Another shifter shaft seal conundrum (with bonus touring pics)

[Ola]

Ok, here is my 86 GSX750ES and its problem area exposed:

The o-ring around the gear selector shaft. I've searched the forum up and down, it seems some can pop it out easily. I can't. I started work on it last July before heading for southern Europe. I had cut out all the rubber bits but the metal bit was not moving a micron. So I cut the rubber bits out of the new gasket, glued it on with gasket goo and rode 4000 miles with a mere 4.5 quarts leaking out. A sort of gradual oil change where I poured my old oil drop by drop out in nature and refilled as needed.

So the red bits are the remains of the gasket goo and the metal ring nearest to the shaft is the lip of the oil seal. The lip is tiny but the oil seal itself continues inwards as a cylinder for about half an inch.

How in the HELL do I get it out? It's almost impossible to get in there with any substantial tool and from trying to chisel on it from an angle it seems almost welded on.

I'm prepared to pull the selector shaft if needed and I have the manual. But the manual explains a complete tear down, is it possible to get away with just removing the clutch cover and clutch assembly? When I pull the shaft out, will all kinds of cogs and sprockets drop out?

And yes, the trip through Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France was wonderful in spite of the oil leak. For full story and tons of pics, check out this link:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495660

 

[Nessism]

You can pull the shaft out from the clutch side of the engine. You are going to need a tool to get the clutch hub nut loose but it's pretty easy work otherwise once you remove the clutch hub. Once you get the shaft out you are just going to have to dig that old seal out with a screwdriver or similar - no easy way to do it that I know of.

 

[Ola]

Ok, thanks. I think I'll give it a go, seems like there's no other way.

Since I don't have the official Suzuki special tools, is it any way to get by with regular tools, scraps, pieces and some imagination?

edit: it does sort of look like it can according to this: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/clutch_odds-n-ends.html

I'l search the forum some more for clutch disassembly.

 

[Redman]

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And yes, the trip through Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France was wonderful in spite of the oil leak. For full story and tons of pics, check out this link:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495660

So all those lines on the maps were oil drops across all of Europe. (joking)

I enjoyed the photos of the mountain roads.

.

 

[67fire]

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495660

Thanks for sharing the link!
It looks like a wonderful time.

I loved this: " Once I was satisfied the smell wasn't coming from my bike, it smelled lovely."

LOL!

Eric

 

[1948man]

Thanks for the taste Ola. Central Florida is somewhat flatter than the alps and seems pretty boring after viewing the pics of your journey.

 

[Baatfam]

Since I don't have the official Suzuki special tools, is it any way to get by with regular tools, scraps, pieces and some imagination?

An air impact will take the nut off without the special holding tool...

 

[Ola]

Glad you enjoyed my trip report! It was a wonderful time. This year I have my sights set on England and Scotland, in addition to more touring around Norway of course.

I went ahead and pulled the clutch. I bought an impact wrench and a 32 mm socket when I replaced the front sprocket last year (it wasn't strong enough to break it, needed a long cheater bar and Hulk anger) so that was quite handy. Hammered the flap flat, set the compressor to the max working pressure of the wrench, held down the rear brake in 1st gear and gave it a quick shot....came right out!

On the parts fiche it looks like a nightmare but it really is a simple and elegant construction.

The shifter shaft was easy to pull out and gave me plenty of room to work the seal out with some pullers. It still was pretty hard to remove so I am convinced there is no way I could have gotten it out with the shaft in unless I had some very carefully designed special tool. I've left reassembly for tomorrow, I'll peer through the manual for any measurement checks worth doing while it's apart, but it should be a cinch. Apart from needing a new clutch cover gasket...

 

[Ola]

Every silver lining has a cloud around it.

Snapped one of the clutch spring bolts off. Instead of just using a 10 mm wrench and my wrist-o-meter, I decided to torque it to spec with my full size torque wrench. Turns out it's not very accurate at low settings. Lesson learned.

Thankfully the junkyard has good hubs for less $ than a bolt extractor kit so I'm going the replacement way.

No rush to get it on the road anyway...