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1951 ES2 finished but oily!

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As mentioned in other threads I have got my ES2 up and running and done about 300 miles on it with no derious problems so far. The main issue that I want to overcome at the moment is the oil leak from the rocker box. It is covering the back of the bike in oil and I am having to top up the tank too often for my liking (I know I need to do it a bit but this appears to be excesive).

Can people make suggestions on how to seal the joint? I made gaskets and used gasket sealant but that doesnt appear to have done it. Any other ideas? Or just have another go?

Other than this I am very happy with the bike, it's not got as much grunt going up the hills as I hoped for, but I may be aiming too high after getting used to my International.

I've attached a pic of the bike in it's finished state

Andy

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There are two ways:

Method 1

Of course make sure the mating surfaces are clean and free of crud.

Then take a new gasket and give it a thick coating on both sides with Stag Wellseal.

Hang your saturated gasket up over night to go all lovely and tacky and gooey - the gasket will swell as it soaks up the Wellseal.

Method 2

Take the paper gasket and throw it away, because on the rocker box they always seem to fit badly anyway!

Thoroughy clean both mating surfaces - actually when I stripped my engine down, I put some grinding paste on a piece of glass and flatted them off (both sides) ...well worth doing, as there was a little bit of 'rock' in them beforehand which could have manifested later on as an oil leak. I got them vapour blasted after, so that got rid of all the residual grinding paste that went everywhere.

When it came to sealing, I used Grey Loctite 5699. It is high temperature, stays flexible and is really nice to use.

The fact it is the right colour is a major plus in my book... there's nothing worse than oodles of red or blue sealant splurged everywhere on an otherwise nice bike!

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The rocker box never had a gasket, according to the literature I've read,so I have never fitted one. A thin bead of sealer (I use Loctite Master Gasket 510 or 515 ) is all that is required. Make sure you de-grease the mating surfaces with metholated spirit. The only leak I have had from that area is the de-comp shaft, which I fitted an 'O ' ring to, to fix. Apart from the adviceprevious, re flattening the box surface, when installing the front and back 1/4"hold down bolts, the ones with the through drilled holes in head, put some sealer on the threads.

If you wash off the oil, then go for a short run, I think you should be able to see from where the oil is starting to come from.....Check the oil line banjo for cracks in joint.

Paul

 



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