Cam chain adjuster oil leak

[SteveG]

Hello!

The cam chain adjuster on the front of my engine has the perpetual oil drip hanging from it, and leaves the occasional oil spot on the ground below. Very annoying.

I ordered the o-ring for the adjuster bolt from my local dealer (yes, it is still available).

To replace the o-ring, I have to loosen the locknut, remove the adjuster bolt, remove/replace the o-ring, reinstall the adjuster bolt, tighten the locknut.

I will do this of course with the engine not running, and since the cam chain adjustment must be done with the engine running, will this effect the cam chain tension?

Not a major deal to readjust later with the engine running, just curious if loosening/removing the bolt with the engine not running will allow the cam chain tension to change.

Thanks! Steve

[EMS]

If all the slack is on the return side of the chain, the tensioner will move when you take the bolt out and take up the slack. Depending on the incremental positions of the cams, this may not be the case and the tensioner just takes up the slack that is there. I would definitely follow the proper procedure. This will ensure that there is a tight chain on the driven side and all the slack is in the return strand and can be taken up by the tensioner.

[alimey4u2]

Steve, the front adjuster is for the inter connecting cam chain, it's short so no harm done to re adjust when running...

EDIT. Upon reading Mikes post ( fast devil he is) I would concur with going by the workshop manual procedure...

[bdento59]

The cam chain adjuster on the front of my engine has the perpetual oil drip hanging from it, and leaves the occasional oil spot on the ground below. Very annoying. I ordered the o-ring for the adjuster bolt from my local dealer (yes, it is still available)

Steve, I had the same problerm, so I ordered and installed a new OEM o-ring, which seemed rather oversize, btw. The bad news is after ~600 miles the perpetual oil drip is baaaaack. What's a CB-Xer to do...???

[EMS]

You can try to use some teflon tape on the threads of the pinch bolt. That may help.

[Don #6141]

My bike has a heli-coil installed there - It likes to leak because of that. A small blob of clear silicone on the threads seems to work best

Don

[alimey4u2]

With Heli-Coil it would weep ( wick) down the ouside insert/threads, in which case an alternative method of sealing would be needed. Blob of silicone sealant would be fine...

[SteveG]

I have the new o-ring, but haven't put it in yet. Garage is still in the frigid territory. Once I put the Mike Nixon rebuilt pro-link shock, the nicely greased up bushings, the new (already mounted) Kenda K657 Challenger tire, and freshly Never-Dulled exhaust back on, I will report on the sealing capabilities of the official Honda O-ring.

This is all of course in between the mandatory living room painting and front stair refinishing.

Steve

[ajs350]

I have the same drip issue but it seems the oil is coming from the black stopper at the front of the head. Is there a way to replace this and stop the leak? Ross.

[EMS]

It is just a rubber plug to seal the hole that was used to machine the bore for the tensioner rod and has no other critical function. If it is no longer available, you can make one yourself or use any other convenient method of plugging the hole.
Just make sure whatever you do doesn't interfere with the rod movement/position.

[ajs350]

EMS, I found an oem plug on cheapcycleparts.com. Once I have it I guess I just pry the old one out and push the new one in? Any sealer of any kind required do you think? Ross

[EMS]

I replaced this thing only once on a head. I used Yamabond (spelling?) because my dealer didn't have Hondabond that I asked for.

[Jeff Bennetts]

Do NOT pry the plug out, it is a hollow brass plug with a rubber coating, just drill a small hole in the center of the plug taking care not to drill too far, just pierce the plug enough so you can get a small machine screw started, once the screw is started its easy to work the plug out, last time I checked the plug was still available.

[Kool_Biker]

Hi Steve,

For whatever it might be worth, I've found a pic showing the area of the engine that's bugging you, sectioned.
Hope it helps.

Image(02).jpg

Regards
Aris

[ajs350]

Hi Steve,

For whatever it might be worth, I've found a pic showing the area of the engine that's bugging you, sectioned.
Hope it helps.

Image(02).jpg

Regards
Aris

Aris, This is great. Thanks for posting it. Knowing what is inside will help me when I remove and replace the plug. Ross