Catastrophic failure narrowly avoided.

[aviationfred]

We are having unseasonably warm weather this week. I road to work this morning, parked the bike and went inside. As I was headed to my work area, something shiny on my foot caught my attention......my right boot and pant led were cover in oil.  

It had to be the seal on my clear clutch cover failing. I quickly arranged for a ride home after work to pick up my spare clutch cover and some tools. I the went back out to the parking lot to see how bad the seal failure was......what I saw made my insides do a flip

The whole clear Lexan insert had blown out. The innards of my engine were now exposed to the elements through a 7" diameter hole in the side of my engine. There was oil on the side cover, all down the muffler and small stripe of oil covering my chicken strip on the rear tire.

The oil level should be good. The oil low light never flickered. Once I change the clutch cover, I will put it up on the center stand and verify the oil level.

[Pat Conlon]

So.....you have the first FJ with a dry clutch mod...You are quite the innovator Fred

There is pressure inside that clutch area, the reason why the oem clutch covers have the breather plate assembly.

I'm sure the added crankcase pressure by from your new 1300cc pistons did not help.

Hope everything is ok Fred

[fj1289]

So.....you have the first FJ with a dry clutch mod...You are quite the innovator Fred

There is pressure inside that clutch area, the reason why the oem clutch covers have the breather plate assembly.

I'm sure the added crankcase pressure by from your new 1300cc pistons did not help.

Hope everything is ok Fred

Maybe not the first ... but the first to own it with pictures!

You lose a bit of oil -- but it's not a catastrophe it you catch it in a reasonable amount of time.  Sounds like the new motor is still good to go!

[Country Joe]

Fred,
I'm glad both you and your new motor are still in good condition.
Joe

[movenon]

Glad you caught it Fred ! I think you are OK on the engine (best guess).  With the engine running on a center stand the oil level on mine drops slightly below the sight window. Be interesting to learn how much oil you will add to bring it back up to normal.
George

[Arnie]

Fred,

Glad you caught it in time.

Refresh my memory, did you buy or make that (open) window'ed clutch cover?
I thought it looked very cool, but probably not good to copy. 

[gumby302ho]

 Glad your ride remained upright, that would be a shocking thing to see. My question is " Will you be running that big bore with the lexan in place again''?

[Pat Conlon]

Fred, if I recall correctly, a couple of other FJ folks have the same Lexan cover....you should warn them.

[Bearly Flying]

You obviously never rode an late 50's or early 60's Triumph.

The Magneto mounted in front of the engine on two skinny little bolts, that were always loose. My right boot was permanently waterproofed from the constant oil leakage.

Good that you caught it tho.

[aviationfred]

I was able to put the spare OEM clutch cover on and the oil level was good   So no damage to the engine. I have another cover that I purchased that was on the engine before the rebuild..... The Silver cover in the photo below.... Thousands of miles of use with only slight weeping of oil. The one that failed, I made using an industrial grade sealant designed for oil emersion environments. Not specifically designed for automotive or motorcycle use. Possibly the high Zinc or Phosphorus content of the break-in oil contributed.   I don't know.

I had a few Lexan cover pieces made and I already have a modification planned to solve any potential repeat of this exact problem.

On a plus note...... The oil is still a nice shade of purple. Not black and indicating high wear areas.

Here is a photo with the oil level good as soon as I put the OEM clutch cover on.

[airheadPete]

Show-off!

[yamaha fj rider]

Remember Fred's traveling FJ swap meet. He will have 2 or 3, unless someone is interested. Then it's the last one. He would not have had this problem if he quit using his own snake oil. We now know it will eat Lexan.

Kurt

[aviationfred]

He would not have had this problem if he quit using his own snake oil. We now know it will eat Lexan.

Kurt