So I think I have found the source of my long-suffering leak from the primary cover.....the leak is coming from the rear of one of the allen head bolts for the outer primary cover.....it's the very last bolt, at the bottom of the cover. (1995 FXST)

I think that the hole for the bolt may be stripped or damaged in some way, that's why it's leaking.....So here's my question: would some blue locktight on that bolt prevent any more seepage?

Also, I had my crank case breather re-routed. It came with a breather/filter that was attached to the transmission.....my mechanic took that breather off because it was just collecting oil and other crap, and just ran a braided steel hose from the input on the cylinders, to the rear of the bike.....now I'm getting a little seepage from the oil tank spout. I have a brand new oil tank cap, so it sits nice and snug, but a little oil does make its way down the side of the oil tank. Is that related to how the crankcase breather is routed?

One last question: If I remove the derby cover, will the primary fluid drain out, or does the fluid level sit below the bottom of the derby cover?

Thanks for your help!

 

If the primary bolt hole is stripped, then blue loctite won't help because it still won't make up tight enough. About the only thing you can do is tap it and use a slightly larger bolt.

If the bike is on a lift or otherwise at true vertical, primary fluid will not leak when you remove the derby cover. When you reinstall the derby cover, make up the bolts a little at a time using a crossing pattern. Make sure you use the exact sized torx wrench. Some are close but if it doesn't fit exactly, you'll strip the bolt head.

 

To fix the primary cover bolt, this is what i recommend. Remove the cover, and retap the hole that you think is stripped. Before you put the new gasket or cover back on, put some kind of liquid gasket (i use 1104 at the shop) all around the surface. Then put the gasket back on and then the primary cover. When you put the cover back on do NOT tighten the bolts too tight, and you are bolting them into aluminum and they will strip, and you'll have to start over. Doing this should casue you never to havea leak ever again. Heck, it worked on me shovelhead.
I can't see how the leekage would be related, but i think that is really odd and i would defanitly take a trip down to your mechanic to have him take a look at it, because anything is possible.
When you put primary fluid back into the primary after doing the above, you only want enough to cover the bottom of the chain ( I was always taught to put in half a quart). This wont reach the bottom of the derby cover if the bike is stright up. If you take a funnel and put it the the derby cover to put the primary fluid in you'll be alright,

 

The best way to fix the stripped bolt hole in the primary is with a helicoil. This is a steel threaded insert that will let you retain the same bolt for the primary. You have to drill out the stripped hole to fit the helicoil, then retap the hole to thread in the helicoil. The helicoil threads into the primary, and the original bolt threads into the helicoil.

You should be able to find these at any machine shop, and once you see it, the installation will be obivious, unlike my explaination.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Bill

 

Try removing the leaking bolt, clean the hole/bolt with some carb cleaner, apply some silicone to the bolt and replace it, should fix it unless it is damaged like you said, then you need a helicoil or timeset to repair it, you could try a longer bolt too. There are different length bolts in this cover, they may have been switched to the wrong position and this is why you have this proiblem. When you replace the primary cover, always torque the bolts to the proper torque and USE the torque sequence shown in the manual to prevent warpage, it's a big cover!

http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.html

http://www.timesert.com/ --- ( the better of the two)



Check your vent line to see if it is kinked or if it has tie wraps on it to secure it if one is too tight pinching it closed. Unless your motor pukes a lot of oil , why not vent it in the air cleaner? They have been vented like that forever.

You can remove the derby cover with no mess. The level is below it by a considerable margin