Primary oil leak

TQuentin1

Man, that sux!! As you mentioned, it may need a set of "cold eyes" on it to see something you are too close to at this point. The HD shop may be your next step. Check everything when you get it back including fluids before you ride off the lot.

When you pulled the inner to change it out, the tranny looked fairly dry with respect to oil on it? Especially around the pully drive shaft? Definitely NOT leaking tranny oil, right?

TQ

SoCalEzWider

ok...this might be grasping at straws,but...
Is it anyway possible for the tranny and engine not to be aligned perfect on the vertical plane? ie: tranny twisted from the engine. I mean they mate up on dowl pins and 4 big ass bolts...but possible? because something sure isn't right here. Just trying to think outside the box.......and outa my mind...

edit: by the way I just returned from HD dealer...bought all new bolts, locktabs, gaskets, and seals including the jackshaft,main shaft, and shifter shaft seal. I took the HD tecs advice and put ATF in the primary. the red stuff was only coming out at the suspected location. But what the heck...I have replaced every other thing (at least twice, and some 3 and 4 times) I might as well replace the shifter seal as well. Off to the garage for yet another tear down...yippy ki ay

TQuentin1

Not as long as the four tranny to engine bolts are tight (torqued).

But that made me think of something. When you look at the bolt hole that is leaking, there is no Helicoil or other thread repair insert in the hole, right? If not, looking carefully at that bolt hole, there is no hairline crack anywhere around the outside of it, right?

TQ

SoCalEzWider

yes...(sigh....), there is a time-sert in the hole. I originaly took the bike to a custom shop up the road to have them fix the original leak leak (main shaft seal) because I was being lazy. They stripped the bolt hole and put a helicoil in it. After the 3rd time of them not getting the leak fixed I got (edit) and said screw it I will do it my self.(figured I could'nt screw it up any worse than they did). Brought it home took the helicoil out and installed a time-sert. Time-serts are a little tricky compared to other thread repairs but far superior IMO, and not the first one I'v done. But.........I see where your going. I made as sure as I could I got it in straight. Oh man...I sure as heck don't want to replace the tranny case...another $700 from HD + totally disassemble the bike.

dangerdan

Not being familiar with what your talking about , but cant the tranny case be taken apart and the offending hole be re- drilled and re- tapped next size larger or can this be done while still on the bike.

Its gota be cheaper than $700.00 for a new case.

SoCalEzWider

It was drilled and tapped on the bike with a steel insert installed to maintain the original bolt size. problem being if the hole got drilled slightly off,then the bolt does not go in straight and allows the oil to seep past it and subsequently finds the path of least resistance and VIOLA...leak city.....DOOOH!

dangerdan

How about a silicon or thread compound like they use on Natural gas pipe to seal up those imperfections.

TQuentin1

Easy,

OK. Different problem now. Couple of quickies. Is the bike under warranty that you care about? Are you opposed to a bit of back yard engineering? Depending on your answers, there are a couple of things to think about:

Check the surface of that bolt hole profile on the tranny to see if it is flat, or if someone has buggered it up. If it is flat, here is a backyard solution that I would try (you may not want to since it will probably void any warranty you might have, so think about this carefully). Go to a industrial supply store (like Granger) and get the thinnest neoprene or silicone washer they have. Something in the 1/32" or 1 mm range. Get a few and put one between each of the three tranny/inner primary mating surfaces. Put everything back together like the book says making sure to wad up the bolts with RTV. You might even put that lowest bolt in last and fill the hole with RTV before you put the bolt in. Once the bolt is tight, clean off the excess (obviously). Once you have the clutch, compensator and chain back on, make sure you check the alignment of the chain with a straight edge. Should be OK, but better check and shim if you have to. Now fill 'er back up and see what happens. Since you don't have a lot of flex on the inner primary with the TC like we do on the EVOs, it should be OK, but better keep an eye on the inner case for a while looking for hairline cracks (will develop an oil wet line if it happens).

If it STILL leaks, instead of spending any more money on that tranny getting a new case, what about replacing it with a 6-spd? The Baker DD6 would be very nice, but expensive. Depends what you do with your bike. RevTech may have a complete assembly for the '05 WG. Would not be my first choice on a touring bike, but on the Dynas it makes sense for tooling around. I am gonna do that on my '91 Dyna when I get a round tuit. I have seen them fairly cheap on the 'net.

Anyway, best of luck.

TQ

SoCalEzWider

been there, tried that TQ. 1st time it pinched the gasket material off, and it still leaked. tried it again lastnight with some rubber gasket material I got from my bro-in-law (a plumber). still did everything else per specs and let the thing setup going on 24 hours. About to finish up the install and oil her up...wish me luck...

SoCalEzWider

problem solved.

Edit:Sorry for the quik note...The wife put a tasty rib eye on the table just as I logged on... Thanks for all the insight and suggestions. Now I'll just keep my fingers crossed it doesn't start up again. Thanks again

Ez