Rocker Cover Gasket

[brenpak]

I have a question about replacing the front rocker cover gasket on my 99' Nomad do I have to pull the engine or can I replace it in the bike? It is the front one and I dont know if I have enouph room to get the cover out. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[cactusjack]

According to my 2007 1600 manual, the engine has to be removed. Not sure if a 1999 1500 would be different. Sorry, not really great news.

[macmac]

The cheat is to lower the engine staying close in the frame, down just enough to do what ya gotta.. Some things like the ground cable and the throttle should be yanked first.. Of course the tank needs to be off.

[ringadingh]

A lot of the time its the rubber cam plug that is leaking. You can clean it well and seal it with a thin layer of silicone. This can usually stop it at least for a while. If it is the rocker gasket, you have to loosen the motor to get at it as the others have said.

[chapi0351]

I have an 02 and my cover leaks a Little bit at the right front corner. My dealer( always a very good heads up kinda guy) says that it can be done without removing the engine, but it takes just about as much labor time as it does to remove the engine. Mine does not currently leak enough to leave a mark on the floor, just coats the front and bottom of engine over a few months. So I just watch my oil level, and clean the light coating off and will not fix unless I have to do some major work or the leak gets much worse. It has been leaking like this for over 1 year and 14k miles and I haven't seen any change and have never had to add oil.

[macmac]

chapi0351, If you want to play cheat the devil you can do it easy if you can drag a bar of ivory soap over where you see the leak.

Try it.. take 3 or 4 swipes around and then rub the soap into the joint with a finger on a cool engine. Go rode, and allow it to cool and repeat that.

Once you form a thin film of soap in the right place it will stop oil from flowing thru. You may need to re-apply after rains and car washings, but the trick works over and over and pretty well.

Beats cleaning that spot after every ride anyway. I am not sure about other soaps as i tried it with Ivory and it works well enough i haven't needed it on other things.


And I didn't do this to a Nomad.....

[caddman11]

Hey Macmac, nice tip---I worked for a Honda/Triumph/BSA bike dealer for years when I was younger and I had thought I'd heard of every trick in the book, but the soap is a new one for me. Of course the Hondas never leaked, but why the brits never used gaskets on engine casing always made me wonder.

Wish I would have known that one when I owned my Harley--changed over to synthetic oil and it started leaking everywhere, change back to reg dino and most of the leaks stopped but not all of em'.

[macmac]

Everything you listed is supposed to leak oil so you can tell when you need to add more oil. Except Honda..

Do you recall the chain oilers you could turn on and off and set the rate of flow?

[brenpak]

Well guys I was thinking with my luck I would change the front rocker cover gasket, and only after I get the first ride I know the back cylinder cover will start leaking, So I pulled the engine out and I am waiting for new gaskets for the front and back, Thanks for your advice, Is there anything else I can Inspect or replace while I got the engine sitting on the jack anything that is problematic that you can think of I would like to be proactive Thanks!!

[chuckster131]

If there is any sign of leakage out of those cam plugs, do it now before you put the engine back in. Will save a lot of grief later.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by chuckster131

If there is any sign of leakage out of those cam plugs, do it now before you put the engine back in. Will save a lot of grief later.

Id put a thin layer of silicone around them , while Im installing the gaskets.