Chasing an oil leak.....Round 2
So you know I’ve got this oil leak coming from my drive shaft / sprocket. It’s really a pain, even a little 30 minute jaunt means coming back home and wiping oil off of my frame and rear wheel, under the motor, center stand, etc.
So the last time I tried to fix it I applied Yamabond on the back of the sprocket, where it comes into contact with the spacer.
Yeah....that didn’t work. It’s still sling oil everywhere. So today I pulled everything apart again to try a different approach.
( Side Bar: I’ve always heard the guys that have been around a while saying, “ We used to make gaskets out of a cereal box.” So I tried it , I tore my gasket the last time I was in here, so here is my cereal box gasket. Now I can be an old timer and say, “ You kids today have it easy! In my day we made gaskets out of a cereal box! )
I can see that the outside of the sprocket looks pretty clean, but oil is drooling out of the other side.
So when I pulled the sprocket off, the spacer slid right off with it. Still well sealed all around from the Yamabond.
I could see how oil had been migrating through the inside of that spacer and traveling the length of the splines.
So I cleaned everything up, including the edge of the inner race inside the case, then I applied a thin layer of Hylomar on the edge of that spacer where it presses up against the inner race inside the case.
I set it outside to let the solvents dry out of it. I wanted it to be more of a gasket, then I slid the spacer and gear back on the shaft, put some more Hylomar on the lock washer, where it presses against the gear and a small amount around where the nut tightens against the lock washer. Overkill? Maybe, but I can still get everything back apart when the time comes.
So the arrows indicate where either Yamabond or Hylomar have been applied.
I’ll report back after the next time I go for a ride. ( which might be a while, we are heading back up to 110 degrees.)
One other comment, I had considered other options. Cra-Z1 had suggested an o ring between the spacer and inner race, this idea has real merit and mechanically it would be the simplest thing to handle.
2M had suggested filling the splines with grease as a way of blocking oil migration. Also a good idea that is simplicity itself.
In the end, I would have had to locate a suitable o ring, or if I tried the grease, I wasn’t sure what kind of grease to use. I know I have greased other things before in these motors and the grease I used didn’t blend in with the oil and it wound up clumping on my oil filter screen.
I had Hylomar and Yamabond on hand, so that’s the direction I went.
Wish me luck! I’d like to be through with this leak.
Later,
Bob