| Author | Message | ||
     Wolk625 |
 So I've narrowed down my leak to be coming from the drain plug, but. Despite all of my best efforts and trying every idea suggested to me - and believe me, Everything: locktite, teflon crush washer, copper crush washer, nylon crush washer, aluminum crush washer, teflon tape, RTV gasket maker, seal-all glue.. new O-ring every time and sometimes even combinations of the different methods... nothing will stop this leak. I am near the end of my patience with this thing and am in dire need of some Good advice of how to stop this. I am almost tempted to grab a big chunk of rubber the size of the mating surface and punch a small hole in it and use that. So, thoughts? comments? any other suggestions? ridicule and laughter?  | ||
| 01x1buell |
did you try a new drain plug? | ||
| M2marc |
your drain plug does not look OEM. maybe the threads are different and are causing a leak. not all threads are the same even if they screw in nicely. Like 01x1 says try a new drain plug | ||
| Dannybuell |
perhaps your threads are galled? if so, you may need a helicoil. | ||
| Wolk625 |
the threads don't seem loose or an odd fit when I screw it in but I could still not be using the correct drain plug - been discovering quite a few "mystery parts" on the bike lately.. I guess my thought is if the threads were chewed up/galled/incorrect size, would this not matter with how the plug seals (sealing occurring between the head of the bolt and adjacent mating surface on the case rather than sealing with threads)? At least from what I observe there is a "countersink" around the plug hole which is what I assume the o-ring is supposed to seal with. I can't seem to find a good picture of what the original drain plug looks like and how mine might differ.. Tomorrow I'll try picking one up and try that out. | ||
| Prior |
Order a new drain plug, try that out, and if it still leaks, shoot me a PM. I've got a timesert kit I've sent around to a number of Badwebbers to fix up mangled threads- take care of the shipping both ways and toss in an extra sert or two for the next guy and it's all yours to make the repair. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
The drain plug has a magnet on the top. I think it is swedged into the hollow bolt. Try filling the hole in the bottom of the bolt with silicon after a good cleaning. | ||
| Kilroy |
Don't overtorque with the o-ring. | ||
| Dannybuell |
when I had my clutch done years ago my drain plug came back galled. I have used Orings, nylon washers, liquid teflon sealant, teflon tape. I finally had a heli-coil put in, problem resolved. | ||
| Wolk625 |
soo update. bought a new drain plug. that leaked. noticed it was pre-treated with pipe dope so I thought I'd slather it up with some more. that leaked. going to try heading to ACE and just buy a big rubber washer to see if that does anything.. my whole goal here is to get it to stop leaking by this weekend because I'm going to try entering it in my town's car show and don't wanna look like a doofus with a "ha leaky harley".. | ||
| 01x1buell |
kinda hard to see by the picture, but are you sure the oil is coming from the plug or is it coming from the gasket and running onto the plug?? | ||
| Wolk625 |
Yeah it is pretty tough to see in the picture but it is in fact coming from the plug. It's really difficult to take a picture of it happening because whenever I pull over to look at it it'll dribble towards the case seal because of the bike's lean when parked then any point after that it's impossible to tell. I just got lucky once and was able to catch it right as it was happening. It only wants to leak once it gets good temp in it and once I'm moving - I could leave it idling parked for a half an hour and it wouldn't leak.. | ||
| 01x1buell |
well that is different and weird how it wont leak unless moving. | ||
| Psykick_machanik |
something here just doesnt sound right. with all that you have done to that plug any one of those tries should have worked. Im wondering if it something above leaking down onto the plug. I'd be tempted to ride it till leaking then tear it down to get into the guts of the motor and see if theirs some place else thats leaking. maybe more than one leak? Try spraying some "dye-penitrant" developer around the plug, and any other suspect spots. Its a white chalky spray used for crack detection. not sure where you could find the spray tho, not really a common item. But the leak will show up like a neon sign on the white developer. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Maybe a cracked case. Never know who over torqued it before you. | ||
| Wolk625 |
I'm thinking the only leaking when moving part might be because not as much stuff is moving around in there at stop/idle - like some of the oil is probably pooled in a spot when all the drivetrain isn't moving then when i start riding the oil is circulating more and there's more heat transfer happening - it won't leak cold. So this is how it goes: replace plug with whatever I'm trying to seal it with - looks good. fill oil - still looks good, no seeping yet. start it up and look underneath - still nothin yet. ride it around the parking lot a bit - still no oil. take it out on the street and get my speed up - holy buckets here it comes! park it and watch it - still dripping, notice the oil seeping is very "clean" and viscous (hot oil). go off and do something else while it cools off, then come back and wipe it down - no more weeping.. I feel like this does almost suggest a crack that gets worse as the metal expands.. Maybe the hole is getting bigger as the aluminum case expands faster than the steel bolt? I dunno. Just some more theories.. | ||
| Wolk625 |
Hmmm.. Another thought. I have also been noticing a lot of oil buildup on the rear of my bike - runs along the bottom of the left side of the swingarm, gets on brake, extreme left of rear tire... but also some oil up higher in some odd places by the reservoir tank. After some digging in the knowledge vault I am starting to suspect something might be amiss with the breather hose for the primary/tranny case. I'm not entirely sure where it run on my bike but that might be contributing to some of the oil leakage. Maybe the problems are related? any more ideas? | ||
| Wolk625 |
Last thought for the night: suppose now that my crank seal is leaking or blown. Depending on where my tranny vent hose is routed, or even pinched somewhere, that seems to account for some of the oil I'm finding up higher on the bike. Is it possible that with a leaking crank seal and potentially pinched vent hose that enough pressure could build up to just force the oil out of the drain plug? I seem to also have trouble getting the shifter seal and primary inspection cover to quit weeping - didn't know if that could be another high pressure in the primary thing.. If I get time this weekend I'll drain both the engine and primary and measure how much I got. | ||
| Totalnutah |
you may have a minor crack in the case leaks as the motor warms up & the crack expands ? as the guys above have said TBH (Message edited by totalnutah on July 20, 2012) | ||
| Kalali |
The next thing I'd check is to make sure the tranny vent tube is not blocked. Seems like you're building excessive pressure inside the cover. | ||
| Hootowl |
+1 If you've got oil weeping out of all the seals in the tranny, there's likely pressure in there. The vent hose is under the seat, laying across the oil tank, and attaches to the engine case at the top rear of the transmission behind/under the battery. I'd pull that off and make sure you can blow through it. Might have a mud wasp nest in there.  Still surprised, after many years, that the board's spell check doesn't recognize the word 'attaches'. | ||
| Psykick_machanik |
+2 sure sounds like a pressurized case. | ||
| Wolk625 |
well i feel stupid. update again - after some disassembly for inspection of the vent hose I noticed a very considerable amount of oil coming from the starter seal, which seems to be responsible for the majority of the oil leaking... so basically I think I just tried fixing my drain plug 9 times for no reason... not ruling out that the plug could still be leaking a little (still suspect my main seal's bad) but looking at it after I noticed the leak from the starter I could see exactly how I thought it was the plug - it dribbles down the back side of the primary where I couldn't see then continues right on down to the plug - the only place I could see it coming from.. I called around and nobody in the area has a gasket for the starter in stock. Is there a simple fix/kludge that can get me by for maybe a day leak-free? contemplating just tracing the old one and cutting it out of a cereal box.. | ||
| Hootowl |
You said that ALL your gaskets are weeping. I'd seriously consider checking your vent hose in addition to replacing the leaking gasket or you may find yourself back where you started. Replacing the starter gasket involves removing the primary cover, so order a new gasket for that too. Make sure you get the metal one. If you've already got the metal one, you may be able to reuse it. Oh, and the shift shaft seal. | ||
| Buellistic |
If you ask for a BUELL started gasket they will not have it, "BUT" if you ask for a SPORTSTER starter gasket which is the same part, they will have it !!! | ||
| Preybird1 |
+1 to buellistic I learned to never say buell when i need parts. I got in a fight with the parts manager in a harley dealer because he would not sell me a l.e.d. brake light bulb. He tried to tell me it wont work on a buell of any kind. And i said yes it will and isn't that it on the wall right there and he stepped sideways blocking it from my veiw and said it won't work! So i told him to go $#@% himself and HD! I will never buy Anything from HD again if i don't have to!! I only buy from aftermarket vendors and mostly online now. | ||
| Jim2 |
http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-p rodshow/5934.html | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Don't mess around with a quick fix. Get the new style metal/rubber gasket and be done with it. You have to pull the header anyway, no sense doing it twice. Make sure to get ALL the old paper gasket off or it will leak again. | ||
| Thylacine |
Why does he need to pull the header? | ||
| Wolk625 |
Wow that's cheap for the gasket. +1 for harley dealers not knowing the parts are interchangeable - also had a confrontation similar to preybird's. Seems crazy they can do that and still stay in business.. These next few weeks are going to be a lot slower than this past week so I don't think I should have a problem taking the time to get everything taken care of inside the primary. Oh yeah, my "quick fix" consisted of shoving some rags up in the gap behind the primary to soak up the leak- did all I needed it to do  |
