First, I am not mechanical. I own a 2009 FLHX. One week ago had the 15000 mile service done four days before leaving on a 5000 mile trip. At about 1000 miles noticed oil leaking. Stopped at the nearest dealer who took a look and said it was the inner primary but had no room to fit in a repair.

The mechanic said I shoud be able to finish my trip without any problems. Gave me a gasket and a quart of oil and said in a few days to take off the derby cover and look if I can see oil.

Talked to the wife tonight and she said that there was a drop of oil in the garage where I park my bike. I have several questions;

1. Should the tech doing the 15000 mile sevice have noticed the leak?
2. Was the advice I got on the road sound?
3. Is this normal to leak after only 15000 miles?
4. I have the extended warranty, but my paperwork is at home - I only have the card with me - Is an inner primary leak covered?

Thank you for your speedy replies.

 

Replaceing an inner primary seal takes a few hours. Everything inside the primary cover has to be removed to get to that seal. ie: estimate - $20 seal & $250 labor then all the other gaskets & fluids to close it back up. Could hit $400+ w/o warranty

Its possible that the Mech that did the 15K service over filled the primary & thats the excess finding a way out.

1 -Maybe it wasn't leaking at the time of service or just starting to weep
2- The on the road advice was acceptable, plenty have traveled with worse. As long as everything inside has enough fluid to stay lubed & cooled, its ok
3- Not normal to leak at 15K miles or even 30K miles. But it does happen
4- Yes it should be covered. Even without paperwork, a dealer can look it up.

Just my thoughs anyways

 

How bad of a leak? I would think if it was leaking at the time of your last service the tech should have got it. BUT hey,you didn't see it either. You have the oil & gasket,just check it out. OR find another shop to fix it. You should not need any paperwork about your warranty. You do keep your warranty card with your bike, don't you??? I would think they can bring all that info up on the computer.

 

When I got my 1000 mile service the tech found a slight leak on the inner primary. I had it fixed under warranty. It does take awhile to fix. I was waiting and wound up at the dealership over half the day. I'm close to the 5000 mile service and will make sure they check again. I was very concerned that my new bike could have a leak. I guess that is what the warranty is for but it is still disappointing. I have not noticed any oil under it. I would get it fixed ASAP.

 

Its possible that the Mech that did the 15K service over filled the primary & thats the excess finding a way out.

I overfilled my transmission once (01' RK) and developed a leak on the inner primary (so I thought) but it was actually leaking around the seal coming out of the transmission where the shift linkage mounts to the shaft. Once I figured out what I had done, I drained it and refilled it with the right amount and the leak went away. This may or may not be your problem but I would rule it out before tearing into the primary...

 

Thanks for your replies. I have found it useful.

 

Same exact thing happen to me a week ago. I was on a long road trip 1k miles from home. The bike was running like crap and I noticed an oil spot on the ground after it was parked a little bit.
I checked the oil and it looked ok so I headed to the nearest dealer in Ohio. I met a mechanic at the door who brought it in and found I had over filled the oil and it backed in to the primary and out the seal.
He removed a little oil, changed the gasket and gave me the same advice. Didn't charge me anything either.
The bikes been parked a week now and the spots the size of a pin. I'll get the seal fixed at the end of the season.

 

I had a leak as a result of an overfilled primary. The leak was coming from the rubber boot on the primary that routes the wires from the stator to the regulator.

Once I thought I knew where it was coming from, I sat and watched it for about five minutes after a ride, and it was letting a little bit of oil seep out that eventually coated the underside of the bike in oil and road grime.

The black primer-like paint made it real hard to spot.

Once I corrected the oil level, the leak stopped.

The overfilled primary was the result of a seal allowing oil to migrate from the engine to the primary.

The seal was covered under warranty.

 

The inner primary seal is common to leak. what usually happens is the inner race walks on the shaft and into the seal and makes it leak. I changed the main bearing in the back of the primary, the race on the main shaft and the seal. Not to bad of job to perform yourself but if I had extended warranty I would be looking to use it.

It could also be the shifter seal but not like from what the tech told you and you can ride with it leaking I did for a little while until I had all the parts and the time o fix it. You do need to make sure the bearing is good you can tell by rolling the bike and see if you hear any clicking of a bad bearing, or with the bike running with the bike in neutral you will hear a constant noise that will go way when the clutch is pulled in.

If the fluid is in fact running down the back of the primary from behind the pulley it is the seal. Over filling can be a problem I guess from what I have heard with the bik straight up the fluid shoud just come up to the clutch basket.

Good luck

 

This is a little tardy but it has been a very hectic summer. Got the leak fixed the next day at Zion HD and have had no problems since. Great bunch of guys there...had me in and out in about two hours. Covered under warranty. Had little satifaction with my dealer back home when I informed them of the issue, so my future business, both service and sales will go to another dealer henceforth. Thanks to all for your input and advice.