Bike: '99 fxds Twin Cam
Mileage: 17,500

I brought my bottom end to a mechanic to have it assembled and he noticed blueing on the connecting rods and was concerned about the longevity of them and going through the trouble of building the engine to only have to tear down again if the rods bind. I was curious if anybody on here has experience with this issue and if my only option at this point is to buy a new flywheel set up (my crank has already been welded). I checked the rod side play it was at .011 which is in tolerance what else should I check relative to the rods?

 

I would ask the person that welded the crank if that is normal for the rods to do that.

 

The guy I was originally working with on the build had a contact for the crank work, I wasn't in direct communication unfortunately and there was a falling out with that mechanic. At this point I just want my bike back together properly, hoping this doesn't become expensive. Going to call more shops for opinions.

 

That rod got pretty hot to turn blue. You'll probably get your question answered properly if you pose the question in the Engine Mechanical section here --- https://www.hdforums.com/forum/engin...cal-topics-46/

 

for the cost of 2 new rods..... it is cheap insurance.

 

Thanks for the response! I'll check in that forum.

 

The crank is already welded. I don't think there's any way to replace them without destroying the flywheel assembly at this point.

 

In my FSM, it says, in the section on flywheel assembly inspection, "some bluing of the connecting rods is considered a normal condition". I read it a while back and thought it was odd, just looked again, and that's what the 'bible' says.

 

You need to find a mechanic who has actually seen a set oh flywheels before.

 

Yeah- its normal. I read about it in a magazine once. Its part of the hardening process at the factory.