UPDATE NOISE// ATTN HACKD!!!

ragrat64 · #1 09-05-2006, 03:09 PM

Riding my 92 heritage Sunday, 50 miles into the ride I would pull to a stop and I started getting a sound that I can only describe as if someone dropped a bolt in my primary case. Not all the time, no pattern, just would sound like something got in the way of a chain or gear, like a snapping or crunching sound. Local Stealership was closed, drove the thing home and did it intermittantly. Fluids are all up and such, where do I start, Primary, Cam, etc ? I surely do not want to wait till it breaks something expensive ( HA HA ) before I fix it.

Also, does it in neutral, in gear, moving, sitting still, moving does not make a difference, nor does gear change or position.

sleepneagle · #2 09-05-2006, 03:14 PM

check for the magnet that is supposed to be on the end of the drain plug.

bobcowan · #3 09-05-2006, 03:28 PM

Primary chain adjuster?

ragrat64 · #4 09-05-2006, 04:37 PM

Had the Primary cover off last week, due to leaking oil. cleaned both surfaces installed new gasket, seems to leak more. When I had the cover off, I noticed that the chain was within specs and nothing in the case looked wrong, so I guess I will have to pull the cover again and go through another 30.00 gasket......

sleepneagle · #5 09-05-2006, 04:41 PM

I don't know how many times I have pulled mine and not installed a new gasket. I have a set as backup and not used'em yet.

Square Dude · #6 09-05-2006, 04:54 PM

Check your primary cover for flatness along the sealing surfaces. I had mine off this morning and layed a straight edge along it and was surprised to find high spots. Along the bottom I could slide maybe almost a dime under the middle of the straight edge! I filed it down and another area along the top too.

As for the magnet suggestion above: When I removed the primary cover to replace the clutch discs only half of the magnet was on the drain plug. It fell off in my rag. Later I found the other half riding around on the back side of the starter ring gear. It's too small to do any good anyway so I pitched it. Heck, the stator cover is a lot more magnet anyway. Kind of like the speedo sensor is what actually collects debris in the tranny rather than the drain plug magnet. What are they thinking?

Mike05 · #7 09-06-2006, 01:17 AM

Ragrat64, Get the aftermarket gasket. It is $20.00. I don't recall the trade name, but 10 bucks is ten bucks!

One_Screamin_Eagle · #8 09-06-2006, 02:14 AM

I have used my metal/rubber/foam one several times with no leaks. Find the noise first, then worry about the gasket if it is leaking.

ragrat64 · #9 09-06-2006, 09:39 AM

Pulled the primary cover off last night, nothing inside looks wrong, chain is properly adjusted, no scarring to indicate anything bouncing around. So I guess this indicates nothing with that part. I assume that the camshaft is gear driven, no chain to adjust, should I start to look at the Trans? Like I said, noise is intermittant, in neutral or gear, and the trans gears are moving when the bike is running. In a previous post, someone told me that the trans seal could be bad between the primary inner and it, which could cause the bearing to fail. Also the service manual says that oil leaks can be caused by a improperly timed oil breather?????

Chevys are much easier to work on.............

Hackd · #10 09-06-2006, 10:32 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: ragrat64
Pulled the primary cover off last night, nothing inside looks wrong, chain is properly adjusted, no scarring to indicate anything bouncing around. So I guess this indicates nothing with that part. I assume that the camshaft is gear driven, no chain to adjust, should I start to look at the Trans? Like I said, noise is intermittant, in neutral or gear, and the trans gears are moving when the bike is running. In a previous post, someone told me that the trans seal could be bad between the primary inner and it, which could cause the bearing to fail. Also the service manual says that oil leaks can be caused by a improperly timed oil breather....

Okay, my .02:

Quote:

Had the Primary cover off last week, due to leaking oil. cleaned both surfaces installed new gasket, seems to leak more. When I had the cover off, I noticed that the chain was within specs and nothing in the case looked wrong, so I guess I will have to pull the cover again and go through another 30.00 gasket......

I had this problem on my 93 FLHS, thought it was a bad primary cover gasket, then I thought it was a warped primary cover...Oil would drip from the primary when the bike was parked on the side stang...Then (on a cold rainy day outside of Chambersburg, PA) I found out that the drive sprocket had loosened up. It was causing tranny oil to leak down the primary cover giving the appearance of the gasket leaking....This is consistent with what I had...Other than your observation:

Quote:

Like I said, noise is intermittant, in neutral or gear, and the trans gears are moving when the bike is running.

What you posted leads me to believe that the lockplate has loosened causing the tranny seal to leak (as little as .001 will do this), and now it's starting to chew at the inner primary. Harley came out with a 'factory fix' for this in 94....But I think the best fix is from JIMS with their combination lockplate/nut. I've had this repaired twice on my bike, both times when I was out on the road (last time in Florida), the last dealer charged me around $300 for the repair. If it loosens up again, I'll go with a larger JIMS sprocket and the lockplate/nut combo.

There is a small possibility that the cam bearing may be going bad, but if it's a stock cam in your bike the crap INA bearing should be okay. Although I've read of instances where they grenade later in life. Otherwise, if you've got an aftermarket cam...You need a Torrington bearing. And that should have been installed with the new cam...Common practice back then, if the wrench was any good at what they did.

Improperly timed breather can cause some oil leaks, usually it will take out the rocker box gaskets first....They are the weakest link. I don't think that's your problem unless the cam was changed...Then you have to wonder about the bearing too.

Get your head under the bike and look for behind the drive sprocket for the source of leakage, you might even find small bits of aluminum where it has begun to 'machine' the case.

Good luck