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Trip thwarted by pinion seal leak: spline rust solution

4K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  Krons 
#1 ·
Well I almost updated an old thread (link at bottom) but decided to share the whole ordeal as a pseudo ride report should others get in a similar predicament. A novel solution to the dreaded rusting shaft splines, oil them on the go!

I was 170 miles into my 330 mile trip to see my Mom in Wisconsin for her birthday yesterday. Beautiful days of riding ahead with no rain and a tad hot at 85°F. I stopped for fuel and noticed lots of oil and dust accumulating on the bottom of the final drive. More concerning was the drive housing was very warm to touch...enough you could hold your hand on it but got uncomfortable after being there a while. I went a bit further and pulled in the shade, pulling back the rear swingarm boot I found a dusty paste around the boot with the smell of gear oil. Enough oil I decided to turn back.

I called to say I wasn't going to make it and headed back home. Fortunately 15 miles back toward home was J&P Cycles in Anamosa, IA (part of the Revzilla conglomerate) so stopped to top off the final drive. I recalled the drain plug on my 07 is just about the fill level (it is oriented straight rearward) so bought and squirted in some shots of Lucas 85w140 until it was running out (opted for heavier oil due to the heat in the drive housing). Fortunately the guys there loaned me a 45 torx for the fill plug...note to update my tool kit which only went to 40. I'm sure the Harley guys enjoyed my parking lot wrenching on the BMW.

I started the teardown today, final drive will head to dealership 90 min away in a couple weeks, first opening they had was July 15. Yet to check on my local dealer who no one uses for service, another story.

Upon dropping final drive (no oil on upper boot by trans):
Automotive tire Bicycle part Rim Automotive design Motor vehicle


The symptom on the road, oily paste on everything:
Fluid Motor vehicle Gas Engineering Auto part


I was curious how much oil was in there, appears my roadside fill was pretty close not counting a few mL of spillage. No sight gauge on my Lucas bottle to know how much I put in. Fortunately no shavings or shrapnel.
Tableware Drinkware Liquid Fluid Kitchen appliance



Now to decide with 47,000 miles on the clock if I have them replace all the seals or just the pinion. Drive spins smooth, I'll see if the tech feels anything I didn't to indicate changing bearings.

Adventure!
I love maintenance-free shaft drive.
I love maintenance-free shaft drive.
I love maintenance-free shaft drive.
I love maintenance-free shaft drive.
:D

 
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#3 ·
Trying to understand what happened. So you have oil leaking from the final drive into the drive shaft housing only? If the drive housing was hot, do you think the oil level ended up being so low as to increase friction in the final drive? I have actually never touched my final drive during a ride, so don’t know how warm is “normal”. How much oil did you add while on the road?
 
#5 ·
They do get warm and too an curious as too how much earl it took. I'd bet just the seal is compromised and the rest of the drive is okay.
Its a pinion seal leak so all oil was coming out of the front of the final drive. Between the amount of oil on/in the housing and swingarm (first/second picture), I was guessing it was low enough to cause some added heat. It seemed the same temp after topping it off so not certain what to expect at normal. If you are out for a ride would be curious...read somewhere 50°C not uncommon?

I pondered having my wife drive to get me but knew J&P wasn't far...and knowing that my drain plug level got me in the ballpark of the 180ml decided to give it a go and keep an eye on it on the way home.

As far as how much I added...no indicator on the bottle, but would guess ~25_40ml (it was two squeezes if I recall right lol). Haven't been curious enough to empty the bottle to find out exactly.
 
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