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Why does the contact breaker need a gasket?

  • Thread starter Thread starter oohsam
  • Start date Start date
O

oohsam

Guest
It's beyond me. I'm putting it together and although I have one. i cant work out why its needed..just to stop rattle?
It doesnt fill up with oil or anything...someone please shed some light.
 
They run just fine without. If you were doing deep water crossings the gasket might be useful. That cover is vented, but a good air tight seal would keep water from coming in the vent.

But since most of us do not do deep water crossings on street bikes all that often....
 
oohsam said:
It's beyond me. I'm putting it together and although I have one. i cant work out why its needed..just to stop rattle?
It doesnt fill up with oil or anything...someone please shed some light.
Click to expand...
as stated, it will run fine without one but just to give you an idea, start your bike up without the cover on and chuck a bucket of water over it and see what happens
 
tkent02 said:
They run just fine without. If you were doing deep water crossings the gasket might be useful. That cover is vented, but a good air tight seal would keep water from coming in the vent.

But since most of us do not do deep water crossings on street bikes all that often....
Click to expand...
not all the covers are vented, i got 2, one windowed and a spare standard one, neither are vented in any way
 
There's not a little passage somewhere near the lower cover screw? I thought they all needed that to equalize air pressure and to let any oil leaking past the main seal out so it doesn't fill up the ignition cover (see the bucket of water post above)
 
tkent02 said:
There's not a little passage somewhere near the lower cover screw? I thought they all needed that to equalize air pressure and to let any oil leaking past the main seal out so it doesn't fill up the ignition cover (see the bucket of water post above)
Click to expand...
nope, they have a rubber grommet where the wires come out but it seals tight, no other holes anywhere. some covers i see have holes in the centre of the cover but i dont know why as the self adhesive emblem will seal this anyway? :confused:
 
yeah, speaking of this ignition gasket, I was just gonna use a fine bead of clear silicone. I imagine that would be fine, after all, (and I could not beleive this) my clutch cover was on with only silicone! It did not leak a drop of oil. I do not think that is typical? But am sure the ignition cover would be fine. And, just for reference, my 1980 1100E has the typical hole for the rubber wire grommet and the small weephole next to it.
 
If I get any closer than 3 metres to my bike with a tube of silicon she screams out in ANGUISH.
 
Cut a new gasket out of some paper or an old magazine cover using the cover as a template. No need for silicone sealant down there.
 
That ignition cover is one of only a few places that it's OK to use silicone, as it can't get to the oil system from there to block it.
 
I do wonder what would happen, though, if you ran with no gasket and never really took your cover off, then maybe let the bike sit (maybe even out in the elements :eek:) for an extended time. Would they try to fuse together? Just curious because I've been dying to do this to my bike :D
 
Piggybacking off of this thread, is the breaker cover gasket installed with any sealant/adhesive to hold it in place? Or just dry? I'm a rookie at bike work as my 82 gs650gl is the first bike. Bought an oem gasket off ebay.
 
Putting a very thin smear of grease or oil might make it easier to remove further down the road. Using any kind of sealant is entirely pointless. Like the above posts said, it's not a critical mating surface. It's just there to keep dirt and rain out. Reuse the existing one if you can and save your new OEM one for later.
 
I'm still using my original gasket yet, never had any problems with it. Never used any kind of sealant. Comes right off when I when I need to get to the crank bolt to adjust my valves.
 
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