shaft dribble

[Greaser Greg]

The distributor shaft is leaking from the outer end inward of where the starter wheel pin is.  There seems to be some kind of plug that moved inward when poked.  Anyone ever seen that, or fixed it?  I'm thinking some JB Weld or epoxy will do it.

[quocle603]

You may just need some new seals. Just get a rebuild kit

[Greaser Greg]

I've got one coming, but was told it had been done already and the leak is def coming from the end of distributor where starter wheel attaches, where the plug is loose. The inner seal at the top won't help with that anyway as the distributor is filled with oil to send to engine. My concern with a repair is that it may affect the internal volume of oil in distributor; not sure how critical to proper function that is. Will just try it and check output I suppose.
I'm gonna guess that leak is why the bike was on premix. Thanks for the reply.

[m in sc]

doesn't mean it was done right. 

[SNice]

I just rebuilt two of these and I think I may have come across this same issue. On one of them, the plug came out. It was a little rubber plug with what looked like epoxy/glue behind it (on the open end). The rubber part faced the plunger.  During disassembly, I noticed it was loose and knocked it out from the plunger side.  There is a small lip that prevents it from traveling in the opposite direction.  Upon reassembly, I pushed it back in as far as it would go (from the starter wheel side) and followed it up with a small dab of jB weld.  On my second pump, the plug seemed fixed and did not budge or come out so I left it in.  I looked for documentation on this plug and found nothing so I assumed it was not meant to be removed.

Time will tell if it holds and I am far off from a running bike so I am really just confirming your findings.  I did not see a replacement plug in any of the rebuild kits I saw.  Hopefully my descriptions make sense as I failed to take pics of the little plug.   Good luck!  Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in!

[Greaser Greg]

AHA! That's exactly what I wanted to know! I, too, have another pump where it doesn't move.
Guess the rubber shrinks after 47 years.
Thanks a lot!

[Greaser Greg]

This here's the thingamajiggy that was giving my shaft the drip.  Not included in the durn rebuild kits, guess us R5 owners don't rate. Rubber is harder than a politician's heart.