so i look at the serial # or part # on my primary that won't stop leakin and the last digits end in 04 but it deffinetly came off an 08 nighty. WTF is up with that????


i'm tryin to buy the right primary off ebay and now how do i tell if it really came off an 04 or 05?????
very freakin confused

 

Not that this will help but, I always reference the dealer or aftemarket catalog for a comfirmation on fit before I buy anything off ebay or the like.

 

Old school sorry i can't help you with this but man you have been have some shitty luck lately. I hope you get everthing taken care of soon.

 

yeah...me too, that is why i'm so confused, normaly at the end of the part # will be the year its off of, thats why i'm kinda whacked with the whole thing



LOL thanks man, this one is all my fault...wish i had done my research in the first place....i woulda been riddin today

 

hopefully you're not buying them from voodoo041672. i did and what a nightmare. that guy oversprays everything and advertises parts that are suppose to fit for certain models and then low and behold they don't. be careful oldskool......

 

Oldskool,

Like I mentioned in an eariler thread concerning this same problem, the size of the oil seal/shifter shaft varies a little bit from year to year. I have an '04 and though I don't have the part # from the chrome primary cover I bought, I believe it ended in -04. This usually means (I think) that the part will fit '04 and later models.

I learned (after several trips to the stealer) that the diameters of the seal used on an '06 is different. Believe me, the parts guy doesn't necessarily know about these differences. Most of the time they're looking up the part numbers on a computer and pulling parts from a shelf based on what you tell him or her. It took me two or three trips before they finally realized there were different seals available for rubber-mounted Sportys.

When I used the '04 seal, the fit with the primary cover was very loose and oil leaked around it.

When I got the seal for the '06, it closed the gap on the primary, but the shifter shaft was loose and oil leaked there.

I scratched my head and thought about it for a while (2 or 3 beers) and decided to do the following --

1) I removed both seals from the cover. I installed the '06 seal into the cover first. This ensured a good seal with the primary cover, but allowed the shifter shaft to move.

2) I then installed the '04 seal ON TOP of the '06 seal. This created a good seal around the shifter shaft.

3) With both seals installed, the rubber spacer that sits between the seal and the shift lever itself was too thick. I cut it in half - think of slicing a bagel in half and you'll get the idea.

4) Install the new, thinner rubber seal over the shifter shaft, attach the shift lever, apply a bit of inward pressure and tighten the bitch down. Problem solved.

When I had this problem, I had it fixed within a couple of days. Now, maybe the Nightster primary you're dealing with has different dimensions than the one I installed, but I think it's worth a try.

As I mentioned in the earlier thread, I ran over 4k miles with this mod and lost very little oil over that time. Usually there's a thin film of oil on the primary originating from the seal. But not enough leaks to leave even a small spot of oil on the pavement after a 100 mile run.

I measured nearly a full qt when I drained the tranny last week (again after 4k miles). So I have no reason to mess with my current setup. My fix cost at most $10 and a couple of trips to the stealer.

I'm not sure at the moment what year bike yours is, but I doubt you're going to find a magic fix (or part) for this problem if you're using '08 parts on an older bike...

Good luck...

 

The last two #s of a Harley part # represent the year it was introduced, not the year of the bike. When Mother Harley makes a small change to a part they supercede to a letter after the original part # (ie. xxxxx-xxA). Previous versions will still work but the letter designations represent an "improvement". If your looking for a part to fit an '05 it may very well have a part number ending in "04".

 

Exactly, that's why I was surprised when I had an oil leak on my '04 XLC when I installed a primary cover ending in '-04. Turns out it came off an '06 model.

 

Notice "improvement" has quotation marks. Another problem may be manufacturing tolerances. I put a shift-shaft seal on an '04 1200 Custom about 10 months ago and didn't have a problem. Also, Mother Harley issues addendums to their parts catalog and sends them to all dealers (now available to the parts professionals on-line through HDNet - ask them about it). Correctly stated, not all parts-counter people have seen or heard all of the changes. Often, there's no time alloted for re-education. It's frustrating to all those involved. The Parts Manager should be on top of this. I used to be a Parts Manager and would have the front line guys (and gals) take a pen and note changes in the store's copies. It seems tedious but it puts the changes in the parts peoples' minds and lets the next guy know something's up. Usually, they want you to get the right part the first time and take pride in their work.
Doesn't always go that way.
I don't miss that job, but I remember thanking a couple customers for a heads-up on what works and what doesn't. It's nice to save the next guy a headache. I'm not b1tchin' just a reminder that it's an imperfect world.
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