shifting problem? return spring?

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May 16, 2009 | 12:12 PM

billymons

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Intermediate

Joined: May 2009

Posts: 28

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From: Fogelsville, Pa

shifting problem? return spring?

Just bought my first HD 93 heritage softail with 34,000 miles. yea lots of miles but this thing ran great and looked great and the price was right. Im great with the tools and will be tearing into it myself. But. I never touched a harley before. Give me a chevy v8 and ill do it with my eyes closed. Any way i got my first problem. It shifts into first but has to be helped to shift into or down in other gears. heel toe method. Ive been reading about a return spring. sounds about right. but im going to start with cleaning and grease of shift linkage/rod. Any other tips? thanks, Bill

May 16, 2009 | 05:18 PM

Dan89FLSTC

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: May 2008

Posts: 21,195

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From: South Carolina

First thing, don`t run the engine if you suspect the spring is broken, you don`t want the broken spring parts going through the gears, the spring is pretty beefy.

If the external linkage is ok, you have your work cut out for you…

Remove the cover from the top of the transmission and look at the shift pawl, it should have 2 springs on it, one small one and one large one. (Yeah, it is kind of a pain to remove the top tranny cover on a Softail…)

If either spring is broken (or if you see any other damage in the transmission) you will have to remove the gearset.

Here is a general rundown of the job.

Remove Outer Primary Cover
Remove Primary Chain Tensioner
Untorque Compensator Nut (Right Hand Thread)
Untorque Clutch Hub Nut (LEFT HAND THREAD)
Remove Primary Chain, Clutch and Compensator Sprocket
Remove Inner Primary Cover
Remove Mainshaft Inner Race (special tool)
Untorque Front Pulley Nut (special tool)
Remove Front Belt Pulley
Remove Top Cover on transmission
Remove Shift Drum
Remove Clutch Cover on right side of transmission
Remove Shifter Fork Shaft and Shift Forks
Remove Right Transmission Cover (“Trap Door”)- the gearset will come out as a unit connected to the “Trap Door”

You also may need to replace the Front Belt Pulley, if it is the origional pulley that came on your bike. The origional design had a poor anti-rotation setup that was prone to failure, allowing the pulley to come loose (this can do some serious damage).

The pulley upgrade includes Front Pulley, Spacer and new Anti Rotation lock and bolts.

May 16, 2009 | 06:16 PM

sqdealgeorge

Road Warrior

Joined: Dec 2007

Posts: 1,854

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From: Eagle River WI

Shift down into first gear Shift up for the rest (heel ! ) Check the lever coming out of the trany Is it loose /sloppy??

May 16, 2009 | 06:59 PM

billymons

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Intermediate

Joined: May 2009

Posts: 28

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From: Fogelsville, Pa

Quote:

Originally Posted by sqdealgeorge

Shift down into first gear Shift up for the rest (heel ! ) Check the lever coming out of the trany Is it loose /sloppy??

yea its has some good play pushing it left and right. check while motor is off right?

May 2, 2010 | 12:32 AM

eric91379

Intermediate

Joined: Mar 2008

Posts: 32

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From: Honolulu, HI

My '03 FXSTI is having about the problem. In between gears, there is no resistance at the shifter. I had a clicking sound just prior to the issue with the shifter. Am I gonna have to tear the tranny apart? I have never had to work on it before. Someone help please.

May 2, 2010 | 07:19 AM

billymons

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Joined: May 2009

Posts: 28

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From: Fogelsville, Pa

return spring

First thing to check before you tare stuff apart is that the linkage for your shifter is nice and clean and then lubed at the pivot locations(if it has that) What I did was just disconnect the linkage all together up to the lever at the tranny. Then I tried shifting it(while engine off) and felt if the the lever was springing back.Mine was not. So I had to tare it apart. Alot to do for a 5.00 spring. Like the guy said above. I made any special tools i needed. HD tools are pricy. I never touched a bike before and mine came out great. If you do some searching on the net theres some good info.Like if you search tranny swap, or 5speed to 6 speed. I forget but there was some good photo info. This is the same stuff you will have to do to change that spring. If your gonna tackel it your self and need some idea on tools let me know i can send pics.

May 2, 2010 | 08:59 AM

OldPat

Advanced

Joined: Jul 2007

Posts: 67

Likes: 0

From: Connecticut

Quote:

Originally Posted by billymons

yea its has some good play pushing it left and right. check while motor is off right?

Same thing happened to me last year on a 96 'dyna, 39K miles. Shifter shaft and lever splines were worn. No amount of tightening or other trickery will fix it.

See post #2.