oil leak in wrog place

[pintofanatic1]

1977 Honda 550k . it fired up but noticed small oil leak around the alternator cover. so i pulled it off it was about half full of motor oil. my quetion is where did it come from and how do i fix it???????? HELP

[Nobby the Bastard]

Can you have an oil leak in the right place?
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[stinkwheel]

Well, main suspect would be past the main bearing seal. Could be directly leaking between the crankcase halves.

Alternatively, leaking along one of the cover stud holes or given the age of the bike, if the bikes thrown a chain at some point damaging the crankcase which has then been imperfectly repaired.

Thing to do would be to pop the alternator off, thoroughly clean and degrease the area then leave it to sit for a bit and see if the leak becomes apparent. If nothings showing, reassemble and run it for a bit so the engine's hot then have another look.

If there's still nothing, remember it's possible it has been a very small leak going on for a very long time. It might be easier to ignore it.

How to fix it would depend on where it was coming from.

Be gentle with that alternator. 70's Honda inline 4 alternators are pretty effective but run on a mixture of voodo and black magic and are difficult to repair or replace.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[RhynoCZ]

[Nobby the Bastard]

That's not really a leak though. A leak is something escaping when it shouldnt.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[stinkwheel]

Well, I for one got the OPs meaning. He had oil leaking from a cover that shouldn't have oil under it.

The rocker cover on that bike would be the "right" place to get an oil leak, entirely understandable and probably easy to fix by fitting a new gasket.

The alternator cover is the "wrong" place because that bike has a dry alternator and so there shouldn't be oil under the cover to be leaking in the first place.

My enfield bullet also has an oil leak in the wrong place, it persistantly weeps oil from the left side of the head gasket. There are no oilways on the left side of the engine. I have elected to ignore it.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Fizzer Thou]

There is no crankshaft oil seal behind the starter idler gear on the Honda CB750 sohc so that the starter reduction gear is lubricated.So there would be expected to be oil in the alternator winding area.

As for the CB500/550 fours,the oil seal on the left of the crank is not very wide so some oil can be expected to seep into the alternator winding area.Of the five CB550s that I have owned over the years I did find some oil in that area,but it was never a problem.The reliability of the windings was never called in to question when each of the bikes ran for over 40,000 miles each.
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[stinkwheel]

[Fizzer Thou]