Broken engine case, aluminum welding/brazing

[ThomNY]

so after years of being MIA with atcs and just atv's I picked up a couple atc 200's a 200s and a 200e big red. finally built a frankenwheeler out the 2 which was the 200e since its just a bigger better one IMO. Got spark, the Hi-Lo gear freed up as it was jammed and leaking oil, running and shifting right, valves good, start it up yesterday take it for an amazing little ride.. (it just felt so good to enjoy thee fruits of my labor + it was running prestine) and noticed after running awhile it was leaking oil behind the Hi-Lo sub-tranny and in be the front sprocket. which I imagine the chain fell off previous owner and took a chunk out. seen it before and it SUXKS..

so I was looking at that aluminum welding/brazing they do.. im gonna try it, has anyone ever done this with any success??? thanks

[kb0nly]

I would check it to see if its actually broke... I have had a few that they mudded them and it gets full of crap in there riding around with the sprocket and it takes out the oil seal. Is it pouring out? If its just a small leak my bet is the seal, if it had a chunk out you never would have left the driveway without oil going everywhere.

[atc007]

I'm a farmer stick welder. But I think you'll want Tig for that. I know with mig ,you REALLY have to watch the heat. They warp like a soda can. I'm with kb,,more than likely a bad seal.

[kb0nly]

I want a TIG one of these days... I know a guy thats an absolute artist welding aluminum... I would pay him to teach me as much as i deal with aluminum it would be worth it. Until then my MIG serves we well.

[tri again]

I had a 200es with a leaking 2 dollar shift seal.
real hard to tell where it was actually coming from.
We cleaned it reall good and then dusted the side of the engine with
bread flour to be able to see it.

[tapper190]

I've mig a few covers, make sure that it is really clean, wire brush it, when you think you have it clean enough, clean it a bit more, lol. The oil and dirt gets into the crack. Sometimes pre heating it a bit is a good idea as well.

[ThomNY]

yeah I still have to take it apart and see exactly where its leaking.. im a single dad with a 1.5 year old so its not everyday I get some free time. it comes out pretty good when its running. doesn't leak at all until its actually running then its a fast drip to the point its almost a steady stream.

--but I guess what I was thinking isn't even really welding. its called low temperature propane aluminum welding/brazing.. heres a link to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiThO-UQIWE
-I guess its more like soldering.. I seen a guy put a half inch hole in the bottom of a soda can and seal it back up in 2 minutes.. and they also use it on head gaskets.. is this the same thing as you guys were thinking or were you thinking of actually aluminum rods stick welding/mig coil??

[aldochina]

not sure how the brazing would hold up. something like a cast case is hard to weld because the porosity allows dirt and oil into the aluminum. the only way to properly weld them is with a ac tig set up with amperage control. you have to use amperage control to burn out the contaminants before you actually pool the metal. Only use a stainless brush that is only used on aluiminum, or you will just introduce contaminants. This is the proper and best method to a sound repair. that being said, i am sure cases have been repaired in a multitude of ways and used successfully! Slap some JB on there and call it a day!

[ThomNY]

lol exactly, I mean this trike isn't 100%, it really isn't even in good condition for its year... ill start simple and cheap and go from there.. thank you for all the tips/feedback.. everyone else to, thanks :)