leaky oil pan gasket

[dontlikeoc]

I have been finding out horror stories little by little about my 1981 Special I picked up one month ago. Adding to problems with unpaid registration fees, stripped pil filter bolt, over tightened bolts everywhere, now i discovered that the underside of the engine is very wet with oil. (I guess it was dry when I picked it up because it had been sitting for a while...) It is leaking like a GS500 oil pan...I never thought big engine bikes will have this problem.

Is it just a common thing for a 30 year old bike with 40,000 miles on it to have a leaky oil pan gasket, and many of you had changed the oil pan gasket at least once by this point? Or, is it a bad sign of the abuse by previous owners?

I will start by tightening the allen bolts. Is engine degreaser safe to use to clean the mess with?

[Athedra]

Take the oil pan off, clean it properly and refit it with some RTV black. I usually clean all my parts and motor with Diesel fuel. When they are clean wash them with soap and hot water, then air-dry it with compressed air.

When you refit, make sure the area where your gasket was is very clean. I usually give it a quick rub with some fine sanding paper. Then give it a thin layer of RTV on both the part and the casing. Let it stand for two minutes, and then bolt them together. Wipe off the access and let it stand for an hour or so before I add oil to it.

With you having a leak on the oil pan, it means someone has opened it before. So wouldnt worry about the leak to much. The PO probably stripped the sump plug and then took of the oil pan to re-tap it. See stripped sump plugs daily, so would assume that is the reason for removing the oil pan.

PS. On a DT400, you check your oil in the exhaust, and on a GS500, you check your oil on the driveway floor. If the DT400 exhaust is dry, you need to top up, and when your GS500 stops leaving drops in the driveway, you need to top up. Heard the old ford Escorts had to be checked on both. Seriously dont know why they had dipsticks if the check could be done visually without touching anything.

[DGXSER]

Look carefully as I have had drips from what looked like the oil pan but was really the shifter cover.

As to the pan leaking, I agree with Athedra, pull the pan and either cut a new gasket or use black RTV.

[Athedra]

Look carefully as I have had drips from what looked like the oil pan but was really the shifter cover.

Now that DG mentions it. I had a similar problem but was my tensioner, with the airflow from the front, it push the oil round to my Filter cap, and with the heat at the front, the front looked dry the whole time. Only picked it up after cleaning the motor properly and a week later saw the dry oil on the front of the motor. Needless to say Black RTV did the trick to solve my "leaking filter cap" problem.

[DGXSER]

BTW, if you want to cut your own gaskets, look in the links section for the UK site link to gasket templates. Very useful!!

[XSokieSPECIAL]

dontlikeoc,

Here's the printable gasket library.

http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...43573#msg43573

[dontlikeoc]

Thank you eveybody for your advice. It makes me feel more at ease to deal with this problem.

I will start by cleaning the underside to determine where exactly it is coming from (better be not from the shifter...) as I am waiting for the replacement oil filter bolt (and Bolt Out) to come in anyway.

About using RTV, is it oil resistant? I specifically avoided it when I put the petcock back onto the fuel tank as it is not gas-resistant.

[DGXSER]

Yep, RTV is oil resistant. I cut and used a new gasket for my shift cover, torqued the bolts to spec and it leaked. I pulled it off and used RTV instead and it has not leaked a drop since.

When I got the project bike, I did not have any gasket material around so I used RTV for everything. So far, not a leak one, granted it only has about 4 miles on it.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

About using RTV, is it oil resistant? I specifically avoided it when I put the petcock back onto the fuel tank as it is not gas-resistant.

Yup, RTV is oil resistant, the Super Blue is really good. I think they have another super color too but can't think of it right now.

However, be careful using it on your oil pan or anywhere connected to the crank case/ and oil pump.

Excess RTV on the inside can fall off and do a SUPER job clogging oil pump screens.

JAT

[motoman]

My own.........high temp grey, NO gasket, been that way for 4+yrs, not even a moist spot anywhere. Same for shifter cover. Have both gaskets saved for who knows what. Just my 2cents worth.

[Athedra]

RTV has a heat range of -60 (Celsius) to +260 (Celsius). You get it in Black, Blue, Red, silver, grey and white. It is oil resistant. If you need something to cover more heat, such as your exhaust manifolds, then you need to look at the White one. Just make sure it says in small print Firegum. Firegum can go up to +620 (Celsius). The rest can be used anywhere that gets into contact with oil.

For head gaskets, use copper spray. It seals everything perfectly. Remember to torque it right, because getting the head and gasket off if you did it wrong takes some doing. I have heard of people using shallack on the head gasket as well, but I never tried it.

Anything that gets into contact with petrol, use good old red Hermitite. As far as I know it comes in red only. It is oil and petrol resistant, and becomes hard after it dries out. Similar to the Firegum. It's a tad pricey, but if you have a tube of red hermitite, Tube of RTV, Tube of firegum, Copper spray and head gaskets, you can do your whole bikes gaskets without any problem. Works out a lot cheaper than a full gasket set. Over here RTV is R25.00, Firegum is R60.00 and Red Hermitite is R80.00, Copper spray is R35.00 and head gaskets is made for R350.00. Totaling R550.00, where as a full gasket set will cost you R3200.00 and still leave you with the possibility of a leak.

Personally when I do gaskets, I dont want to be left with the chance of still having a leak and redo the job, and the other option is cheaper as well.

[dontlikeoc]

Thanks for confirming the RTV oil resistence. BTW, about the cutout gasket templates from UK, are the ones called "strainer" the ones for the oil pan gasket?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Thanks for confirming the RTV oil resistence. BTW, about the cutout gasket templates from UK, are the ones called "strainer" the ones for the oil pan gasket?

YUP, that's it!

[dontlikeoc]

Thanks for confirming. Now, I will work with my trusty hole punch and scissors.

[Lamric]

... are the ones called "strainer" the ones for the oil pan gasket?

I used the English names in the Template Library but can easily add American names e.g. "aka Oil Pan" - any more of them gasket names need an "aka" for y'all ?