Oil Leak

I am the proud new owner of an 86 Maxim X with only 4500 miles on it (450 by me). I have a small oil leak that appears to be coming from the generator cover. My thought is that because it hasn't been ridden much in the last 15 years the gasket may have shrank or dried up some. Tightening the bolts has no effect. Rather than fart around with any kind of gasket sealant I was thinking I would just replace the gasket itself. Being new to bike ownership, is there anything special that I need to know to complete this repair? Should I drain the oil and replace during the process? Should I use some sort of gasket sealant when I re-assemble? Any other tricks or tips would be very appreciated. Thank you.

 

Mka, there is an alternator shaft SEAL and a bearing housing O-Ring that is allowing oil to seep into the generator case. There should be NO OIL at all inside the gen case.

I do have the replacement parts you'll need, but it does require the removal of the alternator stator and rotor, and removal of the rotor requires a special tool.

The gasket in-between the outer generator cover and the crankcase is really a "dust seal" rather than a gasket as you are thinking of. Again, NO OIL AT ALL inside the generator housing!

 

Take-off the Alternator Cover by removing its three Cap Screws.
Look inside and along the bottom of the inside to make sure that the oil you see coming from that cover is actually coming from the Alternator Seal.

It might be coming from somewhere else and trailing down to the bottom of the cover making it look like that's what's leaking when it could be coming from somewhere else.

 

I don't know for sure that it is coming from there and from what you say about no oil in the generator assembly, I am now thinking not. I can not actually see it seeping, just general light oil in that location. It may be coming from the top of the crankcase cover, blowing out like. I want to start at the easiest thing and what you described sounds rather difficult. Again, I have tried tightening everything to no avail. Think I'll go with the gasket for the crankcase cover. Any advise?

 

Working through that exact problem with a buddy. Still bet it's the alternator seal. We suspected the same thing with the crankcase gasket. You need to take the whole thing apart and replace the seal and bearing. You will need new screws for the plate - we had to drill his out.

There is an oiler for the chain with an o ring - replace it's o ring - we did the whole job except the o ring and it looks like that o ring leaks. You have to pull the plate anyway so do all the seals while you have it out.

One more thing - when you pull the plate with the seal and bearing it can stick - be careful not to pull the shaft out of it's seat - it will come out and it is a bear to get back in place properly (believe me we did it).

 

A word about tightening bolts to stop an oil leak: The valve cover bolts (and I believe ignition cover bolts on some of the "X" models) have COLLARS on them that prevent the bolt from tightening any more. When they're tight, they're STOPPED and attempts to tighten them further can strip things. This has nothing to do with the side of the motor, just didn't want to see you trying to ensure everything is tight enough and have a bad thing happen.

 

+1 - been there too - no substitute for backing off slightly and using a good torque wrench

You are also right fitz the X has the collared bolts on the ignition covers

 

Guess I better pull the generator cover to be sure, eh? Thanks for the info. Any more advise is very much appreciated.

 

Ok, I pulled the cover off the generator and the oil looks like it may be coming from there. Can anyone post directions on the repair? Parts needed? How much of the bike needs to be disassembled? I know it's a pain in the ass but if someone would step by step me through this I would be eternally grateful. I couldn't stand screwing this beautiful bike up but neither can I afford to bring it to the shop.

 

Oil leak all better. I went on a good long ride and it seems to have taken care of itself. Then again, I have put 700 miles on it the last three months. That's almost as much as has been put on in the last twenty years. I think that there was probably a dried out seal that re-wet itself. Now the damn winter is here. Can't wait for spring.

 

Hey, Bill. I have new generator seals and bearings on order from Chacal. I am hoping that this will cure my annoying oil leak. I have looked at the Haynes and XJCD, but sometimes those aren't too clear...and I have a bearing question: one of the bearings goes in the housing that is held on with the Torx screws, right? If what I have read is correct, the other bearing is at the end of the shaft inside the engine. What you wrote above leads me to believe I should leave the inside bearing alone and not pull that shaft out. Any further information you or the rest of the crew can share about the inner bearing replacement/shaft removal and reinstall would be great. Thanks.

 

If you are about to remove the Torx Fasteners to replace a Bearing and a Seal, ... be aware that those Torx Fasteners are some of the few that were treaters with Thread Locking Compound during the build.

Getting them out can be a fight without a Torx Socket and an Impact Tool.

 

Thanks for the heads up, Rick. I'll dig out the impact tool for the take-apart and some blue Loc-Tite for the re-install.

 

Thanks for the heads up, Rick. I'll dig out the impact tool for the take-apart and some blue Loc-Tite for the re-install.

 

I have some oil in the same area but haven't pulled the cover to look inside yet. That will get done this weekend for sure. The leak doesn't seem that bad because the oil level doesn't drop very quickly. Finding some wrench time is tough right now. Is it safe to ride the bike with a leak like this if I make sure the oil level stays good? I don't want to damage something else.

 

Shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep an eye on your oil level.

HACK - I missed this post and probably too late now - sorry. IIRC There is a bearing and seal in the plate you remove - to get the seal out you have to remove the bearing. The bugger is VERY tight so you should plan on driving it out and replacing the bearing. - Don't worry about the ones in the guts of the engine...

There is also a small oring that seals the oiler tube at bottom left under the plate ( at least on the X) Make sure you replace that. When we did Artie(RT)'s X that was where it leaked.

 

Sure.
You can survive without doing the Heavy Wrenching 'til the Season's over.

Make sure the Oil has a way OUT of the Cover.
A snip of the Gasket or a Weekly visual and cleaning.

Don't ignore it and let oil accumulate behind the Cover ... That would be bad!

 

I was planning on periodically checking inside the cover to make sure it isn't getting worse. I just wanted to make sure there isn't a propensity for the seal to fail catastrophically and dump a bunch of oil when I am riding down the highway.

 

Thanks, Bill. I have the parts but am enjoying riding right now so am keeping an eye on the oil issue. The last visual leads me to believe that the oil I found under the generator cover was blowing up at highway speeds and that the leak is still coming from the neutral safety switch. That trick of using baby powder Rick shared is worth its weight in gold.

Cheers,

 

Doubtful it will fail in such a manner. BUT heed Ricks advice - he make a good point I didn't think of.