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Where did my fluid go?

tonyb2760

tonyb2760

Member
I am running Spectro in my tranny with favorable results for the whinning 5th, and have logged about 600 miles since the change. I have an 07 Ultra and yesterday on my way back home I began having trouble finding neutral. Long story short when I got home and checked the fluid I discoverd it was very low. There are no visible signs of leaking anywhere, checked the vent tube and all over the bike and nothing. I have noticed a strange oder while in decel mode but it doesen't smell like engine oil and all other fluid levels are correct. My question is, where could the transmission fluid be going?
Any and all responses welcome.
 
check and see if primary is over full and turning red seal between trans and primary might be leaking
 
Did you use different colored lubricants in the different holes? Make sure the different holes lubricants look reasonably like the colors they were originally and of course for leakage is not "pooling" somewhere...
 
I did check all holes and no overflow anywhere. I use Spectro in the transmission, Mobil Vtwin in the engine, and Belray in the primary, and nothing appears to be mixed or over full. The strange smell during decel makes me wonder, it smells like hot gear lube. If the seal between the transmission and primary were leaking shouldn't I get mixing both ways?, and there was no evidence of gear lube in the primary. This really has me baffled.
 
There is no seal between the transmission and the primary...If a transmission seal is leaking you will have gear lube on the ground under the bike.

Check to see if there is gear lube blowing out the vent tube.

Don`t mean to sound like a smart alek, but is there a chance the missing lube is still in the container on the shelf?....
 
As I said in the first post there is no visible signs of leaking. The bike is parked in the garage, and I did check the vent tube first. I also looked all under and around the bike for possible blowing of fluid, and I'm telling you this is strange, but no evidence of leaking. I only talked about a seal leaking because someone else suggested it, and I can assure you when the fluid was changed to Spectro it was put in because I purchased two quarts and one was missing. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. but by no means am I the dullest.
 
Several places it could be leaking from:

The main drive gear seal or quad seal, which would cause lube to leak out behind the front belt drive pulley (between the pulley and the trans case).

The mainshaft/main drive gear seal, which would cause lube to leak out near the pulley and run down the inner side of the primary case.

Shifter shaft seal.

Trap door gasket, right side of tranny.

Clutch mechanism cover on the trap door.

It would seem that if it were a leak in one of these areas, you would see evidence of a leak.

Possibly it blew out the vent for some reason. I suggest you service it back to the correct level and keep an eye on it.

Please keep us posted, we may learn something new...
 
I did service it back to correct level by draining what fluid was left, and put in my last quart. I of course paid alot of attention to the magnet on the drain plug and found no metal on it. The inspection of the vent tube provided no evidence, it was open and completly dry. I'm telling you I can find no fluid on the exterior of the bike. This sounds very strange and has got me a little nervous. After installing the fluid I took it for a spin, and the transmission was as quite as an 07 6 speed would be expected to be with no shift problems and I can find neutral with ease.
 
Hummmm. This could be one of those rare occassions where "gremlins" are hard at work. Sometimes we never figure it out. If you do get it solved, be sure and let everyone know what happened. I guess it would be too much for any actual MOCO Engineers to get involved here, right? I know for a fact they lurk out here.
 
Well after about 2,000 miles,a trip to N.C. and all around Ga. the fluid is maintaining its correct level. I check it before and during every trip. This will be an unsolved mystery. The day it was low I was on a trip and away from the bike for about an hour. I hope someone would not tamper with my bike, but these days you can trust no one.
 
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