| Author | Message | ||
     M2me |
Well, I finished the work on the rocker box leak but now the base gasket is leaking! I think it's been leaking for awhile, but when I saw oil down there I thought it might be coming from the rocker box (in retrospect I think that was just wishful thinking). After stopping the rocker box leak and cleaning up the area I discover that the base gasket is leaking. I have almost 9000 miles on it and I bought the extended warranty. My plan now is to just ride it another 1000 miles and take it to the dealer for the 10,000 mile service and have them fix the base gasket leak at the same time. Here's my question: Do base gasket leaks get progressively worse? Right now it is not real bad and like I said earlier I suspect it's been leaking for awhile. Am I safe to ride it another 1000 miles and monitor it or will it decide to suddenly start gushing oil? | ||
| Blake |
You should be fine for another 1,000 miles. | ||
| M2me |
Yeah, I think you're right. I put a couple hundred miles on this weekend and it doesn't look like it's getting any worse. It's just oily down by the base of the rear cylinder. The area up around the rocker box is still dry as a bone so far. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Well John, at least you are riding! My M2 is in the shop waiting for a replacement rear shock. I'll find out more tomorrow. Where do you have your's serviced? St. Paul? Brad | ||
| M2me |
Brad, Yeah, I plan on taking it to St. Paul for the 10,000 mile service. I rode down to Owatonna earlier today and that south wind was nuts! I felt like I was gonna be blown off the bike on the way down but the ride back was sweet. I was doing 75-80 but it felt like I was sitting in the garage. The wind was just blowing me home! | ||
| M2me |
Now I've got a new "problem" with that base gasket. It has practically stopped leaking! At first I thought it stopped completely but it is leaking a tiny, tiny bit. I cleaned it up really well and have almost 250 miles on it since then (this is from April 26th, not when I first posted about it) and the oil is barely noticable. I used to wipe up an oil stain about the size of a quarter after nearly every ride even a 10-20 mile trip. Now I'm not sure what I am going to do. Is it even worth the bother to have the dealer fix it? At this point they might even look at it and ask, "What oil leak?" and I haven't cleaned it since April 26. | ||
| Reepicheep |
M2Me... is it the front or the back? My starter gasket has always allowed a small leak, and seems to have gotten better over time. That could look like a small leak from the rear base gasket, but is a FAR easier repair, and probably safer to ignore. | ||
| M2me |
It's the rear base gasket. On the engine case where the cylinder attaches there is shiny aluminum and I can see where the oil is leaking. It's very, very little oil. It's becoming more noticable now only because it's attracting dirt and getting dirty. You still have to look carefully to even see it. It's not as bad as it was a month ago and it doesn't bother me as much now as it did then. I'll be taking it in for the 10,000 mile service in a few weeks. I think I'll mention it and see what the service writer thinks about it. | ||
| M2me |
The base gasket is not leaking, it never was. Back in April I discovered that the rear breather bolt was really loose and some oil was flowing along the cooling fins and down the pushrod cover. I even posted this info on ATC when somebody was asking about oil on the pushrod covers. Guess where that oil was eventually going? Along the shelf at the base of the rear cylinder! After I tightened the breather bolt, the "base gasket leak" nearly stopped. Where was the tiny bit of oil still coming from? Some oil had collected behind the base of the pushrod covers, or the lifter block or whatever it's called, and was flowing out when I got the engine hot! No more oil has shown up down there since around May 10. Problem solved, just took me awhile to put two and two together!   | ||
| Bluzm2 |
John, Dump the stock rocker box setup and put on Bolt RB covers. No more breather hassles! VERY little puke. Very glad i did it. Brad | ||
| Ara |
Brad, do you have a web site for that? Can't find it. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Ara, Check out this link to a section in the Quick Board area. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/25955.html?1054090021 Read through it and you will catch the main adea. JQ has a link to DC Brag's site at the end with pictures. We better move this to the correct section or Mr. Admin will bark...  Brad (Message edited by bluzm2 on May 28, 2003, %time) | ||
| Lake_bueller |
I think (but I'm hoping I'm wrong) that my front base gasket is starting to "weep". My first question: is there a short term "patch" to stop the leak? If so, please enlighten. I leave in less than 3 weeks for Deals Gap (trailering the bike). Then it's on to homecoming. Second question: if I have rudimentary mechanical knowledge, can I do this in my garage w/o too much difficulty. My "knowledge base": built this bike from a bare chassis & frame, did some minor upgrades to bike like Mikuni carb, exhaust, brakes, etc. Thanks for any help! | ||
| Josh_ |
Its not that bad to do yourself if the thought of removing the wrist-pin and pulling the jug/piston together w/o seperating doesn't make you queasy. I've done it so it isn't that hard  No band-aid I know of. Shop will charge 4-6 hours. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Its not that bad to do yourself if the thought of removing the wrist-pin and pulling the jug/piston together w/o seperating doesn't make you queasy. I think I'm going to go throw up now  But seriously...I'm going to keep an eye on it until after Homecoming. Then I'll start looking into tearing it down. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions. Until then...keep any suggestions coming for a bandaid. | ||
| Sportyeric |
Just learn to live with it. A little oil seepage isn't going to hurt it, nor get any worse. Harley's don't leak, they're just marking their spot. BTW, I subscribe to the theory that base-gasket leaks are caused by getting on the throttle before the engine has warmed up enough for cylinder expansion to clamp it tight. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Sporty....that would make some sense. The problem occurred at my last track day. The temp was about 38 degrees at the start of our day. |
