I decided it was time to start riding the 1982 BMW R100RS again, so I put it on the motorcycle lift to change the oil and filter first, since it’s been a while.
When I got it up there I discovered the bottom of the motor was caked in oil and dirt. Ugh. It looks like the push-rod tube seals are leaking. Not surprising though, they are pretty old – I can’t remember when I did the rings in this motor but that would have been the last time they were replaced. It’s probably been at least 15 years.
It also looks like maybe it was leaking at the bottom of the front engine cover, so it’s time to replace that gasket and a seal I guess.
So I decided to just tear into it and get it sorted
And of course to replace the push-rod tube seals you have to pull the heads and cylinders. So here we go.
I watched a youtube video about replacing the push-rod tube seals to see if I could gain any tips about how to do the job and they removed the piston from the rod to make it easier to re-install it with the rings. Since I’ve always done it the hard way, with the piston mounted to the connecting rod and then trying to squeeze the rings while putting the cylinder on, I’ll be interested to see if this is easier. It sure looked easier in the video.
I’m doing one side at a time for a couple of reasons. The first is that it’s easiest to remove the rocker arms when the piston is on the compression stroke, and that only happens on one side at a time. The second reason is that you can’t mix up the parts if you only do one side at a time.
Here are the dirty parts. The next step is to clean them. Wish I had a parts washer.
That’s all for now. Next is cleaning and re-assembling.
I do have to say I’m digging the pole barn at the new house, and I still love my motorcycle lift!
