Gonna have to pull the motor

[danimal2]

I developed an oil leak while cruising the interstate at 70mph. Puking oil like crazy. 99% sure it's the front cylinder valve cover gasket. According to the manual the motor has to come out. The manual makes it sound easy enough, but I can't help but think the instructions are vague at best. Anybody with helpful tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

[Monkeyman]

I'll bet MAS can help.

[DragonLady58]

You can take everything loose, get her outta the frame enough to replace your top cover gaskets.
I've pulled mine so many times its 2nd nature....I can swap out my motors in 2 1/2 hours and I'm not rushing.
All you need is room enough to lift the cover off, clean you gasket surface, put new gasket on, and close her up, while your that close, if theres any leakage on your rubber plugs on the heads, ought to address that, and if you need extenders....they are alot easier to put in with all that extra room.....
You might not need to pull the motor, might be your bolts are loose (Retighten), possibly your front head oil line might need a new seal, or possibly bolt has loosened. Might even be the oil line itself on the fitting where it attaches to the hose....
Check these first. No, the engine is not that hard to pull out....

If I'm moving the engine just outta the way for a quick repair, I have the bike up on the lift, standing straight up, after tank is off, electrics disconnected, pipes off, driveshaft disconnected, hoses off, pull radiator/brackets/rect.bracket, left cover off and electrics unplugged, I put down a piece of plywood under the engine, a rollerboard for moving from Harbor freight,

2 scissor jacks with plywood and carpeting that goes agianst the engine.
Snug the jacks up, yank off rightside floorboard/brake assembly, removable down tube, undo motor mounts, wiggle/jack/lower/whatever----wheel her outta the way....
Every mechanic does it slightly diff. though....

I roll my rebuild bench right against the lift and roll the engine off the bike lift right up on the bench....if I'm swapping out motors.

[MAS Tequila]

DL hit the high points pretty good.

The big differences in the ways we do this, is that I use a floor jack instead of the HF cart, BFD!

Clean your engine up and try to pinpoint the leak before you go to all the trouble of pulling the engine.

A friend was trying to find a horrendous leak on a 1600, and it ended up being one of the cam chain adjusters, and he thought it was the head cover.

Just be sure before you dive in.

That way you can have the needed parts and not have to wait with your bike in pieces.

[Iamriding]

Cleaning the engine and then applying a very light coat of baby powder in the suspected zone can assist in finding a leak. Leaves a very definitive trail when you run the engine.

[Top Cat]

If it were me I would take the bike to the lady somewhere south of Alaska.

[DragonLady58]

What MAS Said! Its best to locate the leak, or at least know close to where its at. The baby powder idea is a great lowcost way to detect a leak.
What I do and alot of other mechanics do is add the oil dye, crank her up and run her, even if she's oiling everything down.
Bring her in, hose her down with a sprayer nozzle w/bottle full of S100 or SimplyGreen, its safe for your plastic parts, wash her good....
(about $7 at TractorSupply or WalMart)....
Then, all you need is your black lite, either the flashlight,....I have a mechanics light....and the leak will show itself brightly! No Guessing! Napa and O'Reillys carries them.
For hard to find coolant leaks or suspected leaks, theres dye that you can add to your coolant to detect it also. All you need is a black light bulb in your trusty garage trouble light....
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PRESSUREWASH YOUR BIKE!!!!! IF OIL CAN LEAK PAST YOUR GASKET, THAT 2800PSI WATER CAN EASILY GET PAST IT TOO, AND CAUSE A SPUN BEARING IN YOUR LOWER END!!!!!
Water is a damn good for cleaning when mixed with a good cleaner, but it doesn't lubricate worth a damn when mixed with your engine oil!

[danimal2]

Sorry so late here. It's been a rough go and it seems like everything I own has broken here lately.

I've checked everything that could be a potential oil leak. I did the cam plug deal a couple years back and they're still leak free. Also pulled the cam chain tubes out and checked them for wear marks and/or holes. They were fine, but I ordered and replaced the o ring seals on both of them due to them being dried out and hard. Also bypassed the crankcase breather and went to a small KN breather. 99% sure it's valve cover gasket. It's coming from the right side and up high. I won't do it at idle, but after 5-10 miles of 55 mph or better, she's gushing pretty good.

I've checked the valve cover bolts and they're all tight. I actually had that issue with the back cover a few years back and tightening solved it. Not this time though.

While I've got the thing loose, I'll replace the back one too just to be sure.

Arizona is tough on rubber, plastic, wood etc. due to the low humidity thing.

I appreciate the responses and I'm sure it will help. It's probably going to wait a while though. It's too stinking hot to ride right now anyway.

[DragonLady58]

Originally Posted by danimal2

Sorry so late here. It's been a rough go and it seems like everything I own has broken here lately.

I've checked everything that could be a potential oil leak. I did the cam plug deal a couple years back and they're still leak free. Also pulled the cam chain tubes out and checked them for wear marks and/or holes. They were fine, but I ordered and replaced the o ring seals on both of them due to them being dried out and hard. Also bypassed the crankcase breather and went to a small KN breather. 99% sure it's valve cover gasket. It's coming from the right side and up high. I won't do it at idle, but after 5-10 miles of 55 mph or better, she's gushing pretty good.

I've checked the valve cover bolts and they're all tight. I actually had that issue with the back cover a few years back and tightening solved it. Not this time though.

While I've got the thing loose, I'll replace the back one too just to be sure.

Arizona is tough on rubber, plastic, wood etc. due to the low humidity thing.

I appreciate the responses and I'm sure it will help. It's probably going to wait a while though. It's too stinking hot to ride right now anyway.

Remember, you just need enough clearance to remove your top covers....
Oil drainback on these engines is pretty good....Just curious about something....
Is it leaking in the front head, toward the inside of the V moving outward, more toward the left hand side????? And it only does it when rpms is up?

[Snake Ranch]

Originally Posted by DragonLady58

What MAS Said! Its best to locate the leak, or at least know close to where its at. The baby powder idea is a great lowcost way to detect a leak.
What I do and alot of other mechanics do is add the oil dye, crank her up and run her, even if she's oiling everything down.
Bring her in, hose her down with a sprayer nozzle w/bottle full of S100 or SimplyGreen, its safe for your plastic parts, wash her good....
(about $7 at TractorSupply or WalMart)....
Then, all you need is your black lite, either the flashlight,....I have a mechanics light....and the leak will show itself brightly! No Guessing! Napa and O'Reillys carries them.
For hard to find coolant leaks or suspected leaks, theres dye that you can add to your coolant to detect it also. All you need is a black light bulb in your trusty garage trouble light....
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PRESSUREWASH YOUR BIKE!!!!! IF OIL CAN LEAK PAST YOUR GASKET, THAT 2800PSI WATER CAN EASILY GET PAST IT TOO, AND CAUSE A SPUN BEARING IN YOUR LOWER END!!!!!
Water is a damn good for cleaning when mixed with a good cleaner, but it doesn't lubricate worth a damn when mixed with your engine oil!

I don't know if I missed it, but what kind of dyes are you using and where are you buying them.

[DragonLady58]

Originally Posted by Snake Ranch

I don't know if I missed it, but what kind of dyes are you using and where are you buying them.

You can get the oil dyes at O'Reillys and Napa, most mechanics use them when theres a mysterious leak occurs to track where its leaking from. Its a std. dye thats used in all cars/trucks/heavy equip./bikes....
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0601/N2323.oap

Same thing is avail. at Napa also....

[Snake Ranch]

Originally Posted by DragonLady58

You can get the oil dyes at O'Reillys and Napa, most mechanics use them when theres a mysterious leak occurs to track where its leaking from. Its a std. dye thats used in all cars/trucks/heavy equip./bikes....
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0601/N2323.oap

Same thing is avail. at Napa also....

Cool

Back in the late 70s I was working for a Cat dealership and they was using a red powder dye. Dump some in the compartment you was checking and you would get a bright red oil.

Anyways one hot summer day management sent a shop mechanic out to a customer's machine and it's out of town. Coy has to dump some in and return and he is by himself.

He is in a pickup with no A/C so he has the windows down. He was kind of careless about getting the lid screwed back on this powdered dye.

When Coy gets back to the shop he looks like a flaming red tomato on his face, neck and arms, and this stuff don't just wash off. It wears off.

So how is this new stuff if you get it on your skin. Does it wash off easily, or will we glow at night?

[MAS Tequila]

http://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/a/k...der-head-cover

While you're in there replace the 4 14043 filters, if they haven't been changed in the last 20000 miles.

And remember that the top piece of the head assembly has no gasket, just a thin bead of sillycone.

Your leak could be there.

But those 4 bronze filters, about $25 total, could save a lot of trouble down the road.

[DragonLady58]

Originally Posted by Snake Ranch

Cool

Back in the late 70s I was working for a Cat dealership and they was using a red powder dye. Dump some in the compartment you was checking and you would get a bright red oil.

Anyways one hot summer day management sent a shop mechanic out to a customer's machine and it's out of town. Coy has to dump some in and return and he is by himself.

He is in a pickup with no A/C so he has the windows down. He was kind of careless about getting the lid screwed back on this powdered dye.

When Coy gets back to the shop he looks like a flaming red tomato on his face, neck and arms, and this stuff don't just wash off. It wears off.

So how is this new stuff if you get it on your skin. Does it wash off easily, or will we glow at night?

Well, I don't think its as bad now days....its a liquid, or you can get it in a liquid state....but I always wear rubber gloves with this shit....

And What MAS said about the screens. Perfect time for new gaskets, new silicon, make sure your dampners are in the right place and tight, making sure is all right in the top end....

[Navigator]

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

http://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/a/k...der-head-cover

While you're in there replace the 4 14043 filters, if they haven't been changed in the last 20000 miles.

And remember that the top piece of the head assembly has no gasket, just a thin bead of sillycone.

Your leak could be there.

But those 4 bronze filters, about $25 total, could save a lot of trouble down the road.

How does one normally change those filters? Until this thread, I didn't know there were filters that in the engine that require changing.