Oil Weep

[Jim Bronson]

I've been noticing this leak/weep for some time, and I haven't been concerned about it. Judging by the pattern of the shiny residue, it seems to be coming from a base O-ring. I had a SE 110kit installed about two years ago, and it may be due to that work. I've read other posts for the same problem, and the consensus was to just keep an eye on it and ride. I just thought I would run it past the HTT experts for your opinion.Thanks.

[jrgreene1968]

My rear jug is weeping. It seems to stop once engine gets up to temp. But it's driving me nuts, so I'm getting everything rounded up to pull it apart. I'm bad OCD

[IronButt70]

My rear jug is weeping. It seems to stop once engine gets up to temp. But it's driving me nuts, so I'm getting everything rounded up to pull it apart. I'm bad OCD

Welcome to the OCD club. Any oil leakage drives me nuts.

[Paniolo]

I have weepage too, in the same place. I just clean it off as I'm not ready to pull it apart.

[smoserx1]

Check that case bolt between the jugs (shown in your pic above the serial #).  Mine loosened up and was weeping and the wind effect will make it appear the rear jug base.

[Jim Bronson]

Check that case bolt between the jugs (shown in your pic above the serial #).  Mine loosened up and was weeping and the wind effect will make it appear the rear jug base.

OK, I'll do that. Thanks a lot. 

[kd]

If that is where it is, S&S has a nut with a seal that fixes it.  It is fairly common.

[rageglide]

If you go with the larger bore you usually end up with a non-stock center bolt.  The 113" kit provided a little pissant bolt with rubber backed washers. 

If your 110 kit has a through bolt, that is first thing I would check.   
Second, check the primary to engine 0-ring

[Paniolo]

Check that case bolt between the jugs (shown in your pic above the serial #).  Mine loosened up and was weeping and the wind effect will make it appear the rear jug base.

What's the torque spec on that bolt?

[Jim Bronson]

Check that case bolt between the jugs (shown in your pic above the serial #).  Mine loosened up and was weeping and the wind effect will make it appear the rear jug base.

What's the torque spec on that bolt?

15-19 Ft Lbs. If I remove just the top one, I'm concerned about the sequence of torquing the rest of the bolts. Since the top one is the first to be torqued when assembling the engine, I would be removing the first one. There may be a problem there. I just don't know. I will check into the S&S part if just re-torquing doesn't stop it. I'll need to check whether there is easy access to all the bolts in case I would need to loosen and re-torque all of them. The stage 4 kit didn't require splitting the cases, so if the bolt is loose, it loosened up from the factory.

[Paniolo]

15-19 Ft Lbs.

Since there's no nut on the other end of that bolt, just tighten it down to 15-19 ft pounds. I assume that bolt goes into a threaded hole in the case on the other side.

[Jim Bronson]

15-19 Ft Lbs.

Since there's no nut on the other end of that bolt, just tighten it down to 15-19 ft pounds. I assume that bolt goes into a threaded hole in the case on the other side.

Yes, I'll probably just need to remove one end of the shifter linkage to get clear access.

[rageglide]

If the 110 kit you have uses the drop-in cylinders with no case boring tightening that top bolt will not be a big deal and it's most likely not the source of your leak.   I would suspect the primary to engine seal, or the cylinder base o-rings.

Last night I had not seen the picture, but looking at it now can see it's the factory bolt, which is installed in a blind hole on a factory case.  So any weepage would be very minimal even if the bolt is loose. 

[Jim Bronson]

If the 110 kit you have uses the drop-in cylinders with no case boring tightening that top bolt will not be a big deal and it's most likely not the source of your leak.   I would suspect the primary to engine seal, or the cylinder base o-rings.

Last night I had not seen the picture, but looking at it now can see it's the factory bolt, which is installed in a blind hole on a factory case.  So any weepage would be very minimal even if the bolt is loose.

No case boring was required. I should mention that there's just a tiny bit of oil on the right side, on the flat area between the lifter blocks. It may have been blown there from the left side. There does seem to be an accumulation around the case bolt head. The photo doesn't show it very well. I'll tighten the bolt just for grins.

[jrgreene1968]

Mines also damp on lifter side, but it's definately my base o ring 
That's ok though.. gives me an excuse to tear it apart and add more power while I'm at it

[Jim Bronson]

Unless it starts leaking badly, I won't be tearing it apart again. I have all the power I need, and it runs great. Plus I don't have the skills for the job.

[rageglide]

That sounds like a pretty good idea, not worth a tear down to deal with o-rings unless it becomes a gusher.  Remember oil will travel toward the primary side when you're parked on the sidestand and the first place it will begin to accumulate is around the bolt head.

[Paniolo]

/quote]

I torqued mine today. It was not very loose, but I did feel it tighten a hair before the torque wrench clicked.

Ride it, and check it.

[Jim Bronson]

Re: the case bolt vs. O-ring discussion, I looked around at other similar leak topics, and the photos all show the leaks happening at the same location - between the cylinders in the area of the bolt (the highest point). This means that if the leak is from O-rings, then all the posted leaks are from exactly the same location on the rings. That's quite a coincidence. I'm far from an expert on the subject, but it seems some of them would leak in other places on the circumference of the ring, especially if the leak was caused by a damaged or defective ring. Just some bedtime musing ....

[smoserx1]

Well the o-rings do and will eventually leak.  When it happened to me about 3 years ago it looked like the rear jug at the base.  The bike already has 178000 miles on it so I did the top end and made the bike from an 88 to a 95.  Anyway the original o-rings were black and the replacement ones were a pale pink color.  After it was back together I noticed I still had the leak (but much less).  That is when I discovered the loose case bolt (and mine was very loose).  I tightened it up and no more leak.  I really think my leak was a combination of both the bolt and rear o-ring but will never know for sure.  Some of the other case bolts were a little loose as well and I have since tightened them.  I believe you have to have the inner primary off to get to one or two of them.  Anyway, sounds like your case bolt was tight enough.  Clean up the residue and keep an eye on it.

[bobrk1]

A few  drops  really  spread  out  and  look  like  a  lot , I  use some  brake  cleaner  to  clean  it  off and  wait  until  riding  season  is  over  or it starts  to  leave  a  puddle 

[Jim Bronson]

It's nowhere near bad enough to dribble on the ground. Yeah oil spreads out a lot, especially on the black rough finish of the case, which acts like a sponge. I'm guessing it leaks one or two drops, and I ride often. It just bugs the s**t out of me.

I pulled the case bolt this morning, and it is bone dry. It was worth a try anyway.

[jrgreene1968]

Mine never leaked a drop till the bike set for 8-10 months from back surgery.  I ordered the oem O rings that OhioHD reccomended, and all the gaskets etc.. but the best part is it's gonna get new cams and new heads 
I thought I had crank runout issues, but found my indicator fubared, so that parts good

[1workinman]

 

Mine never leaked a drop till the bike set for 8-10 months from back surgery.  I ordered the oem O rings that OhioHD reccomended, and all the gaskets etc.. but the best part is it's gonna get new cams and new heads 
I thought I had crank runout issues, but found my indicator fubared, so that parts good

[Jim Bronson]

I'll try to find out exactly where it is leaking from and take it from there.