went out for a ride yesterday, After a couple of hours ridding noticed oil dripping under the bike and the distinct odor of gear lube .It looks like the shift shaft is leaking and has some movement back and forth. what I was wondering is this common for this to happen ,and how big of a job is it to replace. looking at the Manuel it has a sleeve for the shaft so with all the movement I am assuming that it will also need replaced . any body done this before

 

Kind of a pain to get to. Some advice, use the Cometic double lip shifter shaft seal as it is better than the HD one. Also, while you have the primary open replace all the bearings/seals inside the primary. HERE is a thread that has some good pics and homemade tools to use (what you are looking for starts on page 3 from doch4m)

 

Thanks Dawg just what I was looking for.So does Harley carry the new type seal. looks like a good reason to get the chrome inner primary thanks again !!

 

You can get the Cometic seal from Drag Specialties through the HD dealer.

 

When I thought I had a shifter shaft seal leaking it turned out to be the main shaft output shaft seal on the tranny. The way it dripped it a first looked like the shifter. Had the shifter seal replaced while having the main shaft seal done. Mine would end up dripping on the side stand and dribble on the bottom of the primary. It took me a while to track it down. Good luck.

Neil
RDMC

 

Had that happen on my '08 Super Glide Custom, turned out to be what they called the tower seal, it's at the engine side of the shaft hole.

 

99% sure its the shift shaft it is pretty loose and you can see where the oil has washed the dirt away around the shaft but will replace all seals when in there

 

That seal on my bike has an average life span of 10000 miles.Already had the shift shaft replace once also.Glad I have the ESP.

 

That's an excellent recommendation!

Another thing you can do, once the old seal is out... drill a hole in the recessed area immediately below the shaft at as close to a 45 degree angle as possible all the way thru to the inside of the tranny case.

What this does is provide a path back into the case for tranny grease that makes it's way out into the pocket that the (currently) leaking seal is.

When ya do this, just keep the tip of the bit grease and the aluminum shavings will stick to the bit.

Mine is done like this and every one I fix also gets this done.