93 GL1500I called Next!

[Earl43P]

This is "Next!" with the belly fairings removed to expose the PO's "work".
I have the replacement transmission cover, but haven't gotten around to ordering gasket/dowels/seals. Got it in the fall and hadn't done a thing except unload it from the trailer, disconnected the battery and moved it around in the garage. Speedo inop, one headlamp burnt out and that front cover oil leak. Leaks static. Might be a crack by the oil filter mount, hard to tell with all that goo.

I'm letting the afternoon warm things up out there, then draining the oil. Doubt if I'll even clean that gunk off more than to get to the bolt heads. Craziness. Who would ever think this is a good way to fix an oil leak?

[Casper]

That is one nasty repair, sometimes I think certain POs are actually part of an alien race sent here to distroy motorcycles.

[robin1731]

snip...............Who would ever think this is a good way to fix an oil leak?

Unfortunately a lot more people than you think.

[Lucien Harpress]

What..... am I looking at, exactly? O_o'

[Earl43P]

What..... am I looking at, exactly? O_o'

A PO put epoxy over a pretty considerable hole in that front sump cover. I didn't take a picture yet because the oil is still draining out of there, but it is at the 6 o'clock position under the oil filter mount. The epoxy or whatever it was chipped away pretty easily with an oyster knife. My fear was that it would take some propane to soften it up to get at the bolts. Not the case!

I didn't drain the coolant yet, thinking I might be able to push the pump forward enough, with the hoses intact, to remove the cover. Doubting that now, but taking a lunch break. Still pretty chilly out there, laying on the concrete. Old bones are aching.

[Track T 2411]

Aren't PO's wonderful? On the '81 I'm working on, the front cover has three bolts snapped off (and the bolt heads silicone caulked back in place), both valve covers lathered up with silicone, and two of the spark plugs/boots literally caulked into the head... and, um, he took it to a 'mechanic'...

[ericheath]

I had one with a siliconed broken intake bolt. It was drizzled down the intake all the way to the valve. A desperate quick fix, that a friend tapped a few times with a punch and took out with his fingers. I got a very nice low mileage 77 for $400. I could use a few more PO's like him.

[rcmatt007]

wow. ... that looks as bad as the 6 cylinder 65 chevy I had, except nothing it was cracked, it just leaked and oozed a lot

[Earl43P]

Spent some more quality time on the garage floor today. Got the water pump out and the cover removed. You can see the gaping hole. No clue how that could have happened, there was only minor scrapes on the fairing. It should have been crunched if the PO had run into something hard enough to crack that cover and punch a hole like that. Who knows? The price was right!

Regardless, I fished out the chunk that was missing from the cover. I did have to drain the coolant. There wasn't any difficulty removing the two water pump hoses and popping the water pump out. It did take some creativity to get the cover out. I will be bonding the gasket to the engine block, just like it was. Should be quite the trick to get the water pump shaft aligned, the Neutral switch aligned AND the oil tubes and water tube fittings all aligned to get the cover back on. I'll simplify that process by dong the water pump last, since the cover can stay on for a WP R&R. Make sense? I'll be saving that job for a sunny day.

Ordered the cover gasket, Orings, speedo gearbox and cable. Should come in next week.