Counter balance cover leak

[mblack36]

Just bought 02 GTXRFI after checked out by dealer. Lost compression in cylinder 1 after 13 hours. dealer was of little help as to possible causer.. so i am going solo on repair..heads are being reworked now.
I notice there is oil leaking around the counterbalance cover..
Is this a concern or possible cause?
do i need to separate lower end and replace seal before replacing heads or ignore it?

I drained from the plug and there was very little oil in counterbalance..drops even..

thoughts recommendations?

 

[djredman99]

It is unlikely that having no oil in your counterbalance gear chamber caused your cylinder to blow. You could speculate that the additional (intense) heat may have had something to do with it, but I would think that your lower end would blow up first.

Somewhere in this forum, I have seen seadoosnipe post some pics of a 787 that ran without oil in this chamber and it blew the whole side out of the lower end.

It certainly is a concern anytime you have oil leaking, but do your best to definitively determine where the leak is. Oil leaks can be tricky to determine their source. I am not all that familiar with the RFI's but oil could be leaking down from above and just collecting along that area. Could it be possible you just got oil all over the place while taking off the top end? Don't just assume that because there is no oil in that chamber, you must have a bad gasket. You are new to this machine and who knows what happened there. Someone could have forgot to fill it up after previous work.

But, if you are confident that the leak is actually happening between the two lower halfs, then I would fix it while you already have the heads off.

Additionally, if this machine has been running for a significant amount of time without oil in the CB chamber, your gears may be badly damaged. If you change the sealant you will get to inspect any potential damage.

My two cents...you decide what you want to do.

 

[seadooya]

Somewhere in this forum, I have seen seadoosnipe post some pics of a 787 that ran without oil in this chamber and it blew the whole side out of the lower end.

Most "rebuilders", thats been around for a long time, dont even fill that cavity with the 1oz 30wt, that the manual mentions. The oil that is in there, 1997-99, wouls seep thru the seals/bearings, and into the cumbustion chamber. I'm not say'n, not to put oil ,but if its possible/has a fill plug, then i'd go ahead and throw some in there. Take in regard though, 1995,1996 787 powerplants, they got NO fill plug.

Majority reason, the counterbalance area gets blown out, is when the ski becomes flooded. That area becomes filled. Yeah, the skis' owner knows "how" to get water out the cylinders, but forgets/doesnt know, about the bottom end of it. With the pressure built up, expansion..etc, only one way for that water to be expelled.

 

[mblack36]

Thanks guys. Sounds like 1 vote for its a problem and 1 for maybe not. How about this..
Is there a way to replace the seal without separating the engine.. the service manual i am finding to be a little/ a lot vague on a number of area's.. And this RFI seems a little complex aka over engineered.