I have disassembled cleaned and reassembled

I have disassembled dug through old kits to find new O-Rings and reassembled with new O-Rings

I have disassembled noted vertical marks/scratches in the upper aluminum tube, filed them out then scotch-brited the surface before reassembly

And the stinking thing continues to leak. Not in normal around town riding, just after cruising 70+ MPH for extended periods. I am thinking about taking it apart 1 more time, removing the oil with carb cleaner and applying a light layer of silicone under the O-Ring in the flange of the bottom tube......

 

What year bike and have you done anything with the crankcase breather system? If it is an Evo that would be In particular the umbrella valves in the rocker assembly or the breather valve in the cam chest.?

 

'03 EGlide 95" Forged 10.5:1, Performance Heads, Doherty Breathers, 211 Cams, S&S Stealth Air Cleaner Back Plate drilled and tapped under banjo bolts pockets for 3/8 NPT and rubber lines down to breather catch can, SE High Volume Oil Pump and billet cam support plate upgrade.

 

It had been sitting at the weekend house several weeks and did not have this problem when i parked it. Son wants a Father Son ride so went to get it and check it out now all of a sudden i have this oil dripping from the middle of the front exhaust tube and everything I try to fix it just doesn't seem to stop the leak.

 

Double check that you got the right O-rings in the right places. Two of the three look similar, but they are slightly different.

 

Sounds like your issue is the O ring between the upper and bottom tube. Also, check your push rod tube clip. You need to seat the end at the top of the push rod tube (pushing it into the head) and then snap it into the middle of the tube. If you seat it in the middle and then snap the top into the head, it can look like it's seated properly, but in reality, the tube is not pushed up into the head as it should be. Don't ask me how I know!! Good luck!

 

If you have the fat SE adjustable pushrods, many times they hit the exhaust tube at the very top unless you slightly rotate the rocker plate while checking/assembling. If you do, see if you can feel something tapping/rubbing the tube when it is running. If this is the case, they usually leak only when running down the road.

 

9 times out of 10 it is the upper o-ring (the fat one) as mentioned above. However, if it is in fact the middle o-ring, check to make sure that you didn't lose the flat washer that slides on between the spring and the o-ring.

You shouldn't ever have to polish or modify the tubes to get them to seal. I will say that in 20 years of being a mechanic every single pushrod tube leak that I have seen (or caused) has been the result of a pinched or improperly installed o-ring.

Best of luck.

 

I agree it should not happen, but be that as it may, it happens. The fat pushrods are sometimes able to just kiss the tube. Have seen it many times.

 

I remember reinstalling my tubes after my build and just being glad that I keep the old o-rings next to the tube location where they came from because the HD SM did a poor job descibing the difference between them. I just put the new S&S provided o-rings in just like the stock HD were used/located.