Oily Final Drive unit

[94 V-Max Rider]

I own a 1994 V-Max and my brother owns a 1992 V-Max. Both bikes have slight oily residues on the bottom of the final drive assemblies, which gets ever so lightly spattered onto the rear wheels while riding. It's barely noticeable.

The oil levels are correct and I've see no signs of the oil level ever dropping. The breathers are clear. No leaks around the drain and filler bolts.

I'm almost inclined to think that the grease on the rear wheel splines is getting heated up during operation, causing it to migrate to the bottom of the final drive where it oozes out past the dustcover ever so slightly.

I'm wondering if anybody else has or is experiencing this.

 

[MaxMidnight]

I've get an oily crud build up over time though no splatters.

As I'm not loosing any fluid I just clean it off and enjoy the bike.

 

[Bill Kratzenberg]

Sounds like a leaking seal in the rear differential. same thing happened to me, got oil splatters on my rear wheel. There are two seals, change them both and see if that stops the problem. what part of Pa are you from?

 

[SpecOps13]

Good Luck... My final drives are clean and dry. My 89 has an engine oil drip that defies all logic. It could probably go for years before any danger if the oil lasted that long. It's just irritating... Someday, I'll find the source....

 

[gamorg02]

Good Luck... My final drives are clean and dry. My 89 has an engine oil drip that defies all logic. It could probably go for years before any danger if the oil lasted that long. It's just irritating... Someday, I'll find the source....

any machine shops nearby? maybe try taking the covers to them and making sure they're flat.

 

[94 V-Max Rider]

Sounds like a leaking seal in the rear differential. same thing happened to me, got oil splatters on my rear wheel. There are two seals, change them both and see if that stops the problem. what part of Pa are you from?

Thanks, Bill. I'm from Allentown. I'll take a look at the service manual and see how involved the job is. If it was anything more than barely noticeable, I'd be more concerned. My brother has had this problem for several years and has racked up 80,000 miles. He's less concerned about it than me. Call me nit-picky, but I don't like any leaks or misting, no matter how slight.

 

[SpecOps13]

gamorg02: Talked with you on the phone today but we missed this subject. Ithink part of the leak is even as far away as the left side if the front valve cover. Eventually, I'm going in for a valve adjustment. I'll really goop up all the gaskets then. For now, it's just a minor irritation.

Originally Posted by SpecOps13
Good Luck... My final drives are clean and dry. My 89 has an engine oil drip that defies all logic. It could probably go for years before any danger if the oil lasted that long. It's just irritating... Someday, I'll find the source....

Originally posted by Gamorg02: any machine shops nearby? maybe try taking the covers to them and making sure they're flat...

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Once when I installed the rear wheel I greased up the splines and got the same problem. Then I realized there isn't need for much grease there, the splines don't really slide against each other any way. Since I quit greasing the splines I don't have that problem anymore. It took several thousand milkes for the wheel to spin all the extra grease out.

If the diff. was leaking I think you would see it as a thinner oil that runs than grease that kinda sticks and stays...and your oil level would eventually show to be lower too...

 

[VmaxVboost]

I'm having a similar problem. I have a 2000 Max with 40,000 miles on it.

About 5,000 miles ago, I started seeing grease or oil on the grey dust cover, then splatter on the wheel.

See attached parts diagram.

I first added two new #27's. No change.

Then, I waited till I needed a tire change, so I changed #21 when I had the wheel off.

It was clean for a while (~1,000 miles), but now looks the same as before (oil & splatter).

When I had the wheel off for the tire, I did not add more grease to the splines, so I doubt that is it.

There is definitely more & more grease and splatter as time goes on.

I haven't had any issues with the final drive prior to this.

Any help?

Brian
San Diego, CA

 

[gamorg02]

bill had a similar issue i believe morley fixed it for him?

 

[one2dmax]

35 seals the fluid on the driveshaft side (on the shaft). 33 on the axle side in the diff.

 

[gamorg02]

35 is easy enough to replace, does 33 require any special techniques or is just dismantle and re-assemble?

 

[bazwell]

gamorg02: Talked with you on the phone today but we missed this subject. Ithink part of the leak is even as far away as the left side if the front valve cover. Eventually, I'm going in for a valve adjustment. I'll really goop up all the gaskets then. For now, it's just a minor irritation.

Hi mate. If you got oil on the valve covers, or the heads, replace the gaskets.
Because the bolts bottom out, the gaskets can become too thin to work. Hard to fix even with goo because there's just no compression on the gasket.

 

[one2dmax]

to get that inner seal isn't all that hard. Just unbolt the ring gear and pull it out. Then use a socket to drive out the inner bushing if you can't get the seal to come out with it in the way.

Sean

 

[VmaxVboost]

OK. Thanks. I'll try replacing #33, and let you know.

Brian

 

[VmaxVboost]

Well, I purchased #33 seal. I took off the rear wheel. Looking at the streaks, path, and consistency of the grease, it looked as if it wasn't final gear fluid that was leaking. So there was no need to disassemble the final drive to install #33 seal.

I cleaned some excess grease from the wheel spline area on both the wheel & final gear area. 250 miles later, it's still clean.

Previously, it took quite a while for the leak to show (very slow leak), but so far - clean.

There are a lot of ameteur mechanics on the Web, and I'm one of them, but so far, looks good. Don't disassemble rear drive if you don't need to.

Brian

 

[naughtyG]

yup = if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Just keep an eye on it..