I noticed that my eng. was making a noise that sounds like a car belt that squeaks or whistles when its idling. I checked the gaskets on the pipes, it started to notice it about 60 miles ago. Everything looked OK until I checked the Transmission oil. Nothing on the stick. Nothing after cleaning it when I screw it in or at rest on the threads. There was a bit of oil on the stick when I first took it out so I assume there is some in the case. I have been getting a small amount of oil on the floor after a ride. But I thought this was from the oil filter that was seeping just a small amount of oil. I tightened the filter and it seemed to stop or at least slow down. I get maybe three drops on the floor after a 60 mile ride. Any suggestions of what to look for appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Probably a trans main seal or mainshaft/5th gear seal leaking; the oil is leaking while you ride and once you stop, the dripping is just residual from the leak. Not a big job but a bit messy and time consuming for a first time DIY project. You will need a service manual and a few special purpose tools and should replace every seal behind the inner primary and, since you are in there, the inner primary bearing race and seal. The parts are not expensive and you might as well do it all at once.

First things is to put some gear oil in the trans while you figure out what you are going to do. Plenty of help on the forum; I have done the repair several times myself as have others.

 

Thanks I appreciate it. I have a clymer manual. What Oil do I put in while I figure it out? I have a bottle of 70-90 gear oil. Its not syn. but if its only for a bit till I get the fix done. Also do you have any links to any videos on how to do it so I can get a visual I would appreciate it a lot. thanks for the reply.

 

if you have a squeal in your trans from a lack of oil, the transmission is toasted. the only thing that will cause that sound besides a slipping rubber belt, is bearings being forced to spin dry, it gaulds up the bearing and the shafts spinning in them. same thing as a spun bearing in an engine. the leak is from a leaking seal or possibly the drain plug isn't sealed rite. adding oil might quiet the trans down, if the damage wasn't too bad, it might get by. if you notice any other noises,or sloppiness in the trans or shifting you should have the trans rebuilt or replaced before a lot more damage occurs..

the first thing i would do is drain the oil from the trans to see how much is actually in there. there could be plenty but just not enough to register on the dipstick. look at the oil that comes out real good for any steel or brass shavings

i cant think of anything on a HD that would squeal with out meaning major internal damage.. make sure that there isn't something stuck along side the tire, that could mimic a belt.

 

When I say squeek I mean that the noise like when a belt is making not a squeeling noise when its lose and you reve the eng. Its when the belt makes just a bit of noise that you can just hear at idle. No take that down to where you can just maybe hear it and that may be close to the noise. Its not a very aduible noise. I don't have maybe 60 miles since hearing it. Seems like it comes and goes. I will pull the plug and see how much oil comes out. What is the oil to replace it with? Gear oil or the same as the eng?

 

I would get the oil thing figured out first ,I would allso get the rear tire up off the ground and spin it and look at your belt.Make sure it is tracking (belt) even on the rear pulley.Sometimes the belt will slide to 1 side and geive a noise if it is not adjusted correctly.Allso check your belt tension when it is on the ground.

 

OK I pulled the transmission plug and drained the fluid. I measured it and it was about 19 fluid Oz's that I got out. It was clean and no shavings. There was some sludge on the plug but no more than what would fit on the end of your finger. Oil was clear. I also found where a lot of the drips came from. I had to remove the oil filter and tighten the worm gear clamps on the oil cooler hoses. They were lose enough that I could turn the hose and the clamps. Not remove them but turn them back and forth. I tightened them up all 4. Cleaned the area and can see if it leaks any where else. I did not see any oil on the bottom of the oil pan for the transmission. I swear that I checked the oil just 1000 miles ago and it registered that it had oil on or close to the full mark. Now I did not tip the bike up right to check the oil it was on the kick stand. After I drained the oil I did tip it up and got about another oz out. My question is this, should I put oil in it and run it for a while watching the oil level? If so I have some 80/90 gear oil and some 20/50 Eng. oil non syn. If I am going to watch the level and then decide to either change the seals or not is this a problem? After say 1000 miles even if I decide not to change the seals out right now I can then put in the more expensive oil and change it again. Thanks.

 

A trans can survive on 20oz 's of oil so you are good there. You should always check it in the upright position. If you use a Spectro 75w140 or a Redline trans fluid they are red in color and will help you determine if you are truly leaking trans fluid as opposed to using a gear lube which can take on the appearance of motor oil and make it hard to tell. DO NOT USE MOTOR OIL IN YOUR TRANSMISSION, they are not designed to protect your gears and have detergents in them that you do not need in a transmission.

 

Thanks for all the advice. Here is what I did. I drained out the oil in the transmission. Refilled it with Full Syn. 75-90 gear oil. I drained the primary case oil and got out 32 fluid ozs and replaced it with 32 ozs of Mobile 1 V twin 20-50. I plant to ride it a bit to see if I lose any oil. I fixed what was a leak on the oil cooler hoses. So a few miles and I will keep checking the oil levels. I put in 24 oz of oil in the transmission. My book calls for 20 to 24. We will see how it goes. I did get some metal shavings on the primary oil plug, but from all that I read its very normal to get some fuzz to some metal shavings. They were small like very tiny needles about 1/4 inch long and only enough to fit on the end of your finger tip. Oil was dirty and bike has about 17k on it and I don't think the oil has ever been changed. It was a dark to medium black color. The oil on the transmission was clear just like it came out of the bottle. It was a gear oil and not syn. as I could smell it. So we will see. Maybe I tipped the bike up to check the oil on the dip stick when I first checked it several months ago. I can't remember. But I was told you don't have to do that to check the oil. This seems right as I did not screw the dip stick in and it was on the kick stand after putting in 24 oz of oil and it shows full on the stick.

 

If you don't see any oil on the pan, I doubt if the leak was from the trans. Ride it and monitor engine oil level and look for drips and leaks. You also made reference to an oil cooler. It is not unusual for those adapters to loosen up and start leaking if they weren't installed properly and/or didn't use the anti-rotation device.