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Hi guys

Has anyone had reason to get at the cam chain adjusters, specifically LHS? Got an oil leak, but looks a nightmare, possibly even dropping the engine to get there. Got coolant hoses, cables and all sorts right where I need to be, even if I could reach it

If it's too much effort, gonna take the oil weight back up cos sure it wasn't as bad on the 15/50

Yes. The left hand side one is a bit awkward.
The only way without dropping the motor is to remove the coolant manifold to give you some room mark.

Interesting, when stopping on way back from Buxton for petrol, I noticed an oil leak on the RHS of the bike, at the base of the rear cylinder and running down the clutch cover. It's not immediately obvious where its coming from, either. Are the barrels cast into the crankcase on the Rotax V-twins? Because it looks to be coming from where the cylinder base gasket would be if they have one. Really hope not...

Yup. I've replaced both tensioners in my falco.

It's not a hard job. You just need to drain the coolant, raise the tank and remove the airbox and unscrew the cooland pipes from the top of the cylinder head.

Then you will need some flexible socket joints and extension bars to reach the nuts.

I'd advise you to replace both seals while you are there.

If you decide to replace the tensioners while you are at it, be sure to submerge them in oil and pump the piston to prime them up before inserting into the engine.

The tensioner nuts are torqued to 50nm.

mangocrazy wrote:Interesting, when stopping on way back from Buxton for petrol, I noticed an oil leak on the RHS of the bike, at the base of the rear cylinder and running down the clutch cover. It's not immediately obvious where its coming from, either. Are the barrels cast into the crankcase on the Rotax V-twins? Because it looks to be coming from where the cylinder base gasket would be if they have one. Really hope not...

When my right hand side one started to leak, it ran down and collected in a pool above the clutch cover.

If you think it is a tensioner, just run your finger under the tensioner nut. if it is oily, its more than likely coming from there.

Cheers Dale. I've investigated further and it's not the base gasket (thankfully). The tensioner nut does sound a likely culprit; I'll take the RH plastics off and get a better look. The oil had spread around a fairly wide area (as oil does), so I've cleaned it all up as best I can and hopefully any fresh leaks will better indicate the source.

Is leaking from the tensioner nut a symptom of worn CC tensioners? And how many miles had yours done when you replaced them? Mine has an indicated 31k on the clock, but I've no way of knowing if that's genuine or not.

mangocrazy wrote:Cheers Dale. I've investigated further and it's not the base gasket (thankfully). The tensioner nut does sound a likely culprit; I'll take the RH plastics off and get a better look. The oil had spread around a fairly wide area (as oil does), so I've cleaned it all up as best I can and hopefully any fresh leaks will better indicate the source.

Is leaking from the tensioner nut a symptom of worn CC tensioners? And how many miles had yours done when you replaced them? Mine has an indicated 31k on the clock, but I've no way of knowing if that's genuine or not.

No, its just means the seal has been broken. I replaced my tensioners at about 24-25k, not because of an oil leak, but because i could hear the cam chain, at low revs, particularly at 3.5k.

Can't hear anything on mine at the moment. Done 500 miles in the last two days and a hundred miles or so in my falco's exhaust started blowing (very loud and massive reduction in power). I'm only just getting my hearing back (no joke).

Cheers guys, knew someone would have some advice.

Sounds like a bit more effort than I want to spend at the moment, as the leak isn't that bad just annoying

One for the winter fettle perhaps

Firestarter wrote:Cheers guys, knew someone would have some advice.

Sounds like a bit more effort than I want to spend at the moment, as the leak isn't that bad just annoying

One for the winter fettle perhaps

Yeah, it's probably 4 hours worth of work. Even with the coolant pipes removed and with flexible joints and extension bars, it is a bit fiddly. I wouldn't consider dropping the engine though.

Firestarter wrote:Cheers guys, knew someone would have some advice.

Sounds like a bit more effort than I want to spend at the moment, as the leak isn't that bad just annoying

One for the winter fettle perhaps

Yes, that's the way I'm viewing it as well. I'll keep some kitchen roll handy and watch the oil level carefully and fix it over winter.

And I wouldn't even contemplate dropping the engine out, Dale! That sounds like a whup-ass can of grief...

mangocrazy wrote:

Firestarter wrote:Cheers guys, knew someone would have some advice.

Sounds like a bit more effort than I want to spend at the moment, as the leak isn't that bad just annoying

One for the winter fettle perhaps

Yes, that's the way I'm viewing it as well. I'll keep some kitchen roll handy and watch the oil level carefully and fix it over winter.

And I wouldn't even contemplate dropping the engine out, Dale! That sounds like a whup-ass can of grief...

I know, but Firestarter stated he might do just that in his first post!

Not quite, that's what it looked like might be required, but no chance I was doing that! If it's not easy(ish), then it would have been waiting until the next visit to Griff's!

Is this something that would get fettled at a major service? (Shim check)

Fair 'nuff. I hadn't noticed that earlier comment.

Does the tensioner nut have a washer or seal of some sort underneath it, and does that need to be renewed whenever it's disturbed? Because when I was doing the valve clearances earlier this year, I undid the CC tensioner on the rear cylinder to release the tension on the cam chain. I torqued it up as best I could to the correct value, but didn't replace any washer or seal.

Copper washer. That's what I'm looking to replace

Firestarter wrote:Copper washer. That's what I'm looking to replace

Now you're talking. I might just manage that...