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Gear Oil In Shaft Housing

fred-houston

fred-houston

COG Membership Officer
Guest
OK, Got a question for someone(s) in the know.

I noticed a couple spots of oil under my bike the other day.  I saw it appeared to be leaking from the accordion boot between the transmission and shaft housing.  Those that know me know I have a good friend that does all the heavy mechanic work on my bike, so I ran it over to him and he pulled the rear drive, and confirmed there was a significant amount of rear drive oil in the shaft housing.  He has the service manual, and he was a motorcycle mechanic by trade for over 20 years, so I am confident that he can figure it all out, but I would like to see if there is any advice we can give him.

We plan on replacing pretty much all the o-rings and the seal, Parts Numbers; 92055-1038, 92055-1281, 92015-1059, 92049-1033 and 92055-1646.  Part numbers obtained from Ron Ayers Micro Fish  http://www.ronayers.com/Drive-ShaftFinal-Gear12-C405095.aspx

My questions are, since we are there, is there anything else we need to replace and are there any little secrets that we may need to know about?

Thanks
 
My bike had an oil leak there.
I discovered that I had overfilled the differential.
I lowered the level slightly and never had another problem.
Have you serviced yours lately. Is it possible you overfilled?

Have you installed the Cobra's yet?

Ride safe, Ted
 
Been a while since I serviced it, about 3 thousand miles.  I am confident that I did not over fill.  I am one of the few that actually measures the oil before putting it in.  I just don't go with the fill it till it runs out method.

Yes, the Cobra's are on.  They look and sound great, but riding down the road they are a touch loud for my taste.  I am going to leave them on a while to give them a chance.  I do love the sound.
 
I would just replace 92055-1646 for now and see if that fixes the problem, how many miles are on your bike?
 
It's the oring on the final drive input shaft, just in front of the seal, that's the issue. It's designed to keep the oil in the slip joint. The orings break, and oil from the joint leaks out. Common. If you study the system, you'll see that Kawasaki made the slip joint constantly lubricated by the final drive, no need to grease the slip joint. HTH, Steve
 
"It's the oring on the final drive input shaft, just in front of the seal, that's the issue" - So, is that the 92055-1646 part number?  My bike has the same issue.  It is also leaking gear oil somewhere between the final drive and the rear wheel - it's coming out when the wheel is turning and spraying out through the little gap.  From the schematic, that looks to be the 92049-1025 and/or the 92049-1026 oil seals or maybe the 92055-1165 o-ring.  Any help/advice would be appreciated.  I bought a used '02 Connie that had been ridden less than 500 miles in the past 5 or so years.  Replaced the rear tire and rear drive oil and now I have leaks.  WTF?  Final drive was not overfilled - measured and used the correct volume of Golden Spectro 75W/90 GL-5 fully synthetic gear oil.
 
I'd lay odds it's the 1646 oring. Nobody seems to know it's even there, and they just assume the seal is leaking.

  So my question... why would the pinion seal leak, based on the height it is relative to oil, and that the unit is open and doesn't develop pressure?

???  Steve
 
I just pulled my swing arm off to look at the pivot bearings.  No real reason other than they are 28 years old and to my knowledge it has never been checked.  The bearings are sloppy, so they are getting replaced.  Actually the whole swing arm is getting replaced cause I got one in good shape, good bearings for the same price as just the bearings.  Anyway, my oring is still there and looks pretty good.  Still gonna replace it due to age and I am in there.
BTW, my drive shaft still feels perfect!
 
Steve in Sunny Fla said:
I'd lay odds it's the 1646 oring. Nobody seems to know it's even there, and they just assume the seal is leaking.

  So my question... why would the pinion seal leak, based on the height it is relative to oil, and that the unit is open and doesn't develop pressure?

???  Steve
Click to expand...

I gotta agree with you. But someone suggested lowering the level. I lowered the level and the leak stopped. Can not explain it, didn't believe it myself,,, but it happened.

Ride safe, Ted
 
Steve in Sunny Fla said:
I'd lay odds it's the 1646 oring. Nobody seems to know it's even there, and they just assume the seal is leaking.

  So my question... why would the pinion seal leak, based on the height it is relative to oil, and that the unit is open and doesn't develop pressure?

???  Steve
Click to expand...
Doesn't the oil have to get past the seal to get to the O-ring?
 
Doesn't the oil have to get past the seal to get to the O-ring?
[/quote]

No. If you look at the final drive, there's a thru hole in the input spline section that slings oil from the final dive case into the slip joint of the driveshaft. The oring is what holds th oil in there. When the oring breaks (orings aren't meant for slip joints) the oil dumps into the swingarm and leaks out.

Personally, I think lowering the oil level is not the best way to address this. If you have ever ridden on a shaft bike that locked the gears and rear wheel (I have, at 70 mph) you'll find it's not fun. Steve
 
For clarity, I agree with Steve. Do not run the oil level below what is recommended.
If you read my first post you'll see that I had overfilled mine slightly.
After a suggestion from someone, I lowered the level to the correct level.
I can not explain why this made any difference because I'm only talking a tiny amount of oil removed.
Maybe the O ring was out of place and moved back, or maybe it was just magic.
Bottom line,  the leak stopped.
The bike was sold at 110,000 miles and was still on the road a couple of years ago. Haven't heard from the new owner since then. Had 175,000 miles on it when I last talked to him.

Ride safe, Ted
 
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