Motorcycle Repair: Crankcase seal gone?, crankcase oil, clutch basket

Question
I have a old Suzuki TS185J 71 or 72 model which has been sitting in a shed for 15 years or so. It was running well when left.
On checking it, it had plenty of compression and after doing all the standard things, new plug, oils, battery, clean air filter, new fuel, etc, etc. it started fine and runs well with plenty of go.

The problem I have is it blows smoke and oil out the muffler, a lot of oil. The oil is crankcase oil and when the sparkplug is removed and the starter pumped oil is ejected out the plug hole. I have been told by a friend it is the crankcase seal gone. What is this? and what is involved in fixing it please? Could it be anything else?


Answer
John,


-it sounds reasonable that the seal is leaking
on the crankshaft/crankcase.
If you look here the seal is #15:
http://www.cmsnl.com/img/Suzuki_CRANKSHAFT_TS185_1979_ERN-partslist-big-SUE0218F...

-the following directions are if the seal
is on the outside of the crankshaft bearing,
otherwise Suzuki unfortunately
put the seal on the inside which means
the engine has to be disassembled
and split in half to replace the seal. Suzuki
seemed to be unsure which side they wanted it on.

*****

-The right side clutch cover must be removed and
probably the clutch assembly to get at the
crankshaft nut and gear near the front.

-The clutch has screws that hold it's coil springs, once they are off
you will see a nut holding the clutch
basket assy in the center.

-Once the clutch and crank gear is off, you can see the seal under the gear.
It has to be pried out carefully and a new seal
tapped back in to the crankcase.

-You must be careful not to damage the crankcase, or
crankshaft. Also the seal needs to be straight.

-you can use a piece of pvc or plastic pipe the same
size as the outside of the seal to tap it in.
If you use a hammer directly on the seal it will damage it.

-don't overtighten the clutch spring screws, they
should just be snug and are a bit delicate.

-you may need a clutch cover gasket as well and
more transmission oil (10W40) to refill it after.

-79-85 models use a 52x26x7 mm seal. Measure
yours to see if this size would work in yours.
These seals are available online (CMSNL, BikeBandit)