oil leak and removing the points housing/cam bearing - CL175

[Nolan123]

Hello, when i got my bike, the points housing was cracked and repaired with jb weld or something. I got a used one and replaced it, then there was a very slight oil leak coming from what i thought was the gasket behind the housing. so i removed again and replaced the gasket, then there was a huge oil leak. so I removed again and added a small amount of silicone gasket maker stuff to either side of the gasket. now there is a smaller leak, but worse than it was originally.
I did all this before learning that I can easily damage the bearing by removing and replacing with tension on the cam shaft. IIRC I put the engine at TDC on the compression stroke of the left cylinder most times i removed it, so there was not as much tension (i think). I also read to not use silicone with the gasket since it can cover holes for oil, i didn't cover any holes and didn't use very much, but it could have spread.

I thought the gasket was leaking this whole time, but now i think its the rubber seal around the cam shaft, even though i put a new one in, but that was from those guys in Houston so maybe it was not so good.

I'm faced with the decision to either remove again, clean the silicone, and risk damaging the bearing, or leaving it and replacing the oil seal. Also, while i was putting the housing back on, the oil seal appeared loose and could easily be pushed out. I put it back in place, but could that looseness indicate that's where the leak is? can I use silicone around the outer part of the oil seal? Its hard to tell, but it could also be leaking from a screw.

What would you do in this situation?



Thanks!

the old one. I should've just left it as is.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Which ever way you do it be sure to inspect the seal run surface, it has to be perfectly smooth. Lots of times people jam a screwdriver between the seal and shaft to pry the seal out and leave a gouge which becomes a permanent leak.

 

[Nolan123]

Update on this:

I determined its the gasket, not oil seal

I removed and inspected another couple times, didn't see anything wrong, still leaked oil. Eventually i put my old, cracked gasket back on, almost no leak . Under the points housing is still oily though. I'm planning to get a thicker gasket material and trace and cut my own and see what happens!

 

[EzPete]

Update on this:

I determined its the gasket, not oil seal

I removed and inspected another couple times, didn't see anything wrong, still leaked oil. Eventually i put my old, cracked gasket back on, almost no leak . Under the points housing is still oily though. I'm planning to get a thicker gasket material and trace and cut my own and see what happens!

There are some really lousy gasket sets out there - I’ve had to do a couple of re-seals on recent rebuilds due to failed gaskets. At least this one’s the cam gasket, not the cylinder base gasket!

When you’re cutting that one, be really careful with the bolt holes - one of those super pointy hobby xacto blades makes those a lot easier.