final drive leak?** UPDATE with question! ***

[Dade22]

Oh no...valkmc.   there is a special tool to remove the bearing?

Crap...I better call the dealership and let them know.

I dont want this to be a long drawn out process.

Dade22

[Dade22]

Bike gone for 3 days.  Service dept. called today and said I was right about the inner seal.  He said they changed all the seals while they were in there along with the bearing.  Makes me feel good to know what Im talking about.  Also thanks to everyone here that had the same issue.

Now I hope its fixed and wont be a reoccruing problem.


Thanks again.

Dade22

[valkmc]

Good News, I have put about 4k on mine since it was fixed, happy to report no more leak.

[stevewfl]

The manual says check and fill with the bike level. If the bike is simply on the center stand it is NOT level, the rear wheel is off the ground. Put a board under the front wheel such that the rear wheel is touching the ground, then fill.

japanese level = left/right 

[azhenryz]

I have 2010 model.  The final drive began leaking at the about the 5,000 mile mark.   My final drive seal was replaced at the dealer under warranty in June.  Now it is leaking again at 8,000 miles.  I've attached a photo.  The picture was taken after it was moved, so the dark splatter at the back was at the bottom.  This was after two weeks of sitting on the center stand.

[VirginiaJim]

Maybe they should have replaced a few other things as well besides the seal...

I've found, that when I change the rear drive oil, it makes no difference that I can see to 'level' it out via board or whatever.  After draining it while on the center stand, I've pushed the back of the bike back down slowly until the tire touches down and I've had no more come out.  YMMV but mine doesn't.

[B.D.F.]

A few of us have had C-14 final drives leak but if I remember correctly, one or two folks have had the drive itself replaced after having repeated leaks after having a seal (or seals) replaced. Again, this seems to be extremely rare but it has happened. I would imagine a deep scratch or score in the parts that ride against the seal would be the cause but I did not ever hear of a root cause. The root cause was probably not diagnosed anyway and the dealer just replaced the drive after the first try. You might be in that same situation.

The only other thing I can think of is that it is the second seal leaking after the first one was replaced. Again, the odds against that happening are pretty long but not impossible.

As long as you have a decent dealer you should be fine once this is ironed out. Of course it is painful while it is happening but it is correctable and you should end up with a reliable bike in the end (no pun intended).

Brian

I have 2010 model.  The final drive began leaking at the about the 5,000 mile mark.   My final drive seal was replaced at the dealer under warranty in June.  Now it is leaking again at 8,000 miles.  I've attached a photo.  The picture was taken after it was moved, so the dark splatter at the back was at the bottom.  This was after two weeks of sitting on the center stand.

[azhenryz]

Thanks for the info.  I absolutely love the bike, and a buddy of mine has an '09 with 17,000 miles on it that is fine.  One other thing I forgot to mention; he bought his bike used with 3,000 miles on it (bought mine used with 2,000 miles on it) and has had the final drive fluid changed once.  His final drive fluid is as clear as when it came out of the bottle.  Mine is as black as coal.  Perhaps that's a clue.

[B.D.F.]

The drives seem to come from the factory with some type of moly based lube in them; I have had two new final drive assemblies on my bike (not because of any fault, failure or problem) and they both had some really nasty looking black lube come out of them. The lube also had something swirling in it as it hit the drain pan which is what makes me thing it is moly; whatever it was it did not mix in with the liquid lube. I think that black, nasty lube is normal the first time it is changed.

Brian

Thanks for the info.  I absolutely love the bike, and a buddy of mine has an '09 with 17,000 miles on it that is fine.  One other thing I forgot to mention; he bought his bike used with 3,000 miles on it (bought mine used with 2,000 miles on it) and has had the final drive fluid changed once.  His final drive fluid is as clear as when it came out of the bottle.  Mine is as black as coal.  Perhaps that's a clue.

[Dade22]

The fix seemed to work but the other day I noticed that there was something spattering the wheel again.

Seeing that Im having the new PR3s put on tomorrow, I pulled the wheels to drop them off at the dealer for a mount and balance.

WOW...I can only guess this is the stuff I found spattering the wheels!

Im thinking the dealer went a little overboard on the molly paste....


Should I clean it all off and start over with a smaller amount of molly 60, or should I just clean some off to see how it goes.




 

[Khrome]

Holy "smear it on" Batman   

[lather]

Gives new meaning to the term "grease monkey".

[Jeremy Mitchell]

That has to be $6 worth of Honda 60 paste dumped on there.  Did they apply it with a bucket instead of the horribly inconvenient brush.   

[Dade22]

Not sure what they were doing.  Probably wanted to make sure they got it.  LOL


Im going to clean it off.  How would one go about applying int correctly?  Just a small about in the teeth of the gear?

Also, what lip are they talking about to apply high temp grease?

Thanks!

Dade22

[Tactical_Mik]

I would just clean the wheel side that is shown in your first picture.  There would be no real reason to clean all of the moly off the splines.  As long as there is still a good coating on the splines, leave it until next time then reapply.  As for the grease on the lip, I can only guess that what you are refering to is the wheel spacer on the right side.  Supposed to put grease on there to lube the point where the spacer contacts the dust seal.

[Dade22]

I would just clean the wheel side that is shown in your first picture.  There would be no real reason to clean all of the moly off the splines.  As long as there is still a good coating on the splines, leave it until next time then reapply.  As for the grease on the lip, I can only guess that what you are refering to is the wheel spacer on the right side.  Supposed to put grease on there to lube the point where the spacer contacts the dust seal.

can i use the moly paste for then grease on the lip or is there a special type Im suppose to use there?

Dade22

[Jeremy Mitchell]

can i use the moly paste for then grease on the lip or is there a special type Im suppose to use there?

Dade22

I use the Honda 60 on all of it and I haven't had any issues.

[Dade22]

Ok...cool.  Thanks


Im putting the bike back together now.  New PR3s look cool on the bike.  Its funny how small the front tire looks when its off the bike. LOL


Thanks again.

Dade22

[lather]

moly paste is probably not a good choice for that, the "lip' is the outer edge of the rubber seal of the wheel bearing. You can get high temp grease at any auto parts store. The grease is also good for holding the spacer in place as you manouver the wheel into place between the fork tubes.

[Dade22]

moly paste is probably not a good choice for that, the "lip' is the outer edge of the rubber seal of the wheel bearing. You can get high temp grease at any auto parts store. The grease is also good for holding the spacer in place as you manouver the wheel into place between the fork tubes.

oh?