Dreaded Rocker Cover Gasket Leak

[lowkey]

pdksh, good to hear you got it done! Did you do the intake seals and rocker breathers while you had it rotated? If not it will be right around the corner one of them goes, at least you now know how to rotate the motor so it won't be a big deal next time.

[pdksh]

Intake seals done. Old ones looked fine. After the bike warms up, TPS reset and a day for the ECM to re-learn, bike runs great. After it warms up I can Cruze between 1500 & 2500 rpm with out any spitting or missing. That said, she's much happier between 5000 & 6000 rpm

[lowkey]

Awesome man! Good to hear It's dialed now!

[BuellDawg]

I haven't read every reply but this may be a reiteration... my Uly had oIL on the back cylinder fins coming from a less than tight pcv grommet. . maybe pull off your air box n check that 1st ?

[pdksh]

Thank you for following up, the PVC valves were ok. It was clearly the upper rocker box cover gasket

[pdksh]

As a quick follow up note, the front cylinder PVC valve can not be installed with the engine properly installed. ASK ME HOW I KNOW! I left the PVC valves and tubes out because I was thinking about doing a PVC valve to airbox bypass fix. When I rotated the engine back in and tried to install the front PVC valve I was very, very disappointed! It was the last thing I was doing, (lastly the airbox and airbox cover). I had to undo the all of the motor mount stabilizer links, take off the right foot peg, loosen the rear motor mount and then get the jack out. I was able to rotate the engine and undo the front mount enough to get the front PVC valve installed.

WHAT A PITA!

[BuellDawg]

that sux I wonder, did u end up cleaning or replacing the pcvs ? it seems that the gasket itself wouldn't give problems under normal operation but if they happened to clog, the buildup up of crankcase pressure might play a role in their early demise. I'm curious now

[lowkey]

Sorry to hear you had to rotate again, remember I said to do it while it was rotated?

Things you will want to do while the engine is rotated are intake seals (can't remember if they are in the box or not) and replace the rocker box check valve/breathers (Harley only I think).

Both front and rear need the engine rotated to remove/install FYI. Most likely gasket shrinkage causing the leak not a failure of the one way check valve on a low mileage vehicle. These types of valves last into the 150K range on cars for example.

[BuellDawg]

same can be said of the gaskets themselves. for expansion and contraction to cause failure it'd have to be exposed to a few good overheatings imagine (or improper install) I yanked mine (pcv's) awhile back no problem with just the lower airbox cover off, it's tight as heck and I've been told I have freakish long fingers, but got em out. I pulled up the grommets with the stems which gave them the wiggle room to turn enough out from under the frame. they are worth cleaning at some point. the oil we run turns to some serious funk if gone unchecked.