Woodly, don't know how far you are into the disassembly so apologies if this is 205. Please disconnect the neg cable on the battery BEFORE you remove the front cover. You could damage your diode board.
Yeah, but on an RD the switch is made of plastic! Oops. Sorry for the drive-by posting there. I see you acknowledged the fact that it's plastic.
The bike is totally disassembled at this point so the battery is long gone! Thanks for the heads up! I do have one question though, what is referred to as the RMS the rear main seal?
One thing. have you tried smelling the oil residue ? Transmission oil smells completely different from engine oil. That could give you a clue where it's coming from.
Not to beat a dead horse - but please be sure to check if the crank has moved forward as jackd prescribed. If it has not, block it immediately. If it HAS, I've read of a few last ditch tricks that may help you re-seat the thrust bearings. If that fails, unfortunately, it's time for total engine disassembly. I got lucky in that I read about blocking the crank just before I got that deep into my engine. For the record, both my rear main seal and oil pump cover were leaking, but then again, so was every gasket and o-ring on the entire bike!
You are correct! I need to do that but his evening we had plans...I did get to steal a minute before dinner and eyeball the engine at the alternator brushes, it appears that the small amount of crank movement did no shifting! Things appear to still be in place! I will definitely takea few photos and update ASAP! Oh yeah, and block the stupid crank from sliding!
Sheeeewww! Glad you were not scared! Ozmoses scared me to death the other day! Actually I am super glad he did, another hour or two and I would have screwed up big time. Love the advrider, always learning something. Thanks Oz!
Nope, all is well! I've done PLENTY of rebuilds but this one caught me totally by surprise and am just thankful that he caught it when he did. I would hate to tear down a perfectly good engine...as a side note, the oil pump cover plate screws are soaking so I should be able to get them out very soon to inspect the seal.
Even if you don't block the crank it doesn't usually move. If it does move the inner thrust bearing doesn't always fall off the pins. If the bearing comes off you can sometimes get it back on with out removing the crank. It's not a fun thing when it gets messed up but it can be fixed. It's just something to be aware of and know how to deal with . You'll never forget this one. Now you're an expert.
Blocking the crank is an issue that should be bought to the attention off anyone that appears to not know about it. Wouldn't it be a 50/50 chance as to whether the engine case or the crank wins the vacuum tug of war with the thrust washer? If indeed the crank gets pushed forward. A lot of noobs trying to remove a rms particularly on a clutch carrier bike might use the guide ring for leverage. Shit, I did. And I didn't know about blocking the crank. And I pushed the crank forward without realsing it. And I torqued up the clutch carrier with the washer sitting on top of the dowels.....
Well put, ME109. We've seen, many times, here and elsewhere, where not blocking the crank can have disasterous consequences. And in this case, the wrencher was unaware of the potential thrust washer problem and alerting him saved the day. And, as happens with 'Net postings, the advice will get offered in duplicate. REminds me of this old Internet Joke: --Bill
OK guys after all my drama about blocking the crank, I have her back together and the crank is all good! Thanks for all the help This is what happens when I take the bike that far apart...looking good to me though!
Actually the picture does it more justice than it deserves but it did clean up pretty good. Lots of elbow grease, Dawn, engine degreaser and comet!
