Have had my '91 FLHS in to the shop three times now for a transmission leak. First two times were with my old mechanic who also was trying to fix a primary oil leak and ended up putting a Rivera Primo Brute III primary belt drive kit on to "fix" the primary oil leak. After getting the bike back from him with the belt kit on I noticed a pretty good oil leak once again at the rear area of the inner primary even with/below the clutch area ( now dry).

So took it back to him as he said he should have replaced the "sleeve" the seal rides on. Got it back from him and still leaked. He's gone out of business in the mean time. I know it's transmission oil as it is clean and my engine oil was dirty at the time and still was during the ride today when I observed the leak. (just changed that tonight).

Sooooo, took it to my new mechanic who had just done an excellent job on my suspension upgrade with new fork springs, engine mounts, and Glide Pro swingarm kit, etc. Haven't had a chance until today to get out and ride the bike hard with work and weather and girlfriend. It's been sitting in the garage with a dry floor underneath so I thought my new wrench had finally gotten it fixed. Low and behold after about 25 miles of some hard accelerating to my buddy's house to go riding I noticed about a quarter size spot of oil under the rear inner primary housing and it's continued to drip at each stop. My new mechanic had replaced five or six seals including a big o ring that I saw on the work bench.

I'm figuring it's not a cracked tranny case as it wouldn't have sat dry for 2 weeks plus it was about 20 mile ride back from shop after the repair. I think the main seal behind the clutch rides on a spacer or sleeve right? He must have replaced that but maybe not? It's not the tranny overflow tube as I checked and it's dry as is the inner primary case where it dumps out. I'll be calling the shop tomorrow and would like to have any advance info I can get. BTW the leaking tranny oil took out the brand new primary belt to the tune of $130 for that part alone.

It's not the small oil leak I'm that worried about as much as the new ( again ) primary belt stripping out again and leaving me stranded. Any thoughts or info/experiences would be mucho appreciated. Sorry about the rambling story; any questions please ask me. Thanks, guys.

 

I hate to sound like an English teacher, but you need to use paragraphs...

Is the oil level in the transmission correct?

 

At least he's using periods I don't even do that !

 

Good point on the paragraphs; I know better ( Catholic Schools ). Just checked the bike after it sat in my garage after the ride yesterday.

It now occurs to me that it only leaked after being ridden rather hard. The tranny oil dripped about a dozen drops ( estimate) or so after being ridden but it's dry on the floor now where I moved it to park it.

This would seem to indicate that maybe "pressure" is causing the leak as the seals hold when it's parked? If it was overfilled wouldn't it have overflowed out the vent tube?

Am going to call the shop shortly and see what they say.

Thanks all for your time.

 

22 oz max of trans fluid in your bike

 

if the drive pulley is loose the seal will leak. if the drive pulley's splines are worn out the seal will leak. if the splines on the main gear are worn the seal will leak.

 

Mine had a leak behind the pulley that just wouldn't go away. Replaced the seal a couple of times...didn't seem to do any good.

The culprit was that fifth gear was cracked. It looked fine, but when installing the seal....the crack was definatley noticeable.

Just another place where yours might be leaking.

 

Are you SURE the tranny isn't blowing oil out the vent? the vent is right above the mainshaft/front pulley area, and oil from the vent will show up under the bike in the same spot you're seeing it.

Reach behind the inner primary and fish out the vent tube and see it the end is wet.

 

is definitely dry as it sits on top of the inner primary and is easy to see and reach. That final drive front pulley only has about 20k miles on it though could be that or the 5th gear. Should get it into the shop in a day or two so will report back on results. Thanks all, for the input.

 

One thing I noticed in the manual when you check the oil ( at least on my bike ) the threaded dip stick has to be sitting ontop of the hole and not threaded in.
Is it possible its coming from the shifter seal or jack shaft seal?Any spots of oil on the belt?
I put my bike on the floor jack and put the bike up as high as the floor jack would go and crawled under with a light to track down my leak. Baby powder or talcom powder works well as well to find the oil spot.