ive been chasing my tail with a oil leak that I thought was the primary cover....now I realized its not atf oil...its gear oil, from the tranny! can this leak come from the seal of the transmission shaft? or where should I be looking? its def somewhere by the front belt pulley...
I guess the whole primary has to come off also........
any ideas

 

Yes the primary (all of it) has to come off.
You are looking at either a main shaft seal leak or a shifter seal leak.
Only way to know for sure is to take the primary off and have a look.

 

If the leak is just a few drops vs a small pond, I'd wait on that until riding season is over.



carl

 

Highly likely that it is the output shaft from the transmission that is leaking. It is a **** poor design from The MoCo. The nut that holds the lockplate is torqued to something like 140 ft/lbs. The lockplate has a couple of machine screws that hold it to the pulley. The pulley has an internal spline that matches up to the spline on the transmission output shaft.

If the 'big nut' loosens up, even a few thou, the seal will start leaking. If it really loosens up, the pulley will come in contact with the inner primary cover. Trust me, you WILL know when that happens. The pulley acts as the seal retainer for the bearing. JIMS makes a good replacement with a better locking plate, but it is pricey. There are probably other aftermarket parts just as good. Do your research.

It happened to me back in 1996 on the way back from the factory open house in York, PA. All of a sudden I heard a big squeal and it felt like the bike was 'missing'. Happened a few more times, I though it was a wheel bearing, and I pulled into the M&S Cycles in Chambersburg, PA. It was Saturday, and luckily there was a sole mechanic working who knew what the problem was. I still have both receipts -it happened again in Florida years later, it was $203 in 1996. Which included the 'new and improved' pulley kit ($75.95), which Harley started installing on the 94 model year bikes (mine is a 1993).

The symptoms appear to be a primary cover leak, and they may come and go, as the leak depends on the pulley moving away from the output shaft seal. I replaced a couple primary cover gaskets thinking it was that. Nope. so, when I noticed a quarter sized spot of oil on the ground when I was at BikeToberfest one year, I knew immediately what it was. Off to Kissimmee HD for another repair. That was 2002. $60 parts + $240 labor. Hasn't leaked since.

Yup. It's not a difficult job, just typical Harley-Davidson repair where you have to remove a lot of 'good' stuff, to get to the 'bad' stuff. An impact wrench helps. As does a big breaker bar. You'll also need a good size torque wrench.

I wouldn't. Trust me, when the pulley hits the inner primary, it will begin to machine a small grove in it. This is what was causing my bike to feel like it was 'missing'. Or that a wheel bearing was beginning to seize.

 

that's what it is.....a quarter size drop...ill look into it......no problems running though.

 

Reach down under the primary and stick a finger up behind the drive pulley. If it's all nasty wet, there's your problem.

Mine ran fine for a number of months. Just the occasional oil spot. Until it finally decided to loosen up enough to contact the inner primary. The first time I was 450 miles from my house and tools. The second time I was 1200 miles. You really don't want that to happen.

Get it fixed before ending up on a flatbed/trailer, or stuck somewhere.

 

everything has been ordered!

 

Make sure the bike is NOT running first.......:icon_twoc ents:

 

That's what she said.

 

I would suggest you replace all the seals on the inner primary while you have it apart.