My 92 Heritage seems to have developed a leak. I changed the primary cover gasket, and it seems to have gotten worse. Is there someplace else I need to look? PCV? Not the sharpest when it comes to these things, I can tear small-block chevys down and rebuild them with my eyes closed, Harleys I am just getting my feet wet. Thanks in advance foer any replies.

 

Before changing anything, you really need to figure out exactly where the leak is.

Clean well with something like simple green, and let it sit in the sun until completly dry. Sprinkle corn starch around the suspect areas. Run the engine for just a few minutes. Turn it off, and then look for the leak. The corn starch should make it easier. If you don't see a leak, run it for a few more minutes.

 

Ooooooooooooooooooooh, Yeah.......You need to determine exactly where the oil leak is coming from. Having went through this on my 1993 FLHS (replaced two primary gaskets and still drips), I can tell you that it may not be your primary. It very well could be your tranny that is leaking and when the bike is on the side stand it appears that you have a leak from the primary cover area. Trust me....If you've change the primary cover gasket and it's still leaking, it probably is coming from the tranny. Oh, but how you ask.....Let me explain.

The wizards in engineering at the MoCo designed the tranny output shaft to have an oil seal that is held in place by the drive pulley. Which to get to you have to remove the outer and inner primary covers (I think the dealers get 2-3 hrs labor for this-can't remember even though I've had this done twice). The drive pulley is held in place with a large, but thin, nut (which is torqued to I think around 140 lb ft). Then the nut is 'retained' by a stamped steel piece with two machine screws. Oh, and the same wizards came out with an 'upgrade' in 1994 for this great design. And it really isn't the definitive fix...Check JIMS...They've got a really good looking nut/retainer combo. But you won't get a 'stealer' to install it. No,no,no....Only HD fixes available there. If the drive pulley happens to loosen up, even .001, the seal will start to leak. And that's just the begining. When the drive pully gets loose enough, it hits the inner primary.....Trust me on a rainy late September day in 1996 outside of Chambersburg, PA I found out just what that sound is like. Not good. It gets worse....If things really loosen up then you take out the splines on the output shaft....Really not good. I was lucky the first time and got it fixed (around $400 with the HD upgrade kit) before it took out the output shaft splines. So when I was in Daytona five years later and saw the small oil spot I knew it had to get fixed right away. I found a dealer and he turned me around in less than three hours...for less than $300. Hasn't leaked since

Get the bike up in the air and take a look at the final drive pulley.....And get it fixed before something really bad happens!