AMC gearbox oil leak

Oil drips from this area are not uncommon. Usually it is an age related problem. ie wear in the outer casing and in the kickstart bush. Both allowing the kickstart shaft to flop about enough to let a little oil pass by the seal.

There should be a steel support bush in the outer casing which can be replaced along with the kickstart shaft bush. The outer case can be machined to take a single or even double lipped proper shaft seal. Like on the crankshaft ends.

Andover Norton used to sell a very fancy seal called an 'x' seal for the AMC gearboxes. I have one on my Commando and it seems to do the trick....but it is a later gearbox with a slightly different cover.

On my Dommie, which also used to drip a bit. I filled the oil seal recess, in the outer cover, with silicone before reassembling. This was supposed to be a temporary fix but has lasted very well.

A simple fix that seems to work for me is to coat the shaft and the bush with some thick HMP grease before assembly.

I did the same as Phil but on my Dommie.The groove for the seal is too deep for either the O-ring or the X-ring, so I part filled it with silicone before putting the X-ring in. Then let it set before reassembly. Far better than the O-ring.The book says the steel bush comes out if the case is warmed, and perhaps you could then put a lip seal in without machining. Has anyone done this? I could not get my bush out.

A fantastic looking machine, I can see why you don't want oil leaks!

Hi.

I use the same'O' ring as fitted tothe bottom of thepushrod tubes of my 1960 ES2. It fits straight in. Getting the gearbox cover back on is a bit of a buggerfirst timeand will involves a rubber mallet so put plenty of grease on the splines. Kickstart return will be a bit stiff for a while but soon loosens off. It lasts for ages and, once worn-in, getting the cover on/off again isn't a problem. I've used this mod on both my ES2 and Dommi for years.

Regards,

Ian.

Don't forget that if you make the entire engine oil tight you'll never know if there's any oil in it - until it's too late! Remember this the next time you're thinking of buying an old Rolls Silver Shadow - if there's no oil on the bottom of the enginr, there's no oil IN it!

Previously lionel_yexley wrote:

Don't forget that if you make the entire engine oil tight you'll never know if there's any oil in it - until it's too late! Remember this the next time you're thinking of buying an old Rolls Silver Shadow - if there's no oil on the bottom of the engine, there's no oil IN it!

well said that man , its like a Norton 500 Manx I know off it only goes to shows and never run as there is No oil in the engine or gearbox , that so it dose not leak oil on his carpet in the front room where he keeps the Norton Manx on the Night right next to the radiator to keep it warm so it dose not get cold, one very pampered Norton Manx , Unlike my Norton Manxman 650 its in a cool workshop, on the night, keeping company with my Norton Dominator 54 /88 along with my Oxford Allen Scythe but when it comes out and we go for a ride out it then gets a good thrashing yes it gets ridden hard and after a good long ride I then clean it before putting it away back in the workshop and its has a small oil leak from the kick-start shaft oil seal , so we sort soon , along with changing the clutch springs as the ones in now are going weak , and letting the clutch slip abit at high speed ,

yours anna j