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Buell Forum » XBoard » Buell XBoard Archives » Archive through September 11, 2009 » Rocker cover leak « Previous Next »

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Endoagain
Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 08:44 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Liked the STT so much thought I would do a few mods (Drummer/Swaintech the headers) I have been waiting to do for a long time. Bought some Pit bull stands to help with the work and rotated the engine down without breaking anything...yet. Got the exhaust and headers off...all going well...then i see a familiar drip coming off the left rear corner of the rear rocker box cover. Bummer, I just had a leak "fixed" 7K miles ago. Picked up the gaskets and proceeded to remove the rocker box cover. No problem. Definitely the source of the leak as oil was well past the orange rubber seal and pooling in the channel for the seal but only at the back of the rocker box. The other 3 sides were dry. Decided to soak up some of the oil. As I had a rag in the channel and ran my finger along the sealing surface...#%&*!, there is flashing all along the sealing surface of the inner lip of the channel! It is not just metal flashing that is out of the way, it runs on top of the channel and creates a non-sealable surface along the rear channel of the rocker box. No way can the rocker box cover mate evenly with that surface. The other three sides are polished smooth. I have read every thread I can find on rocker box cover leaks on XBs. Thought I would have a warped cover...and I might...but never thought I would have a defective sealing surface on the rocker box. Anyone else with a rocker box cover leak notice a poorly finished surface on the rear channel of the rocker box?
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Hexangler
Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 09:12 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Typical, the rocker box leak issue is in the BASE gasket not the cover gasket. And it is the base gasket surface that needs to be checked for warps. Mine was repaired twice under warrantee, the second time the rocker box base gasket surface was miked at over .006" warp, and that is above seal-able tolerance.
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Endoagain
Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 08:09 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Hexagler: I too figured it would be the rocker box gasket...then I did a search. There are reports of Rocker box gasket leaks but there were many on rocker box cover leaks as well. On a google search this was very prevalent, especially on the sportster forums. People attributed it to a warped cover. As I looked closer at my leak it did seem to originate from the cover gasket, not the rocker box base gasket. Upon opening the oil was definitely coming from the rocker box cover. I was not surprised at that, just that the sealing surface on the rocker box was not machined properly. I would not be surprised if others who had rocker box cover leaks, especially repeated ones, would also find poorly machined mating surfaces on the rocker box.
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