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Oil leak after rebuild

Adam shehan

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2021
Total Posts
8
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0
Location
Harpers ferry ,West Virginia , usa
So I just did a top end rebuild on my cl 350 and have been putting some easy miles on it 25 so far , noticed the valves seemed little bit noisy when got back to house so then noticed little bit of oil on left side under points cover, took cover off and the exhaust valve adjustment but was loose . Took off the points, andvancer and the camseal was definitely oily . There was a light coating under the nut for the exhaust valve adjuster nut but more so on the seal, I used all new gaskets in rebuild and replaced all the oil seals, I guess my question is if that nut was loose and the adjusted being loose would that be the cause of my oil leak or should I put a new seal in for cam shaft , it is only few days old the adjusters only have a washer under them don’t think there supposed to have a lock washer and feel like I tighten them well when I did valves before putting motor back in bike. I did have a leak on the tac side cover but I had the gasket backwards but did all the proper steps and fixes that without any problems, thanks for any ideas
 
I don't think the loose exhaust valve would contribute to the oil leak. Did you use any sealant on the oil seals themselves, like ThreeBond or HondaBond?
 
Your symptoms may be indicative of an alignment error of the paper gasket where the points base/head cover matches to the cam box.....
IF the new o-ring that seals the eccentric valve adjustment spindle overlaps that gasket AT ALL, a leak will be present, and because of the uneven pressure/torque the nut MAY "self-loosen"....
 
Like Steve said, the rocker arm shaft is supposed to have an o ring to seal it.

A number of the gaskets I've come across have very generous clearance around the shafts but that doesn't mean that the o ring didn't get seated correctly.

After a rebuild I usually tighten the rocker shaft nut to make sure the rocker shaft is snug against the cam bearing, then proceed with valve clearance adjustment.

If you think an o ring failure is the issue, perhaps you can shove some non hardening sealer on the threads and nut?
 
66Sprint said:
Your symptoms may be indicative of an alignment error of the paper gasket where the points base/head cover matches to the cam box.....
IF the new o-ring that seals the eccentric valve adjustment spindle overlaps that gasket AT ALL, a leak will be present, and because of the uneven pressure/torque the nut MAY "self-loosen"....
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding, I’ve taken your advice on another forum and have spoken with you on a phone call and would like to ask your advice on the way to proceed, the cam seal appeared oily but it was new and appears in good condition and when installed it felt good, very possible it could have overlapped it’s not a lot of oil (10miles) and the nut was loose, what would be your approach to remedy the fix, could I loosed cam housing with out removal and shimmy the gasket, when I was doing top end I was holding the cam with one hand and installing the housing with the other , so may have done what your saying, hoping to not take motor back out ,
 
MrPepper said:
Like Steve said, the rocker arm shaft is supposed to have an o ring to seal it.

A number of the gaskets I've come across have very generous clearance around the shafts but that doesn't mean that the o ring didn't get seated correctly.

After a rebuild I usually tighten the rocker shaft nut to make sure the rocker shaft is snug against the cam bearing, then proceed with valve clearance adjustment.

If you think an o ring failure is the issue, perhaps you can shove some non hardening sealer on the threads and nut?
Click to expand...

Like three bond? Thanks for responding the nut for both rocker shafts we’re definitely not as tight as I had tightened them, the bike is running good but the oil leak is no good
 
I suppose like three bond. But may not work and you'll have the leak and bond residue to clean.

Did you install o rings during assembly?
 
A new, original type gasket, new seals and new o-rings will prevent oil leaks IF there is no other damage (like a wear area on the camshaft or to the seal itself) and they are properly installed...... Notice the "NEW" aspect of those parts.....

Please do not use a "sealant" from a tube.....bad idea......
 
So I did “have a alignment error” as sprint said the gasket was on backwards. I also as stated before that the tac side was backwards but that one was very quickly noticed in first minutes of start up, replaced the o rings with some new ones , cover came off and on with hand pressure, I know I examined the gaskets and there orientation before installing but must of flipped them both before installing, this time I put gasket on the cam holder and aligned the holes and it fit snug and stayed in place , doing valves now and cam chain adjustment, thanks for all the help , when I figure out the picture stuff I’ll post some
 
66Sprint said:
IF there is no other damage (like a wear area on the camshaft or to the seal itself) and they are properly installed...... Notice the "NEW" aspect of those parts.....
Click to expand...

To this point - when I’ve had a bit of wear on the camshaft, taking the spring out of a new seal and clipping it just a bit shorter (maybe 10% and re-threading the spring together) has cured some persistent oil leaks inside the points housing.


-Ed
1972 CL350
 
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