Turkey baster works good too!

 

what some would consider a dumb question but..
why do you guys change your trans oil all the time ??
I know mine has oil inside because it has not leaked out and it is not exposed to combustion and such so it raarley gets dirty oil does not wear out so why change it ?? how many of you change the oil in your car trans ever?? just curious ... yes I have changed mine once and I have 45 thou. on the bike and trans works great...oh yeh it has 20/50 syn in it

 

Overfilling your gear box will cause the oil to foam. Bad juju.

When it's foaming it's not lubricating. I am in complete agreement with the other posters, use gear oil in a gear box. Syn 75W140 or Dyno 85W140.

 

I put a thin piece of blue tape on my trans dipstick only long enough to check the level, then take it off.

Also, does your tranny whine only in 1st and 5th gears? If so, that's pretty normal for H-D trannies.

 

Well, they went from a 5-speed to a 6-speed with a completely different transmission case. that is why they are different.

At the start of your post you stated you had a 2007. That requires you to completely drain the transmission with the vehicle in the upright positiion, replace the plug with new o-ring, torque to 14-21 ft lbs. Fill the transmission with 32oz of Formula + or Syn3. Check the level with the bike on the sidestand and dipstick resting on the threads (not threaded in). If the level is a little over is fine. The difference between fill and full is 3-4oz.

 

No you will not blow the seals,the oil may blow out of the overflow tube.With that little bit over you should be Okay.Best to have the level correct then no worry.

 

The manual for my 09 model softy does not say if you have to check the tranny oil hot or cold ?? Can anyone shed some light, it doesn't seem to make any difference when I check it but on my 06 it stated you had to check it hot ??

 

the whine seems to only happen in first gear i think...

 

If you drained the oil out when it was cold and not at operating temp (at least warm to hot) you more than likely didnt get all the old oil out unless you let it drip for an hour or so. Cold oil doeesnt flow too well, and if you drained it on the jiffy stand that will leave some in there too. If youre in doubt drain it out and do it again, its only $8 for another quart.
The whine could be the extra oil in there being churned up at start, then as the gears are turning there is less of a pool of oil in the case.

 

Most likely, a car is driven daily. For many of us our bikes are put up for half the year due to winter and never are run enough even monthly to evaporate the water out of the tranny lube. It's the only lube system on the bike constantly exposed to atmosphere.