I've had a wet underbelly for some time. If I go out and park for a few hours, you would not see any oil on the ground. But after weeks of sitting, there would be two small oil spots on the floor under the rear edge corners of the sump. My engine holds tappet clearance well between checks, and runs well, so I didn't really want to pull the cylinders off just for some weeping oil.
GSPD can certainly come off a bit crusty at times, but he gave me a bit of advice:
He suggested after a clean up, that I stick a needle nose pliers into the seals "like forking a hot dog" and move them around a bit, then shove them back into the crankcase. I had a well known seal conditioner usually used internally, to stop engine leaks in my garage. I use it for improving the condition of rubber parts. I don't know if that helped at all, but I brushed it on the seals a few times before pushing the cleaned seals into the crankcase. I've been riding for months now, and can attest that I have a oil tight machine, after a decade with an oily bottom.
Thanx GSPD! And after a good test, I'd though I'd pass this on. An easy fix you can add to your library of tricks.
) method ZM described works, even with kinda hardened seals, as long as they aren't badly cracked.
