I'm looking for a better understanding on my situation. I have a 1989 FLHS with a crank case seal leak. The steal seal doesn't expand with the aluminum case & causes a leak according to what I have read & from a few mechanics. Which causes me to lose engine oil & tranny oil into the primary case. Every 1,000+ miles I drain less than a 1/2 a quart & add it back to the engine oil reservoir. The tranny loses just a drop or two after 3,000+ miles.
Now my questions is how much power am I losing from this minor leak, should I fix this leak before doing gaskets & a new bigger cam on my bike? I've brought this leak up before discovering it was nothing fatal & I appreciate all the help I've had in the past. Now I'm just curious if the leak is worth the large investment or should I just plan on the gaskets n cam. From my findings many have had this issues with the 88-89 years & very few have been fixed from a simple sealant around the shaft or from a complete replacement for the entire crank case. Which leads me to believe it isn't worth the money to fix if it is most likely going to be only temporary.

Anyways thanks for any n all posts guys!

 

Try a little hypolomar around the outside of the seal when you replace it. Make sure that you can see the spring on the outside of the seal when you replace it. Hope this helps.

 

don't pour oil from the primary into the motor !

It's full of clutch grit !


oh, no


Mike

 

If you live in Sandusky Ohio, Chances are that your seeing a lil snow lately. This being the case & you owning an awesome bike, It is well worth pulling down & doing a freshen up!
You will end up kicking your *** if you ditch that ride!
just my thoughts!
Hatch.

 

That yr the cases had issues with the cast in steel boss working loose in the aluminium and motor oil pushing around it into the primary . Harley had to R&R a huge number of motors with new cases over this and they didn't make a recall out of it you had to complain first .

You may want to contact the MoCo directly with your VIN numbers to see if yours falls into the series that had the problem and if so see if they will honor it if not your looking at new cases my friend or spending big $$$ for a place to remachine yours with a new boss . Only way to fix that issue sorry .

 

Fix #1 - the best option,

dissasemble engine and replace left case with new updated HD case half that will eliminate the design defect of the old case and keep the spacer leak from reoccuring.

Fix#2

take the primary apart..take the stator off ...clean the area with brake cleaner...clean it again...now for the next 3 days you put a bead of Loctite 290 (about $13.00 for a 2 oz bottle, buy it at a heavy machine shop) all around the steel sleave on the crank bearing...it's hard to see but if you look real close you'll see a difference in the metal...do it once a day...then when you are putting things back together you'll have 2 screws that hold the wires for the stator..put Loctite Blue on those screws. HD had a TSB on the problem since Feb of '90 and replaced a lot of cases, but will not do them anylonger.


the oil can go either way...engine to primary or primary to engine according to the TSB...Harley DOES NOT recomend this fix...they say that the 290 can suck it's way into the motor...the indy that told me about the fix said that he had done a number of bikes this way and never had a problem..now...NO you cannot see a gap in the metal...and you DO NOT have to lay the bike on it's side....I had mine straight up on a lift when I did it...now...about the procedure again...clean the area with break cleaner...spray it REAL good to remove any oil residue from around the bearing...you might see a faint line where the 2 metals (aluminium & steel ) come together...a buddy helped me and we sat there looking at it for a half hour before we decided on the problem area...so don't think that it's not there cause it is...you will NOT even feel a LIP..it's smooth as a babies butt...I just cut the *** off the end of the 290 and ran it around the area ....one time...let it dry for 24 hours then did it again...for a total of 3 days as instructed by the indy....then I let it dry and on day 4 I put the thing back together....go and find the TSB ( Feb 1990) on it and read the warning...then decide if you want to do this or not.

Best of luck with your fix!

 

While that may be temporary " fix " for the oil problem the root mechanical cause of the cast in boss and the bad alloy used in the cases separating is only going to get worse and cause further mechanical damage . That boss being rigid and in 100% true alignment is what supports and keeps your flywheels true . Loctite isn't going to stop the minuet but noticeable movement which will increase with time and is going to translate into more plus heavier vibration which brings on early component failures like lower end bearings , rods , pistons running out of true ect.

Went through all this and more during 89 & 90 with everyone I knew with a new bike . The same problem rears it's ugly head during the late 60's and early 70's engine cases after time high mileage and good old metal fatigue sets in it took out the cases on my old shovel after 300,000 .

They can be repaired , it's a common enough occurrence that serious R&R shops know the drill and have a fix that requires machine work . The throw salt over the shoulder and hope the locktite holds is BS voodoo , sorry .

 

Back in Shovelhead Dazes, I remember the local shop machining cases and making oversize race thingies on the lathe to press in. Saved a case that would otherwise be trash.

 

I tried to list the fixes as best I knew them and was not trying to provide bad solutions to any members, did not mean it to be taken that way.

Think the best bet is to replace with the updated case half as I stated in fix #1 and 100% agree that remachining the existing case is better than the loctite solution - even stated that HD reccomends not to do it because it can et sucked into the case. Just was trying to provide some info and options so he could better understand what he was dealin with...

 

I think I would take a shot at replaceing the seal as miacycles suggested.
Just curious does this happen to every other 89 evo or how often ?