leeking primary

[worker]

have an 86 fxrs chrome inner and outer no matter what I do it leaks. do u think the chrome on the inner has something to do with it?

[Ironheadmike]

Possibly . Where is it leaking ? Did you put any permatax in the holes that mount the inner to the engine and trans ?

[Hossamania]

Are you sure it is the inner and outer, and not the shifter shaft or output or pulley shaft?

[Deye76]

Many over tighten the drain plug in the outer cover, causing a slight crack, check that. Also if the seal on the trans mainshaft is leaking, it appears to be coming from the the primary sometimes. Could be the race walked and took out the seal.

[screem]

my '95 softail had a leak that appeared to be the outer primary leaking down by the drain plug. Changed outer Prim Cover, would be dry for a short while, then a small leak would appear, changed the drain plug on outer primary, same result. Leak would come back. Finally pulled the inner primary, replaced all the seals. The trans shaft seal looked ok, but replaced it anyways.That was the culprit, leak has never returned. Seems as though when bike was on the sidestand, the small leak would run down the backside of the inner primary and collect near the outer primary gasket/drain plug area

[Hossamania]

Just posted this on another thread dealing with a primary leak. This from the tranny, output shaft, shifter shaft, input shaft, not sure which one is worse.
It's on my list.

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[screem]

If ya wait long enough, it will stop leaking...actually that leak wont take long

[Dan89flstc]

Hopefully it isn`t a failure of the big ball bearing, taking out the seal...

[Hossamania]

It's had a slight drip for years, maybe a quarter to half doller size. This year it got significantly worse, leaves about a dollar size stain now when parked overnight. I have an almost new gearset to go in the trans when it comes apart to get fixed, third gear has been crunchy for years.
Like I said, it's on my list. Meanwhile, I'm still beating hell out of it.

[Burnout]

An 86 may still have the narrow hub front sprocket with the single lock screw.

Update to -94 pulley seal and spacer, besides having wider hub it has a 2 bolt lock ring.
And will not fall off and leak and roach the splines...

[Ironheadmike]

Is it the original outer ? Some of the drain plugs are straight pipe tap and some are tapered . Perhaps you have the wrong plug . I discovered this a couple years ago when I was chasing down a leak .

[david lee]

if its the primary it would be wet from front to back where the gasket joins the inner.

[capn]

I learned long ago that I dont trust shovel or evo  inner primary to  engine o-ring not to leak.I always smear case sealant on the sealing surface of the motor then put the o-ring on.Yes it s a pain to clean when you remove it  but it wont leak. 

[turboprop]

have an 86 fxrs chrome inner and outer no matter what I do it leaks. do u think the chrome on the inner has something to do with it?

You could start by telling what you have done and you did it. For example, what brand/type of seals in the various holes, was a application specific seal driver used to set the seals square and to the proper depth, did you put bearing grease between the two lips of the various seals, did you align the engine-trans-primary, did you use any sealant around the various holes on the engine case, does the mainsheet bearing rave grooves worn into it, does the inner primary sit flush up against the transmission and engine cases, does it go on and off easily or does it require some tapping, etc, etc?

Any answers given so far are simply shots in the dark, you need to provide a lot more information before your question can be answered.

[Mikeg]

I just got done replacing all the seals in and around the primary. I had the tools for the inner primary bearing and seal, the jackshaft seal and the shifter seal. Had to trailer the sled to the shop to have the main seal, quad seal and the seal behind the inner primary bearing race replaced. The race had walked in to the primary, so that had to be cut off. Rode the bike everyday this week and it hasn't leaked yet.... I used all OEM HD seals. Pretty straight forward if you have the right tools. There is a tool I saw on the internet used for pulling the inner primary bearing race if it walks into the pulley...It took me about a day to remove and replace everything.

[jamminhd2000]

  love to hear good news! Jimmy

[screem]

Nice job ! congrats..

[Sinker]

I just had 97 Wide Glide to the 2nd mechanic and he finished the work 2 weeks ago no leaks until this morning when I came out there were 3 drips on the ground. Back to the drawing board. I know people have a lot worse but this is a low mileage bike.   

[Hossamania]

Sinker, start a new thread....
This one is going nowhere, the OP is a one and done...

Just looked at the op's past posts, it seems to be a trend.