it seem to be very responsive. All the lights work, but the front brakes needed some fluid since he just replaced the brake lines. If the oil leak is not a big deal I'm going to get it Tuesday!!

Thanks for you input.

JC

[TheCafeKid]

Those are the cam end covers. Under them you will find a half moon shaped rubber (usually) or aluminum (sometimes) plug...this will need replaced as that is most likely where the oil is coming from. You can temp fix it by wraping a layer or two of teflon plumbers tape around just the ROUNDED part of the plug, but to get them out you'll need to take the valve cover off, which if you're in there, might as well check your valve clearances.

[hampshirehog]

Some of these rubbers go rock hard with age whilst others turn to very floppy rubber - almost like jelly. Yet others seem to last forever. I guess it depended on what day of the week your bike was made!

Wally

[jclaude]

Thanks, Sounds like its no big deal. Just what I wanted to hear!!!!! I'm playing basketball with him tonight and I'm going to give him half the money to hold the bike until tuesday when I can pick it up.\\/

Thanks again,

JC:-D

[TheCafeKid]

Nope not a big deal at all, i had the same problem with the same plug. Used the teflon tape trick in the meantime, hasnt leaked a drip since. I would however get it fixed sharpish, and like i said, check those valves! VERY big deal that.

[jclaude]

10-4 Thanks for input. Are fork seals hard to replace?

JC

[salty_monk]

You can add a bit of sealant to the plug from the outside.... One of mine is like that.

If you have the forks with air ports on the top, the seals are a doddle. If not it's not that hard, you just need to get the right 5/8 socket & some extensions or make up a tool with some all thread & nuts.

Manual covers the latter way well. The air way is well documented on here. I did mine with a "track" pump (for bicylces). Took about 170PSI to pop them out though!

Dan

[rebelbob]

Same problem

Those are the cam end covers. Under them you will find a half moon shaped rubber (usually) or aluminum (sometimes) plug...this will need replaced as that is most likely where the oil is coming from. You can temp fix it by wraping a layer or two of teflon plumbers tape around just the ROUNDED part of the plug, but to get them out you'll need to take the valve cover off, which if you're in there, might as well check your valve clearances.

I have a 1982 GS850L with the same leak problem .Can I remove the valve cover with the engine in the frame?
and would advise for or against using silicone sealant on the outside of those plugs for a temporary fix?

[TheCafeKid]

you certainly can remove that cover with the motor in frame. As a matter of fact, you can even adjust the valves with the motor in the frame. you can do quite a bit of in frame work on these motors i've found, and that is awfully nice. Just unbolt the cover, and unless you plan on replaceing the gasket, do your best to see that you dont tear it, and it stays with the motor and not the cover. When taking the cover off the motor and out of the frame, be mindfull of the cam tower, you may have to pull the breather cover on top of the valve cover off first to give yourself some clearance to fanagle the valve cover out. I dunno about the silicone. It might work, but thats some heat up there, then again if you had some good high temp stuff, you should be ok. But that also is a mess later on to get off, and you run the risk of messing up your valve cover gasket seal. So i would advise for a temp fix going with the teflon tape. I did and it worked like a charm even in the HOT HOT Ohio summer and city riding where the engine would get its hottest. Nary a leak. Not a drop. But as i said, if you use the tape, assure that you only use it on the curved side of the plug, so you dont mess with your gasket's sealing ability. Also, if you feel as though the leak is bad enough the teflon wont work, Z1enterprises.com sells those half moon plugs, and if i recall correctly, they even may have them in aluminum rather than the rubber.

[BassCliff]

Take a look

A picture is worth a thousand words. Check out the valve adjustment pictorial on my little BikeCliff website. All the guides there are in PDF format so feel free to download them, print them out, share them, whatever.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff