Blew out clutch seal 1000 miles from home

[mrhedges]

I'm half way through a long trip. I was in Louisville got on I69 to make time. Cruising along at 85mph I noticed the old girl was loosing a lot of oil. I pulled into a gas station. My foot was covered. I figured I should still get to Detroit so I topped her off and kept her under 70mph. She went through a quart in 600 miles.

When I got to my friends house I ordered the parts. Oil seal #90285-10003 and clutch cover gasket #11482-45100-h17

Are these the right parts? Is this a hard job? My buddy whos a mechanic told me u should be able to get the seal out without taking the clutch cover off but from searching the forum it seems u need to drop the clutch cover. I was planning on spending a week and I have friends here a place to crash and even a garage but I might need to track some tools down. It's a bit stressful because have to be in Chicago for August 11th for family stuff

Besides that the bike and this trip has been excellent. I'm gonna eventually make a post just about that.

 

[Brendan W]

Unless I've completely lost my mind, the seal on the top of the case for the clutch arm can be done from the outside. No need to go unscrewing cases.
The dimensions are on the seal in mm. magnifying glass
I picked one up from the local farm supply engineering shop.
The original was 9mm deep, they only had a 6mm in stock and it's working fine three years since.
Just been visiting Wemoto and they list that seal as 22x12x9mm
Cmsnl list 22x12x7 as a non oem alternative.
Just thinking it's odd to lose so much oil from there.
Could the bearing be shot allowing the shaft to move around too much?
Needle roller 22x15x12

 

[Steve]

Are you SURE that is the seal you need? :-k
The number you gave was for an INTERNAL seal, one that I have never noticed.
(actually, the numbers were transposed, but I found what you meant.)

The seal that Brendan is referring to is EXTERNAL, it sits on top of the clutch release shaft that the cable pulls on.
THAT one I have changed on the bike and off the bike, it's actually easier when still on the bike.

The part number for that seal is 09285-12006, cost is $4.43 from Parts Outlaw.

 

[mrhedges]

Steve,

You are correct. The one I ordered is 09285-12006 but when I was writing up the forum post I wrote the internal one by accident.

So it's easier to remove without taking the clutch cover off? Good to know I'd rather not do that I'd don't think the things ever been off

 

[mrhedges]

Brendan,

I rocked the arm back and forth. Almost no play but I did hear slight click when I tried to rock it back and forth. Not sure if that's a sign the bearings are going bad but the clutch works great.

 

[Steve]

So it's easier to remove without taking the clutch cover off?

I think I just hammered a nail between the shaft and the housing, then pried the seal out.

Might have also been a narrow screwdriver, but the principle is the same.

Might have to do one hole toward the front and another toward the rear, but it will pop up easily enough.

Then just use a deep socket to tap the new one into place.

.

 

[49er]

Yes, easy fix as Steve has said. Just make sure you don't damage the ali edge seating the old seal.

Loosing so much oil through that seal suggests that your engine may be pressurising the crankcase. Check that the breather pipe is not clogged. If crankcase pressure is causing the problem, you will see extra oil leaks at the tacho drive and cam cam tensioner. If you don't fix this, your new seal will leak too.

 

[mrhedges]

Alittle update. I arrived at my friend's house in Detroit. I ordered the seal along with a clutch gasket (just in case) and a new oring for the oil cap. The parts came Friday. I replaced the oring on the oil cap. Oil had been pooling up around the cap and friend told me the oring seemed flat. After that the oil stopped pooling up and I started to think maybe that was the main leak. I used the bike all week to cruising around town so it seemed like way less oil was leaking. Though I spent minimum time on the hwy.

Today I decided to press on to Chicago. Well after 100 miles on the interstate I pulled off to get gas and it's leaking oil even worse. I went through a whole quart between Detroit and Chicago. I can't tell exactly where's it's leaking but one spot is definitely the valve cover gasket. It's also dripping from the air box so you seem to be right. There's a ton of oil pooling up under the camchain tensioner. What should I do?

 

[Brendan W]

Clean all the oil off, run the motor and start looking. The main suspects in this case seem to be the valve cover gasket is broken or the cover itself is loose. Careful tightening those screws, they strip real easy. The tensioner has three leak points, the gasket against the block and the seals at the lock screw on the left and the adjuster wheel on the right. The crank breather hose housing on top of the valve cover might be worth a look if it's loose or it's gasket is leaking. From the amount you describe my money is on the valve cover gasket.

 

[mrhedges]

One of the chrome cam covers rattled off when I hit a pothole in Detroit and I couldn't find it. That's just for looks right?

 

[Redman]

One of the chrome cam covers rattled off when I hit a pothole in Detroit and I couldn't find it. That's just for looks right?

yes... and for something to rattle and clank before it does fall off.
(I assume you meant the round cam cover end caps.)

Tell us some about your expereince changing that clutch arm seal.
I have a spare one, and mine is a little leakey, so that presents two situations:
- I want to hear more about changing it
- I have a spare available if you need while you pass thru this side of the state, although you will not be too close, well, unless you are taking the Muskegon ferry (expensive).
(I suspect but dont know if the one for 1100GK is same as 850G.)

>>later note
. Okay, I now see that you are already past here.
. And havent changed the clutch shaft seal.

PS: Dont think that I-94 is representive of Michigan.

 

[mrhedges]

I've been to the UP and hope to go back sometime. I really like Michigan.

I went out this morning to look at the bike and the bottom screw on the cam chain tensioner is so loose you can see daylight through the gap. Not sure if this was the result of the potholes in Detroit or what. But that's probably the main culprit.

 

[Burque73]

One of the chrome cam covers rattled off when I hit a pothole in Detroit and I couldn't find it. That's just for looks right?

One of mine rattled off so I removed all of them until a replacement is purchased.

Glad you found that loose screw on the cam chain tensioner. Maybe just a few loose bolts causing all the leaks. Valve cover leaks can show up in weird places due to rain water drain holes on top of the engine.

Mine was a real mess for a while from three leaks, tach drive seals, tensioner seals and valve cover gasket/ half moon plugs. Changed all those and leaks were gone. Still have to check fasteners every once in a while. 7 foot pounds of torque just doesnt seem enough on those bolts but thats the spec.

 

[Brendan W]

I've been to the UP and hope to go back sometime. I really like Michigan.

I went out this morning to look at the bike and the bottom screw on the cam chain tensioner is so loose you can see daylight through the gap. Not sure if this was the result of the potholes in Detroit or what. But that's probably the main culprit.

At this point you might want to consider that some other screws are loose and check over everything including not only the engine but engine mounts, brake calipers, triple trees etc etc. There is no end to what can have been left undone in the bikes history.

 

[mrhedges]

I woke this morning double-checked all the bolts (good suggestion) packed up and road from one friends house to another (45 miles) I stopped after 20. It seemed to be leaking less but still leaking. I examined the cam chain tensioner and appears to have air bubbles coming out from where the gap was (before I tightened it) so I'm guessing it's still leaking there? I'm thinking of cleaning the oil up and maybe some temp fix to get me home? I'm supposed to meet my gf in St Louis next week. When I get home I have two different friends shops I can use to replace any gasket or seal

 

[mrhedges]

I thought I'd write a little update. I made it home, it is leaking from the cam chain tensioner. I kept it under 65mph most of the way and that seemed to reduced the amount (or atleast reduce the amount on my legs), got to explore some neat backroads. I found the excellent how to on Basecliff's page. Are there other gaskets and seals I should think to replace as a preventative measure? The head gasket, valve gasket and base gasket are new but most if not all the other ones are probably original.

I'm going to write a post specific about my experiences but I have one other fairly minor issue and one more serious one. Towards the end of the trip I found that when downshifting and engine braking the bike would sometimes die. It always happened after the bike had warmed up and it wasn't everytime, it seemed just random. It happened when the bike was in low RPMs often when pulling into a gas station but sometimes coming up to a redlight. It never died when engine braking to lower speed just when I was coming to a stop. It always started up right away. Is this electrical? The bike (when warmed up) happily idles at 1,200 so it doesn't seem to be a carb issue or a idle issue. Is this normal? am I doing something wrong?

The last night I spent in a secluded campground in St Francis National Forest, AR (Lone pine campground, really cool spot) I set up the tent, make dinner, drink some beers, think about starting a campfire but it starts raining so I hid out in my tent. It rains pretty steady until 8am. I pack my stuff up go to start the bike and starts right away with choke, I push in the choke just a bit and the bike dies. This is strange, then I try to restart, No luck. Worried I turn it off wait a sec turn it on with full choke and she fires right up. I look back and both exhausts have white smoke. Then after a couple minutes it was coming just out of the right exhaust (kick stand side). The rest of the day the bike ran normal and I got home this evening. Are the bad seals letting rain in?

 

[Downs]

Check your airbox drain for oil. It's also possible a bunch of water got down the exhaust during the rain.

 

[49er]

Inside the airbox, just beneath the engine breather pipe, there is a narrow tract. It runs across the top of the box and can get completely blocked with rust. When this occurs, the crankcase pressurises causing all those oil leaks. I had the same problem a while back. I used a 1.6mm tig welding wire to clear the tract out. It hasn't reoccurred since. Check yours out.