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When I had my loose case insert, I could not see or feel the separation of insert to case externally. I even ran my fingernail across the line where the two metals met (see pic). After 3 new seals and spacers,.......only when the case was split, I could feel the difference and see the the miniscule jagged edges, and that was even tough to see. You have to look hard and know that it might be there. I REALLY didn't want to have the loose case insert issue, but I did.
Picture of where I ran my fingernail on external side:
To eliminate the seal being installed slightly canted, I used my timken bearing tool to install the seal and spacer straight. The 2" PVC, cut straight, worked well when installing the seal either way. The reason I did this was because I tapped in the last one and it was just a little off, but enough to let oil pass through. Lastly, lube the seal, install it onto the spacer, then put the assembly onto the mains shaft. After the seal is installed flushed, push in the spacer and set it against the timken bearing. You probably have experience installing this already. Good luck.
Last edited by daven9113; Sep 27, 2021 at 09:49 PM.
I'm kinda of the "put a new spacer thingie and a new seal, pookie ALL the bolt holes going into the case, put it together and ride it and see what happens" crowd here.
Aloha,
I'm pretty sure the seal is bolt in the wrong direction.
Cause the pressure comes from the inside from the crank housing and blows away in this direction.
Normal you shouldn't see the spring I guess and that's what I've learned in my years as mechanic.
On all engines I changed the oil seal from the crank shaft it was mounted the opposite as shown in your pictures.
I never changed an oil seal on a Harley in the last time so maybe I'm wrong.
But probably it's an special requirement to keep the primary oil away from the engine while the pressure in the chain housing is higher than from the engine.
I'm pretty sure the seal is bolt in the wrong direction.
That does raise an interesting question.
I'm 100% sure the seal in the pic (which I installed recently) was put in using the same orientation as the seal that I removed. And I'm 99.9% sure that the seal I removed was the original one from the factory.
(There's always the chance that someone was in there before me, but given the history of this bike, I highly doubt it.)
I've read about guys putting those in the other way, but always thought that was for dry primary applications.
I suppose one option here is to get her back together (damned spacer STILL hasn't shown up!) with the seal as shown in the pics, and if I still have problems, try again with the seal reversed and see how it goes.
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