In the nose cone , brown melted goop coming out where wires go in. can anyone speculate the cause or source of heat? it has hardened but still sticky.bike runs fine. has been like this for a while. should i expect a failure coming? it's always something. thanks,spgtti

 

Question: What year is the bike and has the timing pickup plate ever been replaced. That brown goop is most likely coming from your pickup plate. Originally, the older plates had a brown goop which surroundered the end of the wires and served as the means to attach the wires to the plate. Removethe nose cone cover and inspect the plate. Before you replace the pickup plate, take notice of the position and place the new plate exactly asthe original. Youshould be good to go.I've done this several times before and never had tore-time the motor. The newer plates have a plastic/rubber wire assembly replacing the brown goop design.

-M

 

i changed mine on a 98 road king classic with fuel injection..
go accross the top of this screen to the search tab and type :
rkc 98.non-oil leak below timer cover
author: im
**mine had a biege goop..looked like "hard as nails" caulking..leaking out the bootom of the cone through the wire..
i typed some simple instructions that may save you some trouble..

 

it's a 98 wg. original plate w/55,000 mi. on it.this has the black plastic perimeter filled with a tan soft center plus brown goop on the part where the wires go in which makes it look like the whole thing is melting. maybe it's supposed to be like that. i've never seen another one.

[IMG]local://upfiles/1246/858CECF9C6ED45FA85995810B7E7BCE8.jpg[/IMG]

 

if it looks like pic in spgtti reply and is sort of soft your ign is going bad just mark pos of plate and replace if you dont mark spot and just put plate in you will have to reset timing

 

per your picture..it looks as if it is starting to go bad..if not changed eventually one of the sensors will start to trigger the check engine light and then starting will become more difficult...ajust mark the position of the plate before removal and timing will not be an issue...on my fuel injected (evo) road king 1998 there was only one way to install with no adjustment..no way to get it in the wrong postion...the only pain was the allen head screw behind the exhaust pipe that held the wire clip ..located were the wire exits the cone..if you run into this just cut a piece of an allen key about a quarter of an inch long and place inside the allen head screw and then turn the allen head with a small wrench( adjustable)..this allowed me to loosen the allen screw enough to then slide the clip far enough away from the wires..not a difficult repair at all with patience.

 

thanks im .appreciate the response.looks like $170 for a new one.i might just wait for it to fail.

 

I was surprised to see that the plate is $170.00. I'm assuming that is an installed price. Th actual plate, OEM runs for about $35.00 plus/minus. Just bought one about 6 weeks ago from the local dealer and installed myself. Did not have to re-time the motor.

 

might be a difference with the fuel inj. unit. mine is a dyna -$170 at chicago harleys price w/ 20%ff.# 32404-96