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Engine Oil leak

Traceman

Traceman

Member
So coming home from Georgia yesterday we developed an oil leak on the left side of the motor. It is not visible anywhere above or around the jugs. The motor, trans, and primary are all untouched. It appears to be coming from behind the primary about even with the primary drain plug. At first I though it was primary fluid but turns out that I was about a qt and a half low on engine oil. Any ideas where this leak is coming from? Its a 96" twin cam. It is not transmission fluid. This was dirty black fluid. I pulled the derby cover off and the oil was at the level it should be.
 
A QUICK Guess:

Engine Halves leaking at some point. OR oil filter leaking OR oil cooler and all running Back.

That much engine oil Low should be a big Clue...:dknow.

signed....BUBBIE
 
I had a leak on one of the plugs in the front of the oil filter once. Pulled it, cleaned and re-tefloned and no problem since.
 
Agree with the oil cooler/filter leaking. I had the same thing happen it was a oil line fromt he cooler leaking.
 
Looks like there is another piece to the puzzle. I am low on trans fluid also. It is suggested that it is the mainshaft seal. With me having air ride on my bike I may have had the belt tension too tight which stressed the shaft. How big of a job is this?
 
The most common leak is the two lower transmission side plate (bearing housing) screws. It's not the chrome cover that says "six-speed" on it, it's the plate that the cover bolts down too. There is an exhaust bracket attached at this point and these two screws always seem to loosen up. Check those two screws - I'll bet they're loose. Just tighten them and the leak will disappear. Had this happen to me a month ago, when it's on the jiffy stand it drips down right at the plug just like your describing...
 
If push come to shove, use a tracer dye available at Autozone. They come in two colors, orange and green. Put one color in the oil and the other color in the tranny. Ride it a bit and check with a black light. At least you will know which area to start digging into. Oh if you get no hit with the black light then the primary is the culprit.
 
The main shaft oil seal is perhaps not to difficult to do provided you have the correct tools and a wee bit of experience using them
The primary needs to come off all of it then pull the bearing inner race from the main shaft as the seal is behind it
If you then drill some small holes in the metal part of the seal and screw in some self tapping screws you can pull on them to pull the seal out then just slip it off the end of the main shaft
Use some rigid plastic pipe of a suitable size to drive the new seal into place
When fitting the bearing inner race ensure you do leave sufficient space between it and the seal so that you can get a puller in if needed in the future
Ensure you seal the bolts between the inner primary and the gearbox it might be worth replacing all the seals and inner primary bearing while in that far
Best tool to have is the service manual read it and be well acquainted with what you are going to do prior to starting
You will also need special tool to remove and fit the bearing inner race on the main shaft low cost versions can be found on ebay

Brian
 
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