| Author | Message | ||
     Marcodesade |
OK, so I have had the usual clutch weep since way back, but it seemed pretty benign. There was never any sign of fluid anywhere other than the clutch cover, and never more than a snail-track there. Then it failed. They fixed it (piston, sleeve, and o-rings), but within 2 days it was leaking worse than before. They fixed it(piston, sleeve, and o-rings). Now, 3 days later, it is leaking worse than ever. There is fluid on the muffler and quite a bit all over the clutch cover. What do I do? Keep taking it back in every week? Run it till it fails miles from home (again)? I am hoping they will upgrade the cover this time, but I am hearing mixed reviews about the effectiveness of this fix. I am especially interested in advice from "official" Buell sources but, of course, any help at all is appreciated. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Yes, this would be a GREAT time for an ANONY to pop up. My dribble is no worse, but has been constant for nearly the life of the bike. Still not enough volume to leave the engine case tho. Z | ||
| Sruzhyo |
Guidance would be much appreciated. I also have had it worked on three times. No Rev B cover though. Still leaking, enough to trail down to the bottom and drip onto exhaust. What's the story? | ||
| Kttemplar |
I have had mine fixed several times as well and it is now weeping again. I have had everything replaced including upgrading to the Rev B '09 cover. I hope a fix is in the works soon. Mike | ||
| Chevycummins |
I'm still waiting for the updated piston and seal kit. Don't think its been released yet. | ||
| Junkyrddog780 |
How many miles before your clutch started weeping? | ||
| Zac4mac |
Under 1k, I think. Long time ago. I'm at 17.6k now. I put a RevB cover on after a minor slide, still weeps. Z | ||
| Kttemplar |
Mine started leaking between 2,000 and 3,000 miles and about five to six fixes later, it just started leaking again. They have changed the O-rings several times as well as replacing the pistons. The last fix, which I thought would do the trick, involved changing all of the pistons, sleeves, and O-rings. I also have the updated Rev B '09 cover. I have about 10,000 miles on her now. Mike | ||
| Chevycummins |
1,200 miles and mine was removing the paint from the cover. At 3,300 miles it got its first new seals, 3,305 was leaking again. The dealer looked at it 2 more times and could not get it to leak. Now I just pop the cap off the end and wipe out the fluid every week. | ||
| Palmer |
mine started weeping a little at 1000 miles. Now fitted, and went for a 80miles ride, still not weeping. I even thought to fill the cap with some absorbent paper. Definitly not solving the problem, but i'll be happy in not seeing my clutch pissing oil  | ||
| Zac4mac |
Good ideas, Mike and Palmer. The RevB cover DOES take longer to start leaking outside as it has a much bigger lip. Loretta's getting a bath in a little bit, nice outside. One more thing to do at clean-up. Z (Message edited by zac4mac on April 28, 2009) | ||
| Crowley |
I've had a pair of boots wrecked by leaking fluid. Buell UK were good enough to offer to replace them (but I already had) I've had several sets of seals fitted and, latterly, a Rev B cover. They all leak. I now ride with a plastic bag over my boot which causes a great deal of hilarity to my riding partners. However, I'm getting fed up with the hassle and tend to ride one of my other Buells instead. If a cure isn't forthcoming in the near future, regretably, my 1125 will be up for sale. A great shame because that motor has so much potential. | ||
| Marcodesade |
Mine STARTED weeping at maybe 1000 miles, and has never stopped, through 1 complete failure and what will soon be the third trip to the shop in 4 weeks (now at about 5000 miles). So how often are you guys checking your fluid levels? I have to admit that, since I never saw more than a snail trail until the thing actually failed, I wasn't checking the fluid level prior to that. Needless to say I won't make that mistake again. | ||
| Sruzhyo |
<sigh> This is one of those things that shouldn't be a recurring issue like it is. I'm getting frustrated with my 1125...I love riding the thing, I do. But as soon as I start to think about the logistics (re-sale value?) it makes me sad. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I plan to keep the 25r for a LONG time, so resale isn't a huge concern at this point. I am thinking about turning it into a dedicated track bike when the next RR version comes out. | ||
| Helicon |
If an anony isn't willing to chime in, it would be nice if Court would be willing to shed some light on the issue ..... like are we any where near to a fix? I just got the recall paperwork for the brake line, it would be nice to get the clutch cover leak fixed at the same time. | ||
| Marcodesade |
Yes, some official word would be nice. So is anyone actually checking/replacing the DOT4? | ||
| Puzzled |
Are there any aftermarket covers available yet? Something from WoodCraft with sliders built in? | ||
| Bcrawf68 |
Not knowing much about the internal construction of the component, I'm guessing that there is a piston in a sleeve. On this piston, there are 1 or 2 o-rings that seal the fluid out and allow the piston to move. The problem is that o-rings are not designed for this purpose. What is needed is a high quality (viton) x-ring or 2. There was a similar problem with my car several years ago and this is how I solved it. Please feel free to throw me a bone. Not to sound like a cry-baby, but, I didn't even get a thank you last year for my suggestion to the buell factory tech for using dynamat to insulate the frame... | ||
| Cmonkey |
+1 Good info on the x-rings... I was thinking along the same lines of using something other than an o-ring. I was thinking about something like a squared off rubber seal. The kind that are in the brake pistons of my car.... The x-ring would probably work way better. (Message edited by cmonkey on April 29, 2009) | ||
| Id073897 |
The problem is that o-rings are not designed for this purpose. That's the reason, these seals usually have a rectangular cross section, as found at caliper pistons typically. The groove itself sometimes has a slightly trapezoidal form, to make the gasket seal and slide with a square edge - very similar to an x-ring. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Checked my out tonight. Seems to be getting worse. Once the seal is compromised, seems to get bad pretty quickly. I hope BMC is hearing this.... | ||
| Bcrawf68 |
The problem in my car was that the o-ring was made out of buna-n instead of viton. The heat and pressure work hardened and wore out the o-ring after a while. I decided to fix it myself instead of crying to Ford about it. That was still my favorite car though. | ||
| Bcrawf68 |
Here's a discussion on the x-ring: http://catalog.precisionassoc.com/product/precisio n-associates-inc-x-ring/x-rings? | ||
| Kttemplar |
Since my Buell tech has had a chance to check out the innards of my bike several (5 or 6) times, not including the recall to put the jet in, he noticed that the sleeve is made of some soft metal. He thought it was aluminum. One of the problems that he has noticed is that the sleeve wears out significantly, which is the reason that the seals keep failing. We talked about maybe getting a SS or harder metal sleeve manufactured. It is possible that the seals are not the problem, but the material of the sleeve and its inability to maintain shape and integrity. What do you guys think? Mike | ||
| Palmer |
This WE I'll be in Sardinia for a long ride, and I don't want some DOT4 on my vintage boots. So I'll put a pair of these in the cap:  I think these fit perfectly in it. Hope demak'up don't Burn.  | ||
| Chadhargis |
Has anyone tried using some RTV? I've sealed up many of transmission pans and rear differentials on cars and trucks with it that never leaked a drop. | ||
| Pariah |
Since my Buell tech has had a chance to check out the innards of my bike several (5 or 6) times, not including the recall to put the jet in, he noticed that the sleeve is made of some soft metal. He thought it was aluminum. One of the problems that he has noticed is that the sleeve wears out significantly, which is the reason that the seals keep failing. We talked about maybe getting a SS or harder metal sleeve manufactured. It is possible that the seals are not the problem, but the material of the sleeve and its inability to maintain shape and integrity. What do you guys think? I think your tech may be onto something... I have noticed that the fit of the sleeve into the clutch clover is tricky (I've mentioned this a few times on BWB). There is an alignment between the sleeve and clutch cover and there are varying degrees of fit. It could be that whoever is assembling y'all's clutch covers isn't being careful enough with this part of the assembly... I had to practice to get mine to fit perfectly (using an old sleeve and my original clutch cover, now replaced with the Rev. B cover)... I have not had any leaking/weeping. | ||
| Geforce |
Mine has been in the shop for a couple of weeks waiting on parts for the weepage. Luckily I asked for something to ride and they hooked me up but I still miss my bike. I hope it's not a reoccuring thing. | ||
| Kttemplar |
I talked to Buell customer support today and they told me that the only fix right now is to do exactly the same thing, which we have been doing, which is to replace the parts (sleeves, O-rings, pistons etc.). They could not give me an exact date when the fix would be out, but they were able to indicate that I should expect one soon, without specifically saying that one would be out soon. It seems, also, that I may be onto something with the idea that the sleeves are wearing too quickly for whatever reason (design, material, thickness etc.) as opposed to the seals being the major problem. Anyway, just thought I would pass on the good/neutral news. Mike |
