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Mine does leak..at the cover. I've replaced the seal a few times, but the slop has gotten to the point a new seal can't handle it.

Took the shaft/cover into a machine shop hoping to be able to get the cover sleeved. There's a problem. It's an 'abstract' hole..and as such would be hard to get centered in a machining device.

The shaft is about .006" out-of-round at the top..and there are wear marks on the bottom of the shaft where the shaft sits in a bearing.

This whole 'thingy' has always seemed stupid to me: There is a raw, flat, edge of a shaft pushing on a rod...and under considerable pressure. What's NOT to screw up?

I'm thinking of replacing just the shaft ($30), put a new seal in the cover to see how it goes. If that doesn't cut it, I'll replace the cover ($55) along with a new bearing and sight-glass.

Anyone else getting a seeping mess here?

I don't even USE the clutch for most shifts. Yeah...eight years is a long time, but the setup of the thing sure could've have been better without too much trouble.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Maybe some shim stock to take up the slack?

My 89 has done it ever since i've had it. I've replaced the shaft and seal and it doesn't help. A new cover would do the trick but what are you really helping. The oil should be changed every few rides anyways, sealing that shaft isn't going to change that. The design is dumb and a new cover and shaft will fix it for a while, until the poor design rears its head again. Now if you want to really fix that leak I hear you can buy a nice plug for that hole...and get an autoclutch in the deal

I wouldn't want to put anything loose in there (i.e. shimstock). I've shimmed things before...but only outside 'stuff' such that when the shim got worn through or broke it wouldn't do anything but fall out.

I could do without a, 'I wonder where it went?' inside the clutch cavity.

I do change oil every couple of rides. It's the ever-increasing mess left behind by the leak that's getting on my nerve.

Autoclutch? Sounds like some sort'a new-fangled hot-rod mod thing that won't ever work worth a hoot!

hey carvr......did you ever ride ski's kdx or kx with the autoclutch ?

He would rather crash or push while I just motor up the roots rather than admit an auto clutched bike is any good. So no, the wimp wouldn't even give it a try!!

I BEGGED him to let me ride it for a bit. He never replied with a 'Sure!', which I took as a 'Hell NO!'

Even after I helped drag his weary monkey-butt AND his fantastic bike up outt'a the creek!!

WHICH, by the way, he GOT into because of his AUTOCLUTCH!!

But...you didn't hear that from ME!

..and you won't hear it from HIM, neither!!

I thought we were talking about the clutch shaft leaking?

My previous motor leaked, my current one does not.

On the one that leaked it was because the bore in the cover was worn out of round. That cover is aluminum, the shaft is steel. When I saw wear on the shaft I checked roundness of the bore.

I actually stopped it from leaking for a few months by wrapping the clutch shaft with teflon tape just below the seal. Not making a recommendation, you understand, just relating an experience.

I guess there are some obvious choices:
1. Replace the cover, shaft and seal and be good for 5 to 10 years. Not bad for a dirt bike.
2. Bore the cover for a sealed bearing and/or new seal size. I suppose there would be some other catastrophic failure in the next 5 to 10 years, but at least your clutch cover would not be leaking.
3. Replace just the shaft and seal. If the cover bore is worn it won't not leak for long.
4. Duct tape a rag to the general area and change it as needed.

Auto clutch? What's that? My little Z50 had an auto clutch, didn't it?

don't knock it till ya try it...bud !!!!!!!!!!!

I stopped by a hardware store looking for something brass/bronze I could mess with myself. I found nothing that fit the shaft diameter (looking for something a tad smaller that I could drill out) that wasn't TOO BIG to fit into the cover.

So...$200+ out of pocket later...I ordered all new stuff.

Well...and a spare set of rear brakes.


And brake pins....


And a set of rotor bolts.....

Would'a made a nice dent in a replacement KX250.....

Just sayin'

skipro3 wrote:Would'a made a nice dent in a replacement KX250.....

Just sayin'

He'd be better off with an "E"

Just sayin'

CHANGE EVERYTHING. I know, it's expensive, but you will be OK for 4-5 others years.

Clutch cover, shaft, spring, gasket, o-ring, etc.

I did last weekend for my bike and and ALL the parts have a lot of use...
All the parts works together, so they all use together.

I will post pictures soon. You will see what I talk about;)

RE: CHANGE EVERYTHING

Did. Nice having no seepage/leakage/mess..AND the clutch action is considerably improved.

Cover, sight glass, seal, bearing, shaft...all added up to about $100US.

That would be $50 everyplace else these days........

CC-
Tell us about the cover and sight glass and bearing.

It is my understanding that the clutch cover DOES NOT come with a sight glass installed or a bearing in place. The bearing doesn't look too hard to put in place but how about that sight glass?

Thanks

The cover does NOT come with sight-glass or bearing (or seal).

I did fret some over the bearing. I didn't want to pound on it (I don't have an arbor press), and it being INside the cover, there is no OUTside to brace/push against and putting pressure on the curve of the cover in my vise didn't excite me.

I heated the bearing bore with a propane torch..had the bearing ready to go in with a handy arbor press-kit given to me by Mr. Wibbens, pushed it in by hand.

I tapped it a couple of times with a rubber mallet while simply holding the cover in my lap..it seated fine.

**Note** The bearing does not seat flush with the case bore. Try to MAKE it fit flush as one might do, having not looked at the old one, and something is going to break.

Sight Glass: It comes with an integrated seal. I thought of lubricating the seal with some grease..rethought that 'cuz I don't want it to come out easily. Making it go IN easily would likely make that happen.

Using a correctly sized socket, I did press the sight-glass in using my vise.

Transfer the dowel pins from your old case. If you're replacing a missing case..order the dowel pins with the rest of the stuff.

Altogether no problems: No leaks, drips, runs or errors.

I'm not sure how you would get the bearing OUT of a case you wanted to simply replace (the bearing, not the case). Considering the marks left on the bottom of the shaft, there is something about the fit that isn't too good. But...that's true about this whole 'unit'. It's not a finely engineered part.

I did last weekend for my bike and and ALL the parts have a lot of use...
All the parts works together, so they all use together.

I will post pictures soon. You will see what I talk about;)

The «white horizontal line» at the top right is a like a curve and not an 90degrees angle.



The shaft has groove on the top.

looks zactly like mine, works just dandy!

plb: Looks pretty much like mine. I had a deeper groove on top, less wear on the bottom flat, bearing roller indents on the shaft.

So...don't go feelin' real speshul 'bout yours!!