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Water in Primary Oil

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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 12:05 AM
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Default Water in Primary Oil

2013 FLHR: With this most recent cold snap, I think the bike is going to sit for a while. I decided to change fluids tonight so that it doesn't sit with dirty oil in it. Engine and trans oil still had a nice amber tint to it, but the primary oil was black and had a little bit of milkshake appearance. I did get stuck in a rain storm a couple months ago. Is it common for water to seep into the primary? How concerned should I be with the black oil? Full synthetic all 3.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 01:06 AM
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did you use primary+ or syn 3 in the primary?

milkshake could be from dissimilar lubes rather than water, the bike would have come with primary+ in it.

water will sink to the bottom if left to sit, you could pour some in a glass container

primary lube gets dark from the clutch

mike
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 01:12 AM
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If there was a lot of milkshake you could pull the primary cover and clean it out to make sure you didnt get contaminated and you dont get rust
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 04:44 AM
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If water gets in, oil can get out, so you would have an oil leak IMHO. Mike has probably put his finger on the problem!
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 06:35 AM
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Sounds like the precursor to catastrophic primary failure or CPF.

Seriously, clean and wipe out the old oil and replace.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 07:54 AM
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This might help?

http://www.harley-davidsonforums.com...water-oil.html
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by srt8
If there was a lot of milkshake you could pull the primary cover and clean it out to make sure you didnt get contaminated and you dont get rust
Sounds like an excuse to chrome the inner primary cover!
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 11:05 AM
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Could be some condensation.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by mkguitar
did you use primary+ or syn 3 in the primary?

milkshake could be from dissimilar lubes rather than water, the bike would have come with primary+ in it.

water will sink to the bottom if left to sit, you could pour some in a glass container

primary lube gets dark from the clutch

mike
Been thinking on this. The bike is just over 7,500 miles right now. I bought it new, had the factory fluid switched out for SYN 3 at 1,000 miles. That seems plausible that there was maybe some residue left in there. There was no sitting water in it; I watched it drain, and as soon as I pulled the drain plug it was instant black oil. Also, the milkshake appearance seems to settle toward the top of the oil, not the bottom of the oil. The appearance is very slight, and not a "chocolate milkshake" like I have seen on some cars that have bad head gasket leaks, more of a slight milky white appearance. For the most part, the oil is black.

There was a tiny bit of metal on the magnet. It was a powder consistency. The magnet was still clearly visible, just a small ring of powdered metallic in a ring around the outside edge.
 

Last edited by jayhawkclint; Jan 7, 2014 at 01:34 PM.
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 01:52 PM
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sounds normal.

when draining fluid from the primary, about 4 to 6 oz will be contained in the clutch...unless you go through the process of removing it. ( with bike on jiffy stand, I zip tie the clutch lever overnight, and in the morning start the bike to spin lube out of the clutch basket)

the magnet is there to capture some of the fuzz and contain to keep the lube from becoming an abrasive.

the clutch works on friction, friction will make fuzz and clutch parts eventually \wear out

normal.


think about primary+ rather than syn 3.
syn 3 is no longer spec'd for primary and tranny.

mike
 
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