| Author | Message | ||
     Quickbuell |
How can you seal them best?, special gaskets, techniques, breathermods, tools??? Do you have to pull the motor to fix a leaking rockerbox? I have 99 M2. | ||
| Apex1 |
Remove gas tank, rocker box covers, & old gaskets. Install (in reverse order) w/ new Buell (p/n ???- someone help me out here), Cometic, or James gaskets. Do 'em both, whether they need it or not. You'll be surprised how easy it is. I changed mine in a couple of hours, having never done it before! | ||
| Skulley |
I picked up the upgraded H-D steel gaskets at the dealer. I decided since I got that far I might as well change the base and head gaskets also. Once I got to the bottom I ordered a Nallin 1250 kit. It comes with Comtetic gaskets. It seems like a lot to change the RkBx gaskets but its a fairly simple task. Some on this board claim to do it in a few hours. I'd suggest a weekend and polish the covers while your at it. Also use the service manual for Tq spects or I can shoot em' to you. If you have any questions Ill try to help, just drop an e-mail. | ||
| Rattler |
I never had a problem with Rocker box leaks, Oops, well one, with the old style paper gaskets...both my bikes have been upgraded to the newer one piece metal gaskets during more power engine mods...install them Part number facing up. PS, these metal gaskets have been re-used twice since original installation...still no leaks. I always thought the worst part of an engine upgrade was cleaning that old paper gasket off the lower rocker assembly...not a problem no more! If you continue to have leakage problems with the newer metal gaskets, then either the mechanic, if it wasn't yourself, just doesn't know his job, or you have bigger problems with slightly warped rocker box assemblies. You can re-use the rubber gaskets in the rocker spacer also & for the rocker top cover if they have not been torn any. Just throw them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes for them to shrink to their original size before installing. Some model years also have two different length main lower rocker mount bolts (the large ones)...the shorter length bolts install at the two holes that are close together..I forget what side that this is on though. Dale A. | ||
| Blake |
Dale, You know too much.  | ||
| Black_Lightning |
Question about the rocker box leaks; how long do you warm up your bikes before a ride? I read in a Sportster performance book that advised a good 5 minute warm-up. It has to do with dissimilar heat expansion rates of an aluminum engine that's bolted together with steel. The 5 minutes gives it enough time to heat up properly and seal the engine which will help prevent leaking gaskets. So far, it has worked for me. But I only have 5600 miles on my 16 month old 2001 X1. | ||
| Hootowl |
My rocker boxes didn't let go until 10K (rear) and 20K (front). I have the metal ones now, and I no longer worry about it. Do yourself a favor and put the metal ones in before you spring a leak while riding. It's not pleasant. The gaskets are cheap, and not all that difficult to install. | ||
| Aaron |
The warm-up theory has been around a long time. I've never seen any evidence that it reduces the failure rate, other than anecdotal stuff. And you can find anecdotal evidence that points either way. Just put in the new gaskets and be done with it. | ||
| Black_Lightning |
Thanks for the tips and consider it done. | ||
| Jeffb |
You could use aftermarket rocker boxes as well. Most use a Oring type material and have fewer sealing surfaces. Jeffb | ||
| Newfie_Buell |
Back to that warm up thing, my rear rockerbox leaked on a cold day (about 5 degrees celsius) when I started the bike and drove off after about 30 seconds. 15 minutes later i discovered the leak down over the top of the starting motor. This occurred at approximately 9000km and could be just totally coincidental. | ||
| Blake |
That last phrase you said. | ||
| Mbsween |
Blake, You commented on rockerbox gaskets possibly due to overfilling the oil in a previous post. One other suggestion... run with two quarts (Courts?) per the capacity in your manual. It seems that topping up to the line on the dip stick, at least in some bikes, results in excessive oil being thrown out the breathers at high rpm. Maybe the '01 oiling system improvements have solved this? My rear rockerbox went again (10500), and it happen to coincide with installing the Banke dipstick. I definitely overfilled the oil (thats what I get for working late at night with sh*tty lighting.) Oddly enough I have the 01 model (x1). Do you know if this is a known cause? Looks like its easy enough to replace (bike is still under warranty, but the thought of taking it to the butcher, er dealer, makes me cringe) so I'll have a go at it. Should I be looking at the umbrella valve also? Any pointers to sources for the gaskets (looks like ASB has them) are the cometic (or Jim's) Buell specific or are they the same as the sportster? Thanks Matt | ||
| Aaron |
I don't understand how an over-full oil level could put more pressure on rocker box gaskets. The oil tank connections are all at the bottom of the motor (vent, feed, return), how the hell could an over-full oil situation put pressure on those gaskets way up at the top of the motor right next the vent? I still think it's rocker box movement, causing the gasket to move. Sometimes they break from this movement, sometimes they move so far that they fall out of place (what I've typically seen). The steel gasket doesn't break, and it also limits the movement, because the bolt hole doesn't elongate when it gets to the bolt. If the rockers were anchored to the heads instead of the rocker boxes, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. 'Course, we might be bitching about how hard it is to assemble or something. But the steel gasket is a good band-aid. | ||
| Spike |
I was under the impression that all rockerbox leaks were caused by paper gaskets and that metal gaskets (aftermarket or otherwise) were the end-all fix. Are there actually cases of metal rockerbox gaskets leaking? Mike L. '99 Cyclone (hasn't leaked since I got the stock gaskets out) | ||
| Blake |
MBSween/Matt, Breather spewage and rockerbox leaks are two different things. The overfilled oil contributes to breather spewage. If you already have a leaky rockerbox gasket, overfilling might put more oil in the rockerbox which might cause it to leak worse than if it weren't, but I agree with Aaron. Get the new OEM metal gaskets. Paper ones are obsolete, so you should be able to just ask for rockerbox gaskets and should receive the new ones. Some have offered that drilling out the rockerbox return oil drain hole to 1/8" and chamfering the umbrella valve port is of some benefit to stopping spewage out the breather, if you don't have that problem, I'd leave it alone and just change the gasket. Get a service manual if you don't have one. | ||
| Mbsween |
Blake/Aaron, Thanks for the input. I wonder if the leak was there and my re-enactment of the Valdez incident made it visible. I have the shop manual , its getting almost as worn as my kawi shop manual. I had to look around to find the section on the rockerbox removal, its with the cylinder head section. I thought they might have a special section for such a common problem. I have a kit that was called the "cure". It pretty much is a 1/8" drill bit and some other stuff. I've read that the "cure" can make the problem (puking) worse tho. I'm just getting used to the whole HD thing. Normally I associate removing a cam chain etc when taking a top end apart. Oddly enough the front rocker box has held up for 10,500 miles. Go figure Thanks Matt | ||
| Ken01mp |
my rear rocker box leaked like a siv at about 4.5 k on my 01 M2, under warranty, turns out it was warped, got a new one, no problems. Ken |
