Chasing down an oil leak
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Bellevue, NE
Chasing down an oil leak
Been seeing where my bike is marking her territory lately. Started looking around and found the problem (I hope). The 2 bolts that hold the exhaust bracket to the transmission were less than finger tight. It's a bitch trying to get an allen wrench in there without pulling the exhaust but I was able to snug them up. Exhaust is coming off soon to do cams anyway.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Bedford UK
Been seeing where my bike is marking her territory lately. Started looking around and found the problem (I hope). The 2 bolts that hold the exhaust bracket to the transmission were less than finger tight. It's a bitch trying to get an allen wrench in there without pulling the exhaust but I was able to snug them up. Exhaust is coming off soon to do cams anyway.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 10,602
Likes: 721
From: Bellevue, NE
Probably her way of telling me she feels neglected over the winter.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,928
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From: Near Myrtle Beach, SC
These two bolts have caused leaks on numerous bikes.
This same thing happened to my 2010 when it had about 2000 on the odo. Guess it took that long for them to vibrate loose. I did what you did....used the ball end of an Allen to snug them up on a temporary basis. That stopped the seepage and I kept an eye on them until I changed headers. When I had the header off, I replaced those two bolts with some grade 8 Allen head bolts with lock washers. You can't see these bolts anyway, so get some good solid bolts for this application.
Also, I believe the torque spec has changed on those bolts from where it originally was in my service manual. From memory, I believe the original torque spec was 14 ft lbs, but I read somewhere on here, maybe it was a Dawg post, that indicated the torque spec had been increased up to 22-24 ft lbs. I torqued mine to the 14 ft lbs with the new bolts and lock washers and loctite, and have experienced no problem with them since.
This same thing happened to my 2010 when it had about 2000 on the odo. Guess it took that long for them to vibrate loose. I did what you did....used the ball end of an Allen to snug them up on a temporary basis. That stopped the seepage and I kept an eye on them until I changed headers. When I had the header off, I replaced those two bolts with some grade 8 Allen head bolts with lock washers. You can't see these bolts anyway, so get some good solid bolts for this application.
Also, I believe the torque spec has changed on those bolts from where it originally was in my service manual. From memory, I believe the original torque spec was 14 ft lbs, but I read somewhere on here, maybe it was a Dawg post, that indicated the torque spec had been increased up to 22-24 ft lbs. I torqued mine to the 14 ft lbs with the new bolts and lock washers and loctite, and have experienced no problem with them since.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Annemasse (border of Geneva-Switzerland) facing Mt-Blanc.
I tried to deal with the root of the problem= Exhaust vibrations against Engine vibrations
I removed the carriage bolt then slackened the two 1/4" Allen screws to have a gap between the two galvanized support plates (fixed by the carriage bolt).
I put copper grease between the two plates then re-assembled everything without over-tightening the carriage bolt to give the greased joint a bit of freedom.
I removed the carriage bolt then slackened the two 1/4" Allen screws to have a gap between the two galvanized support plates (fixed by the carriage bolt).
I put copper grease between the two plates then re-assembled everything without over-tightening the carriage bolt to give the greased joint a bit of freedom.
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ronherman
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Sep 3, 2013 07:31 PM
