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I noticed oil on the left shock of my softail so I starting looking around. The highest point of the leak seems to be where theres a vent line coming out of the top left of the trans. What causes oil to blow out of the transmission? Overfilled or are there be other reasons?
Hot oil is sneaky stuff, it can travel far from where it actually came from and mislead us into believing it came from somewhere different. While YD may well be right (do check) I recommend you clean off all traces of oil and keep a close eye on your bike, to see if you can identify more precisely where it is coming from.
I just bought the bike a few months back. I havent changed the oil in it. It was probably this way when I brought it home I just never noticed til now. It's inside for the winter and I've got the pipes off so I noticed it. It's not dripping oil or anything but you can tell a good amount must of puked out of it at some point.
No, I'm not sure. But I don't know what else it would be. It's not leaking out or anything but at some point in the past it puked from somewhere. Or maybe its leaking I can't tell. Heres some photos...
The first three photos show the oil around the vent, they are really dark because the bike is put away for the winter. Like I said it's not dripping onto the floor but from vent down is covered.
The trans is just a simple gearbox. From a venting/ breathing perspective, it shares air space with the primary via the clutch rod tunnel.
There will be some minimal breathing through the vent as the system comes up to temperature and then cools down, but the amount of air movement is negligible and at most a tiny amount if misted trans oil will make it out the tube.
My $0.02: If this was my bike, I'd clean everything thoroughly, then change all three fluids, taking care to use the correct amounts. I use ATF in the primary and RedLine in the trans, which makes it easier to identify the source of leaks. From there, keep an eye on things and see what's what.
The trans is just a simple gearbox. From a venting/ breathing perspective, it shares air space with the primary via the clutch rod tunnel.
There will be some minimal breathing through the vent as the system comes up to temperature and then cools down, but the amount of air movement is negligible and at most a tiny amount if misted trans oil will make it out the tube.
My $0.02: If this was my bike, I'd clean everything thoroughly, then change all three fluids, taking care to use the correct amounts. I use ATF in the primary and RedLine in the trans, which makes it easier to identify the source of leaks. From there, keep an eye on things and see what's what.
Good info, Thank you
Could it possibly be from over filling? Or is it possible to have a leak in around the pullys. It's my first HD so I'm not sure of common issues
Could it possibly be from over filling? Or is it possible to have a leak in around the pullys. It's my first HD so I'm not sure of common issues
There's a seal between the transmission and the inner primary and a seal around the shift lever. Could be either one, or it could be coming out the vent.
Or as Sir Graham said, it could have come from somewhere else entirely.
Can it be from over-filling? Probably. I've never experienced that, but it seems possible.
Problem is, at this point you really don't have enough data to start troubleshooting, since you just got the bike and don't know it's maintenance history. Clean it up, change the fluids, and keep an eye on it and see if it happens again.
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Evo Oil leak
