Oil leak question
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1st Gear
Joined: Oct 2010
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Oil leak question
97 Fatboy w, 37,700 mi. I appear to have a leak from the gasket between the lifter guide and the gearcase. how costly can this repair be? does the engine need to be pulled and torn apart from the top down? should I consider a complete engine rebuild by HD? any advice would be appreciated...
Club Member
Joined: May 2007
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From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
Pend on if Ur have adjustable pushers..
at 37k the EVO if its been taken care of is just now getting broken in.. should be another 100K in her before needing any work needs to be done to her.
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at 37k the EVO if its been taken care of is just now getting broken in.. should be another 100K in her before needing any work needs to be done to her.
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1st Gear
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the motor is stock with the exception of high air flow intake and exhaust. I take great care of her. do most maintenance on a reg schedule myself but this is beyond my abilities. need to get the opinion from a dealer but wanted some other opinions.
i assume you're just talking about the lifter block gaskets on top of the cam compartment? if you go with adjustable pushrods, at the most you'll need to remove the top rocker covers just to watch the rockers for finding TDCC. doesnt require a full dissasembly by any means. unless you go with standard pushrods, where you'll need to remove the rockers. not a hard job at all. dealer shouldn't screw you too bad...but, many dealers wont touch a '97.
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1st Gear
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correct. the lifter guide sits on top of the gear case at the bottom of the push rod cover. the gasket is between the 2 parts. why wouldn't a dealer want to do the work? techs not adequately trained on older models?
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,569
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From: Arizona
if stock then you dont have adjustable pushrods, in that case the best thing is to cut the pushrods, prevents you from having to remove the rocker boxes and possible ending up with a new leak from the rocker boxes. id cut the pushrods and buy some total clearance adjustable rods.
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it is stock. thanks for the advice. it gives me something else to consider when I find a mechanic.
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not so much the knowledge of the techs, more so for liability due to old gaskets and seals and things like that.
if you bring your bike in for a head job, for example, and it requires untorquing the head bolts, and therefore the base gasket is loosened, they button it back up and a few miles down the road you realize that the base gasket is now leaking. you bring it back and say it wasnt like that before, why is it leaking now...who fixes it? and it can happen to a new bike also, but its gonna happen alot more frequently on older bikes.
you just always seem to open a new can of worms alot more frequently when you mess with older engines. alot easier for a dealer to turn you away and not deal with an old bike cuz they have more than enough newer bikes to deal with. just check around with your dealers and your independent mechanics.
not a hard task to take on yourself, no fancy tools required.
good luck.
if you bring your bike in for a head job, for example, and it requires untorquing the head bolts, and therefore the base gasket is loosened, they button it back up and a few miles down the road you realize that the base gasket is now leaking. you bring it back and say it wasnt like that before, why is it leaking now...who fixes it? and it can happen to a new bike also, but its gonna happen alot more frequently on older bikes.
you just always seem to open a new can of worms alot more frequently when you mess with older engines. alot easier for a dealer to turn you away and not deal with an old bike cuz they have more than enough newer bikes to deal with. just check around with your dealers and your independent mechanics.
not a hard task to take on yourself, no fancy tools required.
good luck.
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From: Southern California
I would go about this one of two ways:
First option, and the only really correct repair, would be to remove the Gas Tank, the Rocker Covers, Rocker Arms and the Push Rods so that the Push Rod Tubes can be removed along with the Blocks that you are referring to. Clean everything, replace the offending Gaskets, Push Rod Tube "O" Rings, Rocker Cover Gaskets and reassemble.
The second option, that I would use only in the event of a time or financial emergency, would be to remove the upper Push Rod Tube Retainer and then remove the Bolts that secure the Blocks. Push up on the lower section of the Push Rod Tubes being careful to not damage any of the Push Rod Tube "O" Rings. This should give you enough room (barely) to carefully remove the old Gaskets, and to thoroughly clean the Gasket Surfaces. (This process will give you a new appreciation for how a Dentist works.) Apply a bead of Silicone Sealant where the Gaskets used to be on both mating surfaces and give the Silicone about 20-30 minutes to start setting-up before bolting the Blocks back down. Replace the Push Rod Tubes, again being very careful with the "O" Rings. Wait at least 24 hours for the Silicone to fully cure before starting the bike. Don't worry about the extra Silicone that squishes out until a few days later. You can use a single edge Razor Blade to clean that up after the work has been done plus a few days to be sure that the Silicone is cured all the way through. RTV or Silicone Sealant can seal up to a 0.010 (Ten Thousandths) of an inch imperfection. Unless there is some pretty serious gouging on the mating surfaces the Silicone will work just fine without any Gaskets.
Others like going with adjustable Push Rods. I am NOT a fan of this. In my opinion it seems to me to be an expensive short-cut for getting around a procedure that from my experience isn't all that difficult or time consuming.
First option, and the only really correct repair, would be to remove the Gas Tank, the Rocker Covers, Rocker Arms and the Push Rods so that the Push Rod Tubes can be removed along with the Blocks that you are referring to. Clean everything, replace the offending Gaskets, Push Rod Tube "O" Rings, Rocker Cover Gaskets and reassemble.
The second option, that I would use only in the event of a time or financial emergency, would be to remove the upper Push Rod Tube Retainer and then remove the Bolts that secure the Blocks. Push up on the lower section of the Push Rod Tubes being careful to not damage any of the Push Rod Tube "O" Rings. This should give you enough room (barely) to carefully remove the old Gaskets, and to thoroughly clean the Gasket Surfaces. (This process will give you a new appreciation for how a Dentist works.) Apply a bead of Silicone Sealant where the Gaskets used to be on both mating surfaces and give the Silicone about 20-30 minutes to start setting-up before bolting the Blocks back down. Replace the Push Rod Tubes, again being very careful with the "O" Rings. Wait at least 24 hours for the Silicone to fully cure before starting the bike. Don't worry about the extra Silicone that squishes out until a few days later. You can use a single edge Razor Blade to clean that up after the work has been done plus a few days to be sure that the Silicone is cured all the way through. RTV or Silicone Sealant can seal up to a 0.010 (Ten Thousandths) of an inch imperfection. Unless there is some pretty serious gouging on the mating surfaces the Silicone will work just fine without any Gaskets.
Others like going with adjustable Push Rods. I am NOT a fan of this. In my opinion it seems to me to be an expensive short-cut for getting around a procedure that from my experience isn't all that difficult or time consuming.
Last edited by Bluehighways; Sep 8, 2012 at 09:00 AM.
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