Clutch Side Seal Replacement Question

Sach · Post by **Sach** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:18 pm

I smelled gas in my oil after a drain and refill of the gear oil this weekend. I am assuming it is a clutch side seal leak. I have two questions for the forum.

1. Is there any other cause for a gas smell in the gear oil? If so, how would I trouble shoot that also. I just want to make sure I cover all bases.

2. In the event I do need to replace the clutch side seal, what items should I replace, since I am cracking the engine to get to the clutch side seal.

I already am assuming I will be replace the clutch side seal (main), flywheel side seal, and hub seal. I have heard suggestions of replacing the cruciform also. The scoot is a 2005 Stella with 3400 miles. It has not been driven much, so I am suspecting the clutch is fine, so I would like to save the money on that part.

JohnKiniston · Post by **JohnKiniston** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:45 pm

Unless you are shifting hard I doubt you would need a cruciform so soon.

You will want new gaskets for the clutch, reed block, and case halves.

Sach · Post by **Sach** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:43 pm

Thanks. Are you aware of any other reason (besides clutch side seal)that there would be a gas smell coming out of gear oil when drained?

I have heard people say eliminate anything else before you try to change out the clutch seal; however, I have yet to find what other things need to be eliminated.

Also, this particular Stella is always on a side stand. I have heard this could lead to some issues. I am going to go ahead and put a center stand on just out of an abundance of caution. ... and it looks nicer.

JohnKiniston · Post by **JohnKiniston** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 5:03 pm

My 2T's have the cold weather plug removed from the back of the carburetor so any blowback from the engine runs down the back of the case.

I'm not sure if I could smell the difference of gas vs no gas in my oil.

Do you have access to a shop that could do a leakdown test? That'd indicate if you have a bad seal.

Sach · Post by **Sach** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:52 pm

I was running it with the winter plug out. I recently rigged up a new plug with a drain hose in it, but I have yet to use it much (I need to post it up under tips and tricks or something).

Just for clarification, I am talking about the final drive/tranny oil/Drive Oil/Gear Oil. I just call it gear oil, but I may have the nomenclature wrong.

When I catch the smell, I am not smelling it on the bike, I am draining it and smelling it while it is in a container well away from the bike. You can definitely smell a bit of gas.

I will go ahead and plug it up with the modded winter plug and test it again.

As to the leakdown test, I will look into that, but I really don't have access to a shop. Nevertheless, my original goal in this post was to figure out what I would need to "rule out" other potential causes of gas smell in the gear oil