After a decent ride out on my 1956 Dominator 99 I get more than my fair share of oil leaks !
Whilst I have previously mentioned about the oil weeping up and out from the two head rear holding down bolts as yet to be sorted, I get a significant oil leak from under the engine / gearbox and for the life of me I cannot locate as to where it is leaking from. I have fitted a vented catch tank for the crank case breather. Whilst I am suspecting the leak is perhaps from the laydown gearbox I am not sure as oil drips from many places from under the engine and gearbox. Whilst I have not had the pleasure (sic) of removing the gearbox I am aware that there is no positive oil seal normally fitted. I fill the gearbox to the standard level plug.
Can anybody recommend a suitable harmless dye that I could put in the gearbox or engine so as to pinpoint the source of the leak ?
George
Dukhams and Halfords classic…
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Easy to tell the difference…
Easy to tell the difference between engine and gearbox oil by smell. But to identify the location, wrap/stuff rags in the various places you think it's coming from to localise it.
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To ID the leaks, engine oil…
To ID the leaks, engine oil brown, gearbox EP 90 green,primary ATF red . Later I changed them all back to classic 40 . Now using 40 in the box , 10/40 basic in the primary and 10/40 fully synth in the engine .They all work. For longer hotter rides the 15/60 or 20/50 fully synth in the engine
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Clean the engine, apply…
Clean the engine, apply talcum powder to suspected areas and run engine.
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The leak saga continues......
Thanks for the various suggestions. The talc idea might be worth a try and if I still don't find it the bike will smell nice. It is difficult if nigh impossible to observe the areas of where the leak might be starting from under the engine and gears box but with a decent mirror I will give it a go.
George
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The talc powder is that it…
The talc powder is that it will show the starting area quicker than just looking for oil alone as oily talc has more contrast to clean talc than oily alloy to clean alloy.
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Crack detection
Further to Johns reply, Look on Google for 'crack detection spray' kits. They normally come as 3 aerosols, cleaner, penetrant and developer.
While you (hopefully) won't need the penetrant, the cleaner to remove existing oil, and developer (like a spray on talc) are really useful, especially when applying it to the undersides of engines.
Regards, George.
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I've always used
brake / carb cleaner and powdered French chalk as I'm a cheapskate.
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Dukhams and Halfords classic 20/50 are green. How about that in one or the other? And red ATF in the primary.