Hope this isn't that bad....

[wa407mpp]

Oil leak

Have you checked your friends and coworkers? We had a guy where I used to work with, who bought a new wing and drove everyone nuts bragging about it. So some of them took turns with a pump can full of used oil, he looked for that leak for a couple of weeks before he caught on

[prometheus578]

"Now that's just mean..."

... I love it!

[erithanis]

Using technical names is good, helps prevent ambiguity. There could very well be a number of "big shiny thingies" in view. Besides if you get info here you certainly have the resources to find out what something means, assuming you're too embarrassed to just ask.

[manshack_one]

Picked up the bike from the muffler shop today. Owner is a biker and owns a 1500 Valkryie. humongous engine on that sucker. Anyways, 40 bucks later it's all patched up. He took my "i don't care how it looks as long as it works" statement to heart. I'll post the pic of that later. Definitely got all my power back. Short ride home but I noticed it running a lot smoother at 60 than any other speed. Time to get it sync'ed up this weekend.

Took a closer look at the leak for a few seconds. Noticed after the ride home that when I kicked it back on there was a puff of smoke coming from the 4th pipe's exhaust gasket. He didn't try and fix the bolt that's missing a head. It's just a small puff and it goes away. It'll be warmer tomorrow and I'll go degrease the engine and look more closely for the source of my leak.

One step closer to getting it road ready permanently. Still need a right side horn if someone has a spare. I'll pay shipping!

[manshack_one]

Got it all cleaned up and took a ride. Pretty comfortable at 70. Anyways, the oil is definitely leaking from the #4 exhaust gasket. In fact, from what I'm seeing there isn't a gasket there at all. So, my question is, why would oil be leaking out at that point? Shouldn't it just be burned fuel exhaust?

[prometheus578]

why would oil be leaking out at that point?

It's not.
I mean... It's not oil.
It' fuel mixed with sooty carbon-y exhaust residue

When was the last time you looked at your spark plugs?
Put it this way... if that was oil leaking from that section of the exhaust system... the other section of the exhaust system, the one normally where the exhaust come out, would be billowing blue smoke, of which you make no mention.
(It's always fun to diagnose a bike.... when you're not there to diagnose it)
Play this game: Check the spark plug.. better yet, check them all.
#4 is gonna be black, or black, wet and fuel fouled.
Could just be #4....
or... all cylinders are running too rich and just spitting out unburnt fuel, and it's just that #4, with the loose header pipe is allowing it to leak out and come to your visual attention.(The other header pipes, as they are sealed, just retain the extra till the pipe heats and burns it off)
Propably only happens at start-up, When the engine is cold and the fuel enrichener applied.

[manshack_one]

Thanks Prom.

I don't have any smoke at all so that's a plus. And now that I think about it the "oil" coming out did smell a little like gas. But it's constant once the engine warms up and you get going. Doesn't happen right at startup. Also, now that the muffler guy has welded the pipes all together, the only way I supposed to get the gasket on there would be to unhook all 4 and slide them forward a little. Could Blue RTV work in a gaskets place?

I'll take a look at the plugs and maybe take a pic or so.

I thought I had everything set right with the floats and have even leaned out the slide needles one notch. I still have the sync to do so maybe # 4 is just way out of sync? Who knows. Right now I need to get the gasket done. Better check the middle two while I"m at it, they may not have gaskets either! Don't you love fixing PO problems?

[prometheus578]

'Blue RTV would work..."

For about 30 seconds or so.
Nope, you need the gaskets... Round little metal/asbestos thingies.
Well, firstly, I'd figured out what I was gonna do about the busted exhaust flange bolt. No use putting in new gaskets when only one side of the pipe will be tight against the engine. Exhaust gaskets only work well when they're sealed properly.
If there's a small area where exhaust can leak past the gasket, it'll eventually burn itself a better path to freedom.

[manshack_one]

Finally got the exhaust gaskets in. Could that pipe be pulled back just enough to slip that gasket on there? Reason I ask is that when the pipes were getting patched up he welded the clamp area where the header pipes come in to the collector part. Now all 4 pipes have to be removed as one big peice. Instead of removing them all I'd like to just bend the pipe back enough to slip that gasket on. Also, does anyone know where a good replacement would be for the nut that holds that collar down on top of the exhaust gasket? I've got O'reillys and walmart to choose from. Maybe Autozone if I can talk the family into a 45 minute ride to another town tonight.

[erithanis]

If there's a small area where exhaust can leak past the gasket, it'll eventually burn itself a better path to freedom.

That explains what happened to one of my gaskets. I'm still working on getting one of the rusted in studs out...not enough time. =(

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Manshack,

The place where the gasket sits and the header pipe fits into is fairly recessed into the head, so you would need to bend it a pretty fair distance, not good for welds and such. You can try loosening the other header nuts just enough to allow some more slack so you wouldn't have to bend the one header pipe as far, but you'll probably end up just taking them all off to be able to pull the header pipe out far enough to put the gasket in!
T.C.

[manshack_one]

Still trying to figure this one out:

"Also, does anyone know where a good replacement would be for the nut that holds that collar down on top of the exhaust gasket? I've got O'reillys and walmart to choose from. Maybe Autozone if I can talk the family into a 45 minute ride to another town tonight."

That barrel nut is tough. Everyone keeps wanting to give me a regular nut and doesn't understand it has to go down in a hole and I'd have no other way to tighten it.

[Ken Talbot]

You could make a major project out of it by dropping the whole exhaust system and removing all the studs. Then you could use just use socket head cap screws in the appropriate size and length. No more weird barrel nuts to try to track down.

[manshack_one]

Socket head cap screws? I'm guessing it looks like a bolt only hollow?

[Ken Talbot]

Nothing exotic, just like the bolts that hold the whole engine together...