New pushrod tube grommets leaking

[dziadzu42]

Replaced to pushrod grommets on my 79 r65 following Chris Harris's You Tube directions. Everything went smoothly.  After everything was torqued down, I noticed one of the grommets did not appear to be seated properly.  There appeared to be a faint bit of space between it and the engine sump. I tipped the bike on it's side to pool the oil in that area and after 5 min or so, I could see a bit of oil  had seeped from both grommets.  Did the same to the other side and a very faint amount formed on one of the grommets there.  Bought them from Max BMW, part no 11111355090 . One thing I noticed is that the old grommets are symmetrical, the bought ones are not.  Could they be wrong for this bike?  Inc. a pic. of the old ones. Any thoughts about what went wrong?

[Bob_Roller]

The pushrod tube seals are cone shaped, or eccentric, off center .

I believe if you look them, thee is a line molded into them  at the top .

That line should be up, not any where else .

[montmil]

Besides confirming the alignment line is in the correct position, I always add a touch of engine oil to the inside of the grommet and a smear of dielectric grease on the outside... per Snowbum's suggestions.

No RTV sealant should be used. The various expansions/contractions of all the different parts must allow the ever so very slight "movement" of the rubber grommets.

I've replaced the tube grommets on a couple of my Airheads and have never experienced any weepy, seepy nor leaky results.

[Bob_Roller]

You have the correct parts .

Just need to check the installation .

[nhmaf]

I'm going to be changing the ones on my R100/7 later this month and will try to do a write up with pics, when I get to it.

Umm, Bob - I believe that the mold line on the seals is supposed to point straight down, not up.  They appear to be that way on my airheads and Snowbum seems to agree.

[Bob_Roller]

You're right, they are at the  6 o'clock position !!!! :-/

[dziadzu42]

The alignment lines are in a down position, no sealants were used, I used some rubbing alcohol to get them on the tubes.
Is it possible that the tubes are slightly askew, and is there a way to check this?
Both sets of pictures are of the old grommets.  

[nhmaf]

Can you post pics of how things look on the bike now?

Have you torqued the head bolt nuts properly (and in stages)?

Did you replace the head gasket(s), or did you keep the 12 oclock and 6 oclock nuts in place to keep the heads and barrels together?

[dziadzu42]

Here's a view of the installation. I noticed the grommet markers are not exactly at 6 o'clock.  The rt. hand one about 5 degrees off, the left just slightly.  I believe I am going to bring the jug back perhaps an inch and try to turn the grommet.  The only question is whether to slather it up with silicone gasket sealer or not.  
In the installation, all gaskets were replaced, it was torqued as per manual steps and sequence, grease was used to hold small orings and smeared on the area the large oring contacts.

[nhmaf]

Hmmm.  So the oil leakage appears to come from between the seals and the case, not where the seals meet the pushrod tube flange at their 'top'?   When you had things apart, before putting the seals in position, did you look down in the holes to see the bottom & sides of the wells in the case were clean & free of residue?

The very slight misalignment of one of them shouldn't be bad enough to cause it to leak, IMO.

[Semper Gumby]

BTW - one of the problems is that the rings sometimes move on the pushrod tubes and do not apply enough pressure on the seal.  

What some people have done in the past is that they mark the current position of the ring on the push rod tube and then tap the ring a bit down the tube towards the case.  Then they either spot weld the ring to keep it from moving back up the tube or they put a hose clamp around the pushrod next to the ring to keep it from moving.  Good luck.

(How much to tap it down I don't know but Nathan at Boxerworks can tell you.  He spot welded my tubes.)

http://boxerworks-service.com/

[dziadzu42]

Semper Gumby… If you were in my garage moments ago, I would have kissed you on the lips!

[montmil]

Just be sure you have the pressed on rings on your p'rod tubes rather than the brazed-in-place rings. Banging away on the brazed bits will lead to more problems. Check first.

Where you been, Gumby? Hanging out in a different asylum?

[nhmaf]

+1 What Monte sez...

I thought that all the R65 PR Tubes had brazed on rings, but it could be that the early ones did not.   If one bangs away on the brazed on ones, you might either tend to drive the PRT out of the head, which isn't great since it was presumably at the right place to begin with, or you might break the joint between the ring and the tube and it will REALLY start to leak (and require replacement of the tube, which is a PITA).

I *think* one can look for a spot weld or signs of fillet material on the ring and tube going around the whole circumference to determine the difference, but I'm not sure anymore.    

You could probably get away with a little light tapping, to see if it made any difference

[Semper Gumby]

dziadzu42...Call Nathan!  BTW - if it really is brazed on your push rods then go to Ace Hardware and find some thin washer material (half a mil thick?) that you can put on the pushrod tube before you slide to rubber bits on so they will provide some more pressure.  There is more than one way to skin a CAT!

Hi Monte - Hanging with the Britbikers.  Seeing what it takes to get BMW reliability out of a BSA...  I got the long distance riding award for driving my Thunderbolt from Atlanta to Petaluma CA and back again May 2014.  It was quite an adventure.   8-)