Oil Leak - Spark Plug

Hi Guys

How is everyone ?
Well Spring is on it's way and I serviced my bike the other week to make sure it's ready for some fun in the sun.
I went out for a little ride today say about 40 miles (Still pretty cold at the mo, but was dry)

Due to doing a service last week I was checking round the bike for any leaks.
Upon inspection I noticed that there was oil around the plug lead so I have started to strip the bike down to investigate further.

How would oil get here for starters ?
The exhaust side of the engine appears to have a bit of a weep, possibly from the tappet cover or the rocker. The rocker gasket looks dry above the spark plug and I don't think its blowing round.
The Oil line is bone dry, so not leaking from there.

When looking at the area where they have machined the hole for the plug you can see a threaded bit, I wonder whether somehow it's coming from there?

The plug looked normal, and the bike isn't smoking.

Bike is a 2009 610 SM - 3500 miles

Thanks for your time reading this post and can anyone make any recommendations ?
Is there a gasket between the rocker/head ?

Here's a couple of pics of the plug bore and the oil.

There should be gasket between those two. There is no other explenation how would oil come there. Leak will be minimal, but it could cause electrical problems (like if there would be water). Spark will take a shorter way to gorunding. Bike will start with dificulties and it wont run not even close to perfect. I had same problem when water was there...i suggest you fix that!

Hi Luke

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I looked in the parts catalog and couldn't see a gasket for the Rocker cover, also Husky Sport don't list a gasket other than using some sealant like Universal blue.

I've ordered the gaskets now for the valve covers and will take the rocker cover off and add some sealant while checking the valves.

Had to start somewhere I suppose.

The valve cover bolts allow oil to migrate up the threads. A bit of sealant on those threads will stop that. This is the #1 cause of oil leaks on these bikes.

Thanks Lunger!
I'll put a smidge of sealant on the bolts when it goes back together.

Have you taken the Rocker cover off before ? Did you use sealant when putting it back together ?

my bike was leaking oil from the valve covers (but looked like it was leaking possibly from the head gasket or rocker cover). i just doubled the gaskets up and it's been fine since. yep, there's no gasket for the rocker cover.

i get a small mist of oil on the engine by the spark plug, mostly noticeable by dirt sticking to it. i haven't really worried about it to be honest. also notice a little bit of oil on the plug threads when i change em but again, never really worry about it.

Cheers Motad

I've pulled the bike apart and will continue with it tomorrow night,
Have ordered the gaskets, orings, washers etc from Huskysport today so at least I can start putting it back together too.
While its down this far I'll do the valve clearances as well.
Clearances should be 0.002" or 0.5mm isn't it ?

I know there's a leak that runs down the front of the engine as lots of road crud sticks to it.
Hopefully that will cure this too.

gotta love huskysport. hopefully the ktm thing won't bugger those guys.

0.05mm on the clearances mate. be interesting to hear what yours are at before the adjustment. check your cam chain clicks too mate and post that up if you don't mind. that leak sounds like mine and will probably be the valve covers. double the gaskets up on there fella so you'll need 4 in total.

we should try and hook up soon now the weather's better. will also be taking the husky on the track again this year so will give you a heads up when i find something suitable.

Thanks for confirming the Gap for the valves 0.05mm is really tight! I also discovered the set of feeler gauges I had don't go down that small so I'm waiting for some to turn up from fleabay.

I checked the cam chain tensioner at 3500 Miles and it was out 6 clicks. I didn't get a replacement gasket so will check it another time. I've only put a few hundred miles on it since then too.

A meet up should definitely be on the cards now the days are getting longer and a bit warmer Yeah give us a shout when your next out, shall bring the camera along and get some shots.

Gav

The CCT gasket is reusable. I had mine off and on at least 4-5 times before I put the APE manual adjuster on and the gaskets still fine.

Heya

Finally got round to putting the bike back together.
Found I hadn't connected one of the radiator hoses correctly so needed to do the job again as couldn't get to it without taking the rads off. (One to the front of the cylinder)

I think the bike might be running hotter than usual so I might have an air blockage, is there a knack or a way to check ?

Is there an exploded diagram for the hoses, just want to make sure everything is back in the right place.

Thanks
Gav

Heya Guys,

Sorry to bring this up again. It's been a while but my bike was stripped down for a while due to work commitments etc.
Anyhow I've put it all back together but I've a washer left over and I think this came from the Plug so would sit between the Jug and plug.

Not exactly wanting to take the tank off again as I've already put fuel in. (Lazy-itus)
Does this washer need to be there for clearance, it's about 1mm thick and has a clearance that the old plug fits in.

I've a ride out on Friday so need to know whether to pull it apart tomorrow after work.

Thanks for your help.
Gav

If its the crush washer for the plug, then yes it needs to be there, however if you put a new plug in, it should have a new crush washer on it already

Hiya Lunger

It's not the crush washer, it's heavier duty than that. But I believe there may be one that goes between that and the head?
It's the only place I can think of that it would have come from. Also the fact the plug will go through the hole....

I don't want to run the bike for an extended period in case something like that could damage it. I don't know what the internal tolerance / clearance would be for something like that.
It's just it takes ages to drain and take the tank off, so hoping someone can say either way to do it or not.

Thanks

Hey gav. You don't need to drain the tank to take it off. Can you post a pic of the washer?

Looks like the washer was from something else, possibly picked up off the floor.

Bike is back together and running great.
The new gaskets and sealant has done the job so far as far as the oil seep goes.

Went out for an all day ride with my friends on the green lanes and the bike ran really well.
Makes me want to get a proper TE so I may be trading my 610 soon.

There's a 510 TE available quite close to home so will go take a look at that.
I know the maintenance interval is shorter on the 510 due to being higher strung but is reliability any concern ?
I won't be doing any commuting on it, just want to ride to the trails and have a blast at the weekends.

don't think so gav, think they're meant to be ok as long as you stay up to date with the servicing etc. this is only what i've read though and i don't have any real world experience. i've been thinking about a 510sm actually as i may not be needing to commute on my 610 anymore. want something that's a bit more of a handful

Yeah the 610 is a good bike but I find it just runs out of puff when I get to 70 Mph.
I've pretty much done everything I can to get some more power out of it other than getting a proper Dyno tune to dial in the settings.

There's a couple of 510's on Autotrader at the moment for reasonable money.
The one I was going to look at tomorrow is only up in Guildford but looks like it might have been Raced due to the bolts being safety wired...

I may look out for something else too, also considering a WR450F as they have good ratings and a wider ratio gearbox.

Shame there isn't a powerful, reliable, light bike that does everything you want it to

why do you want to go fast on a SM mate? these bikes are all about before you get to 70mph! the 510 even more so. these bikes are about power to weight ratio. the 510s and 450s have lighter engine internals so the power to weight ratio is higher. lighter engine internals means you're servicing much more often and doing rebuilds. i expect a lot of 510s you find will have been raced/ridden hard as that's why people buy em!

do you ride on or off road more?