final drive 1980 gsl 1000 leaking

[bigdee]

recently changed fluid in my rear final drive, it says use 90w hypoid , I put some 75-90 mobile 1 gear lube , just noticed some leaking from bottom of rear hub , I looked at a diagram and see there is a seal inside in back of splines...........is this a big job? do you think I need to try another rear drive lube ? any input will be helpful

[Nessism]

Are you sure you didn't over fill it? The breather holes in back will allow excessive oil out if you did.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There is a crush washer on the drain plug that should be replaced once in a while too.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[bigdee]

I dont believe i overfilled it, I had the bike on center stand and just filled it to threaded portion of fill hole, it did not have any leakage for a month or so, last ride out it was very hot outside over 95 plus degrees , was thinking a plugged vent but now thinking a 30 year old seal , just changed the crank seal recently.........I ride the heck out of this bike I just recently aquired , have to say it is one of the best cycles i have ever owned , if the seal is bad is it as easy to change as the crank shaft seal ?

[bigdee]

thank you for all your input

[bwringer]

That big seal is not too hard to change, but it's also very rare that one goes bad.

The gear oil gets pretty hot in these, and expands by a good bit. Go for a ride, then remove the fill plug and see how much comes out. There may simply be a bit too much gear oil in there that's coming out via the venting system.

You could also have some sort of clog in the venting, too. If this is the case, it would force oil out the seals.

[bigdee]

I did open the fill plug with it on the side stand and no overflow came out, the lube was still right up there , maybe it was suppose to be on side stand when filling ? no matter i will ride her and keep an eye on it, geeze i should be use to an oil dripping bike, had a 64 panhead harley that always marked its spot, fact is it bugs the crap outta me when something starts dripping whatever , maybe im still worked up over the gulf oil spill and its playing with my mind when i see some puddles of oil under my bike on the garage floor , last resort is installing the seal , glad to hear that its an easy fix.........but rare to see that seal go bad

[JEEPRUSTY]

I did open the fill plug with it on the side stand and no overflow came out, the lube was still right up there , maybe it was suppose to be on side stand when filling ? no matter i will ride her and keep an eye on it, geeze i should be use to an oil dripping bike, had a 64 panhead harley that always marked its spot, fact is it bugs the crap outta me when something starts dripping whatever , maybe im still worked up over the gulf oil spill and its playing with my mind when i see some puddles of oil under my bike on the garage floor , last resort is installing the seal , glad to hear that its an easy fix.........but rare to see that seal go bad

Nice that some people are concerned about the oil spill.
This is a tangent and I do not mean to hijack your thread but this article has an interesting warning to us do DIY oil changers

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9019321&contentId=7035258

I wonder how much is spilled overall by leaky machinery.

[bigdee]

bravo..............we need to see that , I knew from years past just how bad it could be on our enviroment , I guess if you add up all the dripping oil it really could just boggle the mind..........thanks for that insightful info we all need to be responsible

[bwringer]

I did open the fill plug with it on the side stand and no overflow came out, the lube was still right up there , maybe it was suppose to be on side stand when filling ? no matter i will ride her and keep an eye on it, geeze i should be use to an oil dripping bike, had a 64 panhead harley that always marked its spot, fact is it bugs the crap outta me when something starts dripping whatever , maybe im still worked up over the gulf oil spill and its playing with my mind when i see some puddles of oil under my bike on the garage floor , last resort is installing the seal , glad to hear that its an easy fix.........but rare to see that seal go bad

Actually, it's supposed to be on the center stand when you're setting the oil level.

I'm not sure how much difference this would make (my WAG is that it would indeed end up overfilled if you check on the sidestand instead of the centerstand, but I could be wrong), but I do know these things are pretty touchy about being overfilled a bit.