small oil leak

[Grimzella]

Hello everyone,
my name is Dave..
I have a 2003 honda 300ex ,all stock original.. The problem is the black rubber plug on the right side of the engine head.. there is a round rubber plug, (cam shaft?) it seems to be leaking. Does this plug just pop out.. or do i need to tear down the head to replace it. Also there is a little noise..tapping/chattering. it is comming from the piston head area (noticable when idle or low rpm, but not noticeable when high rev\rmps).. Valves? Piston bearing sleaves? loose piston. Other 300ex owners tell me its normal for these bikes.
I'm clueless.
I am in the process of getting a service manual for this bike, i can do most kinds of repairs on any type of bike.. except maybe for crank\gear case. all that stuff down there just boggles the mind.

Thank you for any kind of help in this matter,
David

[honda300EXtreme]

remove the valve cover, remove the black plug, clean up any old sealants around it, then apply some honda bond, or silicone around the plug and reinstall, then put the valve cover back on, don't over tighten the valve cover bolts, they snap/strip really easy,

as for the taping it's most likely valves, so get your self a service manuel, and a good feeler gauge and adjust them to spec.

if you need help adjusting them let me know and ill walk ya through it,

[Grimzella]

thanks EXtreme,
I will do that very soon. i will post the results as soon as it is done.
i could not help but notice you are from western PA, well so am i, Washington, PA.

thanks again,
Dave

[honda300EXtreme]

no problem,

i live 40 mins out of washington,,

about 15 mins from claysville,

[Grimzella]

almost forgot... u think i will need a new gasket after i do that with the plug?

[honda300EXtreme]

there is not a gasket under the valve cover, but cover the area where you think the gasket would be with some honda bond

[bwamos]

Aye. No gasket. you use liquid gasket material.

I usually use the orange high temp RTV silicone you can get at the auto parts store.

On the black rubber/plastic plug. Make sure you get the sealant on both sides (top and bottom). I'm sure that's probably why it leaks now. The last person forgot to apply it to one side. ;)

Head cover bolts only get tightened down to 7ft-lbs. They will twist/snap pretty easy. They don't get very tight.

On the chattering. It's probably just the valve lash out of spec.

Set the clearance to 0.004" intake and exhaust side.

[Grimzella]

dont think my torque wrench goes that low :rolleyes: but i will be careful.
I just bought this quad for 1600.00 and this seems to be the only issues with it. Except for the fact that it will not shift up into 5th gear(its kinda like you are in the last gear) but I still have one more. . I knew this when i bought it.. i figured i wouldn't really need 5th gear for much.. maybe for faster transport down streets, I dont ride on streets that much.. the trails are right in my backyard.
Is 5th gear just jammed? is it worth even fixing? i know nothing about the gearbox\crankcase.

thanks again

[Grimzella]

well i did it.. i used honda300EXtreme's suggestions. the leak is fixed.. thank you. I do however have a question on the valve adjustments.. when trying to find top dead center, i have read that both the intake and exhaust rocker arms shound have some lash.. or play when you are at TDC... i find that no matter how many times i rotate the engine and line up the T mark.. i can only get the exhaust rocker arms to have play.. no matter what i do.. intake arms do not have play.

one more question. When i had the valve cover off.. i inspected all parts.. eveything looked good with minimal wear but i did noticed one of the exhaust valve spring assembly were kinda loose,, i mean,, i wiggled all 4 of them,, all seemed pretty solid except for the one i mentioned? any ideas?

Thanks again everyone for your help,
Dave.

[honda300EXtreme]

ok,

if the valve lash on the intake is too tight, there will not be any play in the rocker, because there is no gap,

so juat make sure you confident when its a tdc, and adjust them to spec (0.004)

about the valve spring, its hard to judge with out seeing it, but if you feel that it could be trouble some down the road, then i suggest fixing it