MikeCas
XS650 Member
Hey guys. I'm having a problem with sealing my sump cover plate. I thought this would be simple! Does anyone know the torque specs for the six bolts? Should I use gasket sealer? Let me know and thanks!
Mike
Mike
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The bolts are only M6 so you don't want to go much tighter than 6 or 7 ft/lbs. Personally I use around 6 and the cover seals just fine. I use no gasket sealer, just oil, grease, or anti-seize on the gasket. This makes it come back off easy. The "secret" here is to get the sealing surfaces TOTALLY clean. You must get every last bit of old gasket off. I use paint stripper. This pretty much melts the old gasket away (and any gasket sealer that was used). If you don't get the sealing surfaces eat-off-it clean like this, it's gonna leak no matter how tight you make the bolts.
I use gasket sealer ,Mr 5T has of course right as always . But if the bike is old and ,many before you have tried to get the surfaces clean . They can in some case be uneven. Warped Scratched and so
It can also help to use a tightening pattern ... little at a time..
It can also help to use a tightening pattern ... little at a time..
I always am a bit leery of saying this after a guy went gonzo on a sealing surface but CAREFUL work with a fine file kept completely flat on the gasket surface of the cover, stoke slowly, just enough to remove any high spots. Typically a ring around each bolt hole and maybe the front tabs that stick out will show a bit high. You need to keep two points of the file on the cover. IE across the whole cover. A less hazardous way is a piece of wet or dry paper on a piece of glass or other very flat surface, rub the cover over the sand paper holding it lightly and evenly, changing direction and rotating cover frequently.
(use lots of water with a little soap in it to keep the paper from loading.) Check often, work just til any high spots are sanded flat.
(use lots of water with a little soap in it to keep the paper from loading.) Check often, work just til any high spots are sanded flat.
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Hylomar blue - works great. Never dries.
no issues that you get with rtv
can also be surfaced if you got high spots like Gary said.
my go to is a piece of glass(or porcelain tile) 320/600/1000 wet/dry (depending on level of damage) taped down.
load it with water - run figure 8s and rotate 90deg every 10 or so figure 8s.
no issues that you get with rtv
can also be surfaced if you got high spots like Gary said.
my go to is a piece of glass(or porcelain tile) 320/600/1000 wet/dry (depending on level of damage) taped down.
load it with water - run figure 8s and rotate 90deg every 10 or so figure 8s.
Going to try paint stripper on my next difficult to remove gasket. How long does it take to soften the gasket? Thx for the tip
Let it soak in for 10 minutes or so, gently scrape off what has been softened, re-apply if needed. It usually is, taking a few applications to get all the gasket off. This is about the safest way I've found to remove old, stuck on gaskets without doing any damage to the gasket surface. Don't know if you've ever had to remove the old gasket from a points/advance housing but they're really stuck on there. Yamaha Yamabonded them on. Here's one with the 1st application of stripper applied and soaking .....
This softened and allowed scraping of about half the thickness of the gasket .....
A 2nd application and soak, and most all of the rest of the gasket came right off .....
A couple dabs of stripper on the remaining little bits, a little soak time, and that finished the job.
This softened and allowed scraping of about half the thickness of the gasket .....
A 2nd application and soak, and most all of the rest of the gasket came right off .....
A couple dabs of stripper on the remaining little bits, a little soak time, and that finished the job.
I grind gasket scrapers on the broken end of old hacksaw blades. Round the corners so it won't gouge. And um tape over the teeth for the handle!
great for the upside down under the crankcase contortion and in the recess for the side filter.
great for the upside down under the crankcase contortion and in the recess for the side filter.
Not entirely on topic but perhaps a little I use the broken and worn hacksaw blades for making small Knives.
For fine cutting. ( we are into Re Cycling right ?? ) .
When I am at it. And have the tools out .
It is quickly done.
Some times they are pointed and sometimes more akin to the type triple -g-G mentions
I sharpen them with the Angle grinder I have a cutting disc in it so many forming options
And they can be used for all sorts of cutting even gaskets
or paper templates.
Spreading them out in fex the toolbox.
Not used the fine sharpening tools like stone or fine carborundum paper They get pretty sharp on the grinder also.
I test sharpness on a newspaper . Front .
However I don't scrape that much on plane gasket surfaces : I tend to do a poor job on that.
I have tried with aluminum flat bar and many other things still not so good results
So Mr 5 T s paint remover is something I will test can be the winner... go for as far as possible.
Thing is; with currently available paint strippers, you might as well piss on the gasket.
Gary, from an age when mechanics used POWERFUL chemicals and died young.
Gary, from an age when mechanics used POWERFUL chemicals and died young.
I have a small piece of stone, like one you would use to sharpen a knife. It will remove the last bit of gasket from a flat surface, like the sump plate. Yes, be careful. It will cut aluminum too.
SEd27
XS650 Addict
Had a slight weep from the corner of the sump plate that no matter what I tried I could not get to seal.
The mating surfaces were clean and here were no visible burrs or deformations.
Took 5twins advice and smeared a bit of grease on gasket. Problem solved. As mentioned above, this also helps in the future when dropping the sump plate.
The mating surfaces were clean and here were no visible burrs or deformations.
Took 5twins advice and smeared a bit of grease on gasket. Problem solved. As mentioned above, this also helps in the future when dropping the sump plate.
Hybrid; THIN smear of hylomar blue on the cover, gasket, then grease. ;^)
A good dedicated gasket scraper tool can be expensive but there are some nice reasonably priced ones out there. I've been using this one I got from MikesXS years ago, and it's a wonderful tool .....
I got the 15mm wide one and think it is ideal. They also sell a 23mm wide one but I don't see the need for one that wide. But what I use most are a couple of old small knives. These had the tips broken off the blades long ago so I filed and sharpened the ends so I could scrape with them. But I actually use them like a normal knife most of the time, using the knife blade to "carve" or cut the gasket off. They work very well .....
But the whole point of using the stripper is to soften the gasket up enough so aggressive scraping isn't required. If the gasket isn't coming off with gentle scraping, apply the stripper again.
I got the 15mm wide one and think it is ideal. They also sell a 23mm wide one but I don't see the need for one that wide. But what I use most are a couple of old small knives. These had the tips broken off the blades long ago so I filed and sharpened the ends so I could scrape with them. But I actually use them like a normal knife most of the time, using the knife blade to "carve" or cut the gasket off. They work very well .....
But the whole point of using the stripper is to soften the gasket up enough so aggressive scraping isn't required. If the gasket isn't coming off with gentle scraping, apply the stripper again.
Rounding the corners.
