OIl Pan and Oil Filter Installation Theories

Tell me how you put these gaskets on. I have replaced many in my short carrier, and every frickin' one of them leaks. Most just a drip here and there ... but the neurosis has finally kicked in, and if I see another drip, I'm going ballistic. Seriously.

The Dobber has always leaked a bit ... but after this latest gasket change, it's a large drip. Constant, and like 5mL / day. It needs to STOP.

The requisite picture:

Are you asking about the oil pan, oil filter cover, or both?
1. Oil filter cover. http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/Oil.htm , and http://www.largiader.com/tech/filters/ .

measure this:


and this:


It is the white o-ring that seals and prevents leaks. I have no leaks on my bike. I do not use a gasket on the cover, some do, and this is addressed in Anton's article:


cover on, new white o-ring, correct thickness of o-ring and metal "shim" for the depth of oil filter canister equals no leaks:


2. Oil pan. Here is a fairly straight forward oil pan and gasket installation - http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/pangasket.htm

I lightly grease the sump gasket, both sides.




Cray- where did you come by that measuring stick, it's perfect ( & dead simple) for this?!

I can't remember; I have had that thing forever (possibly a Sears Craftsman thing?). I use it all the time, it is stone axe simple, kind of like my brain.

My oil pan gasket was weeping. No drips, but the pan kept getting oily a couple weeks after a wash. Pretty much all of the bolts had loosened to just more than finger tight. I'm going to start checking these more often.

First thing would be to thoroughly check both surfaces (sump) for any scratches/gouges etc.
Second, I would check the sump cover for warp.

My sump weeps, sometime in the not too distant future I'll take my own advice.

Well, just to prove that I do sometimes agree with the bum. No sealant, oil or grease. Clean! Stock gasket. And now the Bum and I part. My advise is to buy and use an inch pound clicker torque wrench. Good with guessing torque? With bolts inches apart on top of such a thick gasket. No on is that good. 75inpd??? Not nearly tight enough! 100inpds. Around and around until they ALL click at the same time. Ride it just once or twice and re-torque. Re-torque them once or twice a year. You will find that there are at least a couple of bolts that need it! I have good luck with this method. My bikes have literally gone for decades thusly and not even weeped!

For sure, if you just don't have the feel from daily experience, you should use a torque wrench. It will save you money. But lots of people do develop a good feel and simply do not need it for all but a very few critical fasteners on the Airheads.

Here we go again

Ray,
Could you please tell me what is the device bolted into your filter housing cover and what's it's use ?
Thanks.
To the others, gluing the O-ring and shim with grease on the cover is an easy way to get the things done properly and not leaking...

The BMW tool kit contains a short 10mm ring spanner that is perfectly sized so that you have to be really ham fisted to strip the threads. On earlier bikes the oilpan bolt underneath the oil filter is shorter than the rest so don't get them mixed up!

Fred, I've had good luck putting a thin layer of RTV on both sides of the GASKET. I triple check the torque over a period of a few weeks. I have a silicone oil pan gasket if you want to try to layer.

Easy there, man, I've got drips too! Dry gasket, letters up, inch pound clicker and I still have tiny puddles after any week of sitting. I've got a drip sheet under the center stand made from left over roofing tar paper and life is good.

It is a temperature sending unit that came with my Acewell, it can be used for water or oil temp. There are two temp readouts on the Acewell, one for ambient air temp, the other for oil (or water) temp. A few more details starting in post #393 here - http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=527749&page=27 .

Thanks !

Oh noes, Paul...



I'm with HWG on this-- a faint coat of silcone sealant both sides. Belt-and-suspenders-- may not be absolutely necessary, but it doesn't hurt. And the silly-cone serves as a release compound-- the old gasket peels off with no scraping or cussing.

Tighten the oilpan bolts with a short 3" 'palm ratchet', tighten x-pattern starting in the middle and working outwards. Recheck after a couple of heating-cooling cycles.

Of courser, YMMV. Ride safe and keep the shiny side up.

--Bill

Mine uses "over-torque-proof" fasteners aka flathead screws:



I used a thin smear of Dreibond on both sides of BOTH gaskets and assembled it, let it set up for a bit, and then torqued it, going around a few times.

I decided to put the 81 on pan on my earlier RS. New pan, new gasket, clean and dry. After setting the bolts after a few rides, all seemed OK but within a few weeks I could see it was weeping more than it should.

Next maintenance inspection I pulled the pan. Flange looked fine and proved dead flat, but you could see the image of the final finishing process. I hit the flange with some 400grit and a palm sander. It now was flat matte homogenouse. Put it back on dry. Issue resolved. No weeping at all.

Next time you have the pan off, just go ahead and do treat the surface to insure a perfect seal.

Then let the engine drip overnight or several hours and mop it all up around the lower flange. Now take a flat file and just stroke it around the perimeter enough to see if highlights appear around any stressed holes. Proof positive of over tightening at some times in the past. Takes nothing but the right sized piece of wood and abrasive to make that a perfect surface again as well.

Refining these details is what is meant by enhanced specifications. You spend the extra time to make things better than the factory specs could. You tend to get overall better results than stock in this way.

Rare is the mechanic that will demand from his client the extra 20 minutes or so to do this better work for such as a leaky pan gasket replacement. My clients always knew it they wanted cheaper, it was available everywhere. They came to me because I resolved long standing problems with techniques as simple as abrasives and time, efficient and effective with skill. Now his garage baby doesn't drip anymore.

Refined results can only come from refined procedures. If you can do these things yourself, you can make the machine better in many ways as you do your scheduled maintenance and repairs.

++1 !!! Methinks it rare to find anyone that will take the extra time to do a little extra work to make it RIGHT. I will re-do something if necessary until it is RIGHT ON.

I use Hylomar. It works very well on all gasket surfaces where oil pressure exists. It does not dry but stays tacky (non-setting). This makes it very easy to clean up with rubbing alcohol the next time you disassemble.

If your oil pan is lightly warped you can "glass it". A large piece of flat glass with some 400 / 600 grit wet paper taped firmly down is a good base to start sanding that oil pan flat. Lightly press the pan in a figure 8 motion onto the paper. You'll soon see the high / low marks on the pan. Continue to sand till the entire piece is flat. This will not take long. Just remember... keep that pan flat when sanding.