HarleyTechTalk

I have never seen this much silicone used on ANYTHING ! . Inner Primary has orange silicone everywhere. is there any cleaner or solvent that will aid in the removal of this orange crap ?

Unibond Silicone Sealant Remover, a Stanley blade and some patience. PITA.

Quote from: omega1 on January 31, 2015, 04:40:25 AM
Unibond Silicone Sealant Remover, a Stanley blade and some patience. PITA.

Why some feel the need to get so carried away with that stuff is beyond me.

Throw a 1/2" bead on something when a 1/8" bead would suffice.

I can not think of one place on a HD, (late model any way), where one would need silicone. Some shade tree mechanics think everything needs a good coat of silicone but most modern gaskets seal up just fine going on dry.

Quote from: PoorUB on January 31, 2015, 07:21:59 AM
I can not think of one place on a HD, (late model any way), where one would need silicone. Some shade tree mechanics think everything needs a good coat of silicone but most modern gaskets seal up just fine going on dry.

Worst damn thing to use. Trashed many an engine from oil starvation from plugging up oil passages.
Ron

carb or brake cleaner in a can will attack it and help along with those tooth brush size wire brushes

CAREFUL use of a razor-blade type tool will get most of it.
You can buff off the residue/remainder with green wool, which will not remove metal.

Aero Kroil will break it down.

Anytime I see silicone oozing out somewhere that should just be a gasket, I cringe.....

once cleaned, i would check for straightness on both the inner/outer!  and for a crack/cracks also.  or the previous s.o.b was just a cheap bastard and used that for sealing up leaks

Quote from: rbabos on January 31, 2015, 07:48:55 AM

Worst damn thing to use. Trashed many an engine from oil starvation from plugging up oil passages.

One of my buddies had that happen to him.

A local stealer siliconed the sh1t out of his primary cover, it ran great for about 5 miles before seizing up........

~John

Quote from: dirtracin23 on January 31, 2015, 04:57:11 AM

Quote from: omega1 on January 31, 2015, 04:40:25 AM
Unibond Silicone Sealant Remover, a Stanley blade and some patience. PITA.

Why some feel the need to get so carried away with that stuff is beyond me.

Throw a 1/2" bead on something when a 1/8" bead would suffice.

Cause sometimes more is better..especially when there are guys who like to fix things till they break.
One mans eyes are not as good as the next guys.
Why wasnt a proper gasket used in-place of the silicone sealant?
Ro

Quote from: CndUltra88 on February 01, 2015, 03:34:02 PM
Why wasnt a proper gasket used in-place of the silicone sealant?
Ro

Some guys think the proper gasket needs a layer of silicone too.

A while back I picked up some gaskets to fix the wife's car. The snot nosed, barely out of puberty kid running the parts desk asked me if I had silicone sealant. I told him no, but I don't need any. He went on to tell me that the gaskets will seal better with a coating of silicone on both sides. I basically told him he was full of B.S. and you rarely need silicone with modern gaskets. He started to say something, and his boss, that has known me for years, stopped him and told him to go put away some stock. The boss made the comment that the kid was new, needs some training and needs to idle down a bit.

Gasoline. Give it a couple minutes to curl up the silicone and remove or re-apply.

Clean off what you can with a blade and then use a very stiff toothbrush and carb cleaner for the rest.  PITA but you'll get it.  I hate Silicone......

Quote from: Trouble on February 04, 2015, 03:28:30 AM
Gasoline. Give it a couple minutes to curl up the silicone and remove or re-apply.

For any younger guys starting out as mechanics, this is a bad idea.

No professional shop would allow gasoline to be used for anything other than fuel.

« on: Saturday, January 31, 2015. 07:48:55 AM. »

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Quote from: PoorUB on Saturday, January 31, 2015. 07:21:59 AM.

I can not think of one place on a HD, (late model any way), where one would need silicone. Some shade tree mechanics think everything needs a good coat of silicone but most modern gaskets seal up just fine going on dry.

Worst damn thing to use. Trashed many an engine from oil starvation from plugging up oil passages.
Ron




When I was on the tools, I tried an experiment with several grades of silicon (and some other gasket seal applications) on my steel work bench because I noticed things like Ron and PoorUB mention. I applied a dollup or smear of each on a corner surface that I didn't use and applied oil on a regular basis. Eventually the oil broke down the silicon drop and it either released itself or turned mushy on the surface (melted) over time. I'm not talking a few days or weeks but it did eventually fail when the Permatex and other types of gasket sealers maintained their consistency. I stopped using it on anything automotive when oil products could contaminate it. It doesn't even live long sealing the counter / sink seam.

Silicone does not equal gasket sealant.

There are special sealants made that will cure without air. There are special sealants made that are not affected by petroleum products. Many confuse them with silicone.

Excuse me if everyone knew this already.

Silicone is used to seal window frames on the house. Not the primary cover on a bike.
I am also not a big fan of using gasoline as a solvent.

Yeah, don't use gas anymore. I'm pretty sure most of us have in the past though.

I use WD 40. Use a blade to remove the big stuff. A few drops of WD 40 on a toothbrush or small paint brush. Leave it sit a bit and the silicone will peel off. WD 40 won't hurt paint or cause damage to any parts.
Even though it is made from fish oil, it smells OK too.

Quote from: Hossamania on February 05, 2015, 06:45:06 AM
Silicone is used to seal window frames on the house. Not the primary cover on a bike.
I am also not a big fan of using gasoline as a solvent.

I think a lot of guys just call the stuff silicone, even though what they are probably referring to is RTV.

Look closely at the bolt holes. Might have hydrolocked and cracked the primary. If he used that much I would take the the complete primary off and inspect.
Brake cleaner works. Gasket remover works also.