Hi all: Washed the bike this AM and rode it into the garage to dry it. Came back a few hours later only to find oil on top of the engine behind the rear jug. Looks like it came out of the rectangular opening in the casting where the two casing halves come together. Looks like it leaked about 10 drops of engine oil.
I started the engine again and let it warm up all the time watching for more oil, but I did not see any new oil in the area.

Do you know what is going on here? Seen it before? Thanks, Chris.

 

I have done a bit more research and here is what I have found. First, while not being common, this is a known issue and is the result of inadequately applied case sealant during assembly.

The fix which seems to be the most popular is to clean the pry hole with brake cleaner and blow it dry. Once prep'ed, flood the hole with wicking Loc-Tite (294) and let it sit over night. Remove any remaining liquid Loc-Tite from the hole.

I will be doing this tomorrow.

 

Strange find. Strange fix. Hope it works.

 

Strange indeed. I suspect this is more a seepage than a leak. When I washed the bike the oil in the hole floated out. I have some paper towel strips in the hole now but no more oil. Will continue to monitor until I can apply the fix.

 

I have the exact same problem...2010fatboy please let me know how your fix went. Is the loctite holding with the engine heat or is there something better out there to use??
I'm under warranty still but dont plan on letting dealer pull motor and split cases until it's a last resort

 

The fix I described worked perfectly. I flooded the hole, let it sit for a few hours, then removed the remainder. I then heated the block up with a hair dryer and let it sit overnight. I then rode for a day and got it good and hot. Once it cooled down I repeated just for good measure.

I did go one step future. Once I was done with the Loctite, I cleaned the hole again and then taped it off. I then filled it with the high temp black permatext gasket sealer. I made darn sure it was really packed in and that no bubbles were present. Let that set up overnight too.

Have not seen any oil since. Be careful cleaning. I ended up having to touch up the wrinkle black engine paint due to the brake cleaner.

I agree with you in not wanting to have the case split apart. Way too many things to go wrong with that. I would live with the oil seepage before doing that.

 

Thanks a ton for the quick reponse.
The brake cleaner actually removed some of the black wrinkle paint? wow- thanks for the heads up on that too. I'm now wondering if a more mild cleaner would suffice? If I do use the brake cleaner, I will just apply some to a Q tip instead of spraying it to avoid damaging the paint from the overspray.

I bought the green penetrating loctite today as well as high temp permatex RTV (ironic that I had the same RTV idea as you before even reading your reply!)
Thanks again CM!!
PM me for more details if you like and we can take this off the boards

 

You're welcome. Hope it works out as well for you. Just don't be in a hurry.

Brake cleaner will is very aggressive, but it is made that way on purpose. If you do loss some paint, HD sells a small bottle of touch-up paint. Once dry you can't tell the difference.

 

Starting fluid cleans just as well but doesnt eat the paint but I have a silver engine. I had the same leak but the 249 didnt fix it for me. Had to use 2 part epoxy putty.

 

same issue on my 2012 deluxe. dealer put case cement in the pry hole. only couple hundred miles since then but no issues.