| Author | Message | ||
     Fahren |
S2T, new to me. Leak from the rear-most rear pushrod base. NRHS billet bases. The pushrod covers look like 2-piece adjustables, I believe they are #13-NRPCXL, as seen on NHRS site, but not sure what I have to do to the middle collar to get the parts apart. The leaking pushrod cover has a different look than the other 3: it has a black ring showing around the base, as opposed to a paper-looking, tan-orange-ish ring at the base of the other 3 covers. I've read past threads about fixing these leaks, generally: new OEM seals with the NRHS bases, super-glue the seals in place so they don't pop out when sliding the cover on. I'm thinking maybe this was leaking before, and the PO put a different seal on than the other 3 to try to fix it... otherwise, why would it be different than the other 3? What are those tan/orange seals, anyway? What needs to be done with the covers you see in the pix below, and will having a 2-piece cover make the fix easier (i.e., no need to remove the rocker box assembly?) Any help is appreciated. Overview of covers and base (rear)  closeup of rear base  closeup of front base  (Message edited by fahren on April 10, 2010) | ||
| F_skinner |
You should be able to slide a piece of the push rod cover and it will come apart so you can see the push rods. Use a screw driver in that little slot close to the top of the covers. I will assume the PO put adjustable push rods in since he has those covers (allows you to adjust the the push rod without removing the head. I think (but I am not sure) you can adjust the push rods enough that you can remove them without pulling the head. I do not have any experience with these so I am not sure. As far as the bases, I would call Dan at NRHS (303) 702-1600. He gives advice for free and has helped me in the past but I think he is open Mon through Fri. I have no idea what those tan seals are. I am hoping someone else will chime in since I may be wrong. | ||
| 4dwuds |
Try spinning the cover around a few times and it might seat the cover better in the seal. You can do it with your fingers or wrap a leather shoe string around it a few times and spin away. Try that first before you get serious and start pulling stuff apart. Don't know why you would have two different seals in there. The little clip at the top just pulls off (just hook the little slot opening and give it a tug) and then you can slide the lower cover up and check for adjustable pushrods. Let us know what you find. (Message edited by 4DWUDS on April 10, 2010) | ||
| Fahren |
I got whatever records of work done on the bike that were available. One work ticket from 1996 shows Crane Adjustable pushrods going in when the Mikuni 42, the high flow air cleaner, the slip-on muffler, new ignition module, XL performance cam kit. But with a top end rebuild in 2006, I see the pushrod covers listed along with Hurricane XB9 pushrods. This thing seems to be a high-performance mutt! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Adjustable pushrods *are* removable without pulling the heads. Score one for you! Either slide a screwdriver into the slot at the top of the tube and twist to remove that panel, or grab it (the slot-strap-stickout thingy) and pull. edit: you may have to push the collar down just a bit to free the bottom end of the locking strap. The tubes are four pieces - upper tube, lower tube, collar, and locking piece (with the strap). Pull the locking piece, you can slide the collar and the lower tube up and that will reveal the adjuster on the pushrods. Loosen the jamnut on the pushrod and turn the pushrod end to 'shorten' it enough to pop the bottom out of the base, taking the pushrod and the tube together. This will let you put a new seal in the base of the pushrod tube. The "glue the seal in place then slide" approach is if you have stock tubes and have to slide the tube through the base with o-ring, to keep it from dislodging while you slide. You don't need to worry about it with the adjustables and the collapsible tubes. Go to the crane website and get the install instructions for the pushrods, to make sure you readjust them properly on install. IIRC, you need the engine at TDC with all valves unloaded to do the adjustment... (Message edited by ratbuell on April 11, 2010) | ||
| Fahren |
Yay for the collapsible covers, but if the service tickets I see are right, the latest one shows the adjustable Crane's swapped out for XB9 pushrods. So I don't know if I can work them properly the way you describe. I'll see what's in there. | ||
| 4dwuds |
Before you go loosening the pushrods, make sure the cylinder you are working on is at TDC. If they put in the non adjustable XB9 rods, you will have to pull the heads to put new seals in. OR if there are two seals on each rod then just cut one off,Your choice. Check to make sure there is a seal in the head as well. Not saying it couldn't happen with a H-D factory trained tech, But,,,, | ||
| Fahren |
Patrick, I liked the sound of your "spin the covers by hand" suggestion better! :-) But I'll check it out and keep you posted. Thanks. | ||
| D_bag |
>>>> If they put in the non adjustable XB9 rods, you will have to pull the heads to put new seals in. OR if there are two seals on each rod then just cut one off,Your choice. No need to pull the head or cut the pushrod, just remove the rockerbox and service the seals in the conventional manner, but use the proprietary seals. Truthfully, if you have to go that far and since there are no adjustable pushrods any longer, I would remove the adapter blocks and go back to stock tubes and base retainers | ||
| Fahren |
D_bag, why would you go back to original? Just for a cleaner tube look? Or do you think they would be less prone to leaks? I have the original tubes, along with the incredible bent older pushrods. I think the PO threw in the original bases as well. But the seals are way easier to deal with on the collapsibles than on the OEM parts. <$20 for new Zippers seal kit from Dan at NRHS. (Message edited by fahren on April 13, 2010) | ||
| Keef |
the lower pushrod tube seals the orange ones at the bottom are old type 1 vw pushrod tube seals and they are cheap to buy | ||
| D_bag |
The short answer is: The original tubes are less prone to leaks by virtue of fewer and better seals. The longer answer is: The adjustable pushrods made the collapsible tubes a necessary evil to provide the ability to maintain solid or limited travel lifter adjustments, change cams, the lifters, or lifter blocks easily. Conversely, the collapsible tube seals were easily replaced due to the adjustable pushrods allowing the removal of the tubes with the rocker box intact. What is interesting to me, in your situation, is that the seals for the collapsible tubes with the NHRS raised adapter base appear to be proprietary not to mention ugly. This is not even taking into consideration the additional seals for the adapter block if they should spring a leak; hopefully they are just o-rings in compression as opposed to another proprietary gasket. When the collapsible tubes were common place and/or necessary, we only had to go to the hardware store and purchased over the counter o-rings to reseal them, not Zippers, NHRS, or even the dealership! This is the situation with my S&S cases that utilize replaceable lifter bores as in the early XL engines; everything is standard o-rings that I could get at any hardware store. Additionally, the stock tubes do not require an adapter block, yet the same effort is required to change any seals (in your case) since the adjustable pushrods are no longer present. So, in the end, why maintain complexity where it is no longer necessary; especially since you have the stock parts and must pull the rocker box anyway. |
