Hi. Where the blue spot is on the picture, I seem to have oil leaking through from the gearbox, is this normal, or is there meant to be a seal on one end of the shaft?
Mainshaft leak
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Oil Leak.
Hi Peter. Thank you for the reply. Yes, when I stripped the primary side down to replace the oil return pipe, the primary side sleeve was stuck out of the sleeve gear slightly, when I replaced the inner cover with a new seal I pushed the sleeve back in, maybe a little bit too far. Having never had a Norton before I'm a bit oblivious as to whether the sleeve should be a tight fit or not, obviously with what you suggest it should be a bit tighter than it is, although it showed no signs of damage when I took it off the shaft, must be just a bit worn. With it being worn and letting a bit of oil through from the gearbox, (it wasn't copious amounts coming through) am I OK to use the same oil in the engine, gearbox and primary?
Kind Regards
Phil
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Sleeve gear bush
Phil,
What a pity you have shoved the bush back in.
If you can persuade it out again, clean things, and coat it with Loctite on the outside and push it in again.
If you use the search box on this site. "Jubilee gearbox oil" you will find the last post from Andy Sochanik, our lightweight expert, answers your questions about oil.
Peter
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Oils to use....
This is what I said on oils in that other article....
Engine oil.
Book says SAE40 in Summer & SAE30 in Winter.
I use a cheap multigrade 20-50 and change it often. Fit an aftermarket oil filter (NOC Spares have them). It fits in the return line (not ideal), but its better than nothing.
Gearbox oil.
Book says SAE50. I use standard Gear Oil Hypoid 80/90. (Gear Oil numbers differ from engine oil!)
Primary Chaincase.
Book says "engine oil". There was an idea some time back that ATF20 (Automatic Transmission Fluid) was the one to use - as it was quite runny & lubed the chain nicely. I find that its very slippery & not good for the clutch.
So I just use the same 20-50 as in my engine.
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ATF...
... as the name implies is for use in automatic gearboxes. These depend (at least the old Borg-Warners etc) on friction clutches which are very similar to those in our bikes, having ferodo linings. So I can't see how they can make our clutches slip. I've used ATF for decades in all my Britisah bikes and never had a problem.
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Good photo Philip.
You have one of the early primary inner cases with four rivet holes and a thin oil seal.
The blue dot indicates a leak path from the gearbox through the plain bearings in the sleeve gear,
into the primary chain case.
Not usually a problem. Some slight leakage must occur because the correct gearbox oil level is about the centre line of the main and lay shafts. I guess it could be worse if the bike is parked on side stand when oil will cover the sleeve gear inner.
The sleeve gear has two bushes. If one is missing, both are worn, or they are floating loose in the sleeve, then you will have more oil leak from the gearbox.
Can see that the bush at the clutch end of the sleeve gear does not come to the end. It should. Running with a tight rear chain over-loads the sleeve gear bushes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear. The bushes partially seize on the mainshaft and spin in the sleeve gear. And the outer bush has a habit of drifting out of the sleeve gear and is chewed up by the clutch. Suspect you have a damaged bush, which may last for ages in it's present condition if you can accept the leak.
And don't run with tight primary or drive chains.
Peter