Topic: Oil Sweating

[stereosilence]

I have oil slowly coming out of the gaskets on the engine. Is there anything I can do from the outside to stop this? I don't want to have to take the engine completely to pieces to change all the gaskets.

[rbmgf7]

You can JB Weld all of the seams. That should stop it...

Sorry, that's sarcasm. Hate to tell you but if you want to stop leaks, you need to break the engine apart, condition the surfaces, get a new gasket/seal kit, and retorque everything. Heavy duty studs will help the cylinder-head area.

[scottly]

How bad are the oil leaks? Are they worth pulling the motor? If the leaks are minor, you may want to live with them for the time being, until a rebuild is in order. Of course, I used to have a BSA, so mild oil leaks were not only tolerated, but mandatory to the marque.

[crazypj]

CB500/550 always leaks from cylinder/cylinder head gasket.
 I don't bother to fix until it's 4 fins down (then I counter-bore, fit dowel and problem doesn't happen again)

[TwoTired]

CB500/550 always leaks from cylinder/cylinder head gasket.
 I don't bother to fix until it's 4 fins down (then I counter-bore, fit dowel and problem doesn't happen again)

Did I miss where you posted the details of this?

[Danno]

yeah bud it happens on a lot of them sometimes you can get lucky and spray the gasket groove on the head etc.. with carb clean and they will stop the weeping it makes them swell a tiny bit and that sometimes is enough but if you have a true drip and not a weep it probably will not work

[crazypj]

CB500/550 always leaks from cylinder/cylinder head gasket.
 I don't bother to fix until it's 4 fins down (then I counter-bore, fit dowel and problem doesn't happen again)

Did I miss where you posted the details of this?

 I don't think I've posted actual details.
 Use a flat bottom counterbore to enlarge 'O' ring recess, counterbore oil hole and fit dowel from 6mm side cover screw. (I think I used alternator cover dowels)
 The only 'hard' bit is making sure the block and head are lined up right.
 I run a 3/16" or 1/4" (forget which, haven't done one for a  long time, been 'playing with XS 650 and CB360's) extra long drill bit from bottom of block  through oil hole with head bolted together (the outer dowels locate head)
 Counter bore head half depth of dowel, oversize 'O' ring, open up hole in head gasket and reassemble.
 I also use copper gasket on 590 motors and don't have any leaks
 It looks like a lot more work when it's written down

[flybox1]

I have oil slowly coming out of the gaskets on the engine. Is there anything I can do from the outside to stop this? I don't want to have to take the engine completely to pieces to change all the gaskets.

a simple re-torque of the head might do the trick.
or stick some tampons between your fins...for those heavy-on-the-throttle days

[stereosilence]

It seems pretty slight. I'll try the carb cleaner thing and probably a retorque. It is not worth pulling the engine (plus I'm worried I wouldn't be able to get it back together properly. I'm about to change the oil. I'm going to put 10W-40 in and probably 20W-50 in the summer. It may be that the oil type effects it.

I have seen liquid gasket stuff before. I was wondering if I could just dab some into the grooves and maybe stop it up some. Does that sound like a bad idea?

[bender01]

I roll a paper towel tight and push in with a screwdriver. Working for me.

[Johnie]

I have used a small nylon rope pushed between the fins where the leak originates. Works great until I feel like fixing it.

[crazypj]

Bunch of bodgers and shade tree mechanics 
Re-torquing 550 (or 500) head means removing cam cover, if you only do outside nuts you'll probably distort head and have worse problems.
 If you remove cam cover, may as well keep going and do it right
 If it isn't ;wet' leave it until it's 3/4 fins down then do mods described above

[stereosilence]

What do you mean by "3/4 fins down"?

[Danno]

he means when three to four fin rows down from the leak become visibly wet

[crazypj]

Danno has experience of 550's 

[dhall57]

I roll a paper towel tight and push in with a screwdriver. Working for me.

Oh yeah the old paper towel trick. Works great. I know it only covers up the problem and doesn't fix it, but if the leak is only small IMO it's the way to go until its gets much worse. My 750 K6 has minor seepage and using 4 small neatly rolled up sections of painted silver paper towels keeps the engine nice and clean and its hardly noticeable and just replace them every now and than. It will have to get a whole lot worse before I tackle pulling engine.

[stereosilence]

I closely examined the spot around where the oil was and it looks like there is a small section that is missing gasket. I jammed a paper towel up in there. I tihnk I may have some seepage from my oil filter too. Just changed it yesterday though. We'll have to see.

[Danno]

thanks pj so so you