Oil Leaks for the Newbie

[5twins]

From the serial number, that looks to be a 1972 motor.

The description of your pushrod bushing problems is rather vague, like saying "bushings" - there's only one. The bushing can be had in different lengths but the 10mm O.D. and 8mm I.D. will always be the same. Longer is considered better. It will support the pushrod better (more) and shouldn't wear out as quickly .....

 

[gggGary]

Fwiw the 70 had a 10mm long bushing in it, I replaced w an 8mm cuz thats what i had. No idear if it had been changed before.

 

[5twins]

Maybe the factory did the same, lol. Gary, you should invest in a bag of the 10's from McMaster-Carr. I think I've mentioned it before but they also are perfect for fixing worn lever pivots.

 

[gggGary]

Beat you to it, had ordered some already.
The 8s work for the levers, originally bought them to do throttle shaft bushings which I still haven't attempted.

 

[Paul Sutton]

Rooskie28, when replacing that clutch push rod seal take the sprocket off first like 5twins says. It seems extra work but makes the job so much easier. Also, when you order the clutch seal never order just one. They are very cheap and it is easy to accidentally damage them and such a pain to wait for a second order. You will see references to smoothing off(deburr) the outer edge of the oil seal housing. When they were machined the edge left was razor sharp. If you try pushing the seal in with your thumb you could get a nasty cut. You could buy a deburring tool, quite cheap:

I found that deburring made it easier to fit the seals, but if you do not deburr then just make sure the seal is perfectly lined up.

That plastic cap over the neutral switch is very hard and inflexible. I heat them up with a hot air gun and then they are easily managed(same with old plastic and rubber tubing). Heat them too hot and they melt.

That single piece clutch push rod is a positive. I found they have more sensitivity in the clutch play.

Have fun.

 

[Rooskie25]

Whats going on y'all, ordered new bushings from Mcmasters and they worked like a champ. Got the pushrod seal situated in there nice and snug, now I'm onto ordering and replacing my beat up front sprocket and washer. But i don't want to run into my same issue, so I'm looking into ordering spacers, just not sure how to correctly go about that process. If anybody has some helpful tips let me know

 

[75XSFLORIDA]

The neutral switch can develop a pretty good leak between the black plastic part and the metal housing. The black part gets loose. This happened on my ‘77, I was able to make it oil tight again by taking a punch and carefully staking the metal around the black plastic part to tighten it back up. Like so,
View attachment 164462View attachment 164463 View attachment 164464

This is also a good chart showing some of the most common leaks on these motors. Photo courtesy of gggGary.
View attachment 164466

Question....When you hit the metal around the black plastic are you visually seeing a difference or is it just doing something you cannot see???

 

[Mailman]

Question....When you hit the metal around the black plastic are you visually seeing a difference or is it just doing something you cannot see???

Oh you can definitely see it. Here is how it looked prior to being crimped,

Here, I’m going around the metal crimp band with a punch,

And the end result, you can see the six places where I’ve crimped the metal down on it. Before I started I could wiggle that black plastic cap with my finger, and now it’s nice and tight. Just have a light touch with the hammer, you don’t want to crack the plastic.

 

[75XSFLORIDA]

Yes I understand you can see where you hit it with a punch. The punch marks.....But can you see the metal crimp band becoming recessed as u hit it....or what are you actually seeing visually?
I hit mine in six places just like you suggested but I do not see a difference. Looking at it at eye level the black dome plastic piece is just as tall/high as before hitting the crimp band, so obviously the metal band is not been retracted or is not being recessed further from the punch hits.

 

[75XSFLORIDA]

Oh you can definitely see it. Here is how it looked prior to being crimped,
View attachment 171315

Here, I’m going around the metal crimp band with a punch,
View attachment 171316

And the end result, you can see the six places where I’ve crimped the metal down on it. Before I started I could wiggle that black plastic cap with my finger, and now it’s nice and tight. Just have a light touch with the hammer, you don’t want to crack the plastic.
View attachment 171317

Also you must be hitting the shit out of that hammer to get those punch marks that deep!!! Thought you said gentle taps. Gentle taps definitely won’t leave those gouges