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Post by zummerp on Apr 2, 2018 18:32:44 GMT -5
Hey guys - I’ve been having a small gear oil leak that seems to be worse soon after I change the gear oil. I follow the scientific method of “fill it until it starts coming out, then seal”. I thought it was coming from the drain bolt, but it seems like it might be coming from directly to the right of the drain bolt. It isn’t much oil, but is enough to really annoy me! Is it possible that it is leaking from overfilling? I replaced the crush washers and properly torqued both the drain and fill bolts. Anything else I should check?
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Post by acvw74 on Apr 2, 2018 19:12:19 GMT -5
If you can...a pic is worth a thousand words.
What kind of oil did you use? Gear oil has a lot of viscosity...and a lot can be held back just by filling. Might try getting it back on level ground and opening up the fill plug.
Brake cleaner is a great thing to "wash" the area down to see where the leak is coming from or if it is just some residual left over.
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Post by zummerp on Apr 2, 2018 19:15:04 GMT -5
If you can...a pic is worth a thousand words. What kind of oil did you use? Gear oil has a lot of viscosity...and a lot can be held back just by filling. Might try getting it back on level ground and opening up the fill plug. Brake cleaner is a great thing to "wash" the area down to see where the leak is coming from or if it is just some residual left over. I used 75W90. I cleaned it all up and I'll take a pic if I get another little puddle! |
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Post by acvw74 on Apr 2, 2018 20:19:38 GMT -5
If you get as crazy about it as I sometimes do...you can get a dye that will fluoresce under UV light. Clean it all up after adding and ride it just a little ( I did this once and ran it too far...everything was glowing)...then you can start to see where it is coming from.
Good Luck!
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Post by zummerp on Apr 2, 2018 20:23:21 GMT -5
One thought - I THINK this started after I swapped the drain plug for a Prima magnetic plug. The original drain plug was flat on the bottom (the part that comes in contact with the washer) and the Prima has ridges. Could that be impacting anything?
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Post by GrumpyUnk on Apr 3, 2018 13:24:29 GMT -5
Yes. The flat on the drain presses against one side of a flat washer. The washer in turn presses against the case area surrounding the drain plug hole. The washer can deform, to some degree, to conform to irregularities in the surface of the case AND the bolt. A serrated bolt may be too much deformity for the washer to accommodate, and you get gear lube seeping down the bolt threads, and then out past the serrations on the under side of the bolt head.
I don't see the value in magnetic plugs in a certain sense. If you are getting Fe flakes, something is definitely going wrong. The particles will have circulated a bit already when you find the 'remains' on the magnet, but by then it may already be too late. The particles can/will cause bearing failure as the particles must fit between the balls and the inner and outer race, and there may not be enough room for all three, no four.
If you must use a serrated bolt head, then maybe a plastic/nylon washer would work better mashing together with the serrations. A copper washer might do better than the factory provided one.
There is also a vent on the bottom of the gear case, just a bit 'forward' of the drain, as I remember. It leads to a tortuous maze/labyrinth that goes up the front of the case and leads to the case 'gear chamber'. Air can get in and out as the temperature changes without developing any pressure differential, but liquids in or out would have to go up to go down, and vice versa. Older models had a tube plugged in that lead to the air cleaner box. Newer models have a plastic 'elbow' that may be moved to gain airflow or gain suction as the scoot goes along. The vent can be rotated forward, down, or rearward. Wonder which way the designers desired... Some even older just vent directly, with no tube or diverter at all. Anyway, nothing should be coming out of that vent of any liquid sort.
tom
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Post by zummerp on Apr 4, 2018 16:41:41 GMT -5
 This is the gear oil drain plug that comes with the Prima kit. It DID turn out to be the culprit. I put the original back on and the leak stopped. I know tons of people install these, so what did I do wrong?  |
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Post by GrumpyUnk on Apr 4, 2018 21:36:26 GMT -5
Maybe you got the wrong washer, if a washer was included with the magnetic drain. Those serrations will not seal, and the threads will not either. Lube can travel between the threads of the case and the threads of the plug. If it was NPT - pipe thread - it would tighten the gap as the plug was threaded in place. Teflon sort of fills the gaps between the pipe threads, and acts as a slight lubricant to allow tightening with less torque required.
tom
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Post by zummerp on Apr 5, 2018 6:48:53 GMT -5
Maybe you got the wrong washer, if a washer was included with the magnetic drain. Those serrations will not seal, and the threads will not either. Lube can travel between the threads of the case and the threads of the plug. If it was NPT - pipe thread - it would tighten the gap as the plug was threaded in place. Teflon sort of fills the gaps between the pipe threads, and acts as a slight lubricant to allow tightening with less torque required. tom I used the crush washer that was on the original bolt. When I installed the original, I used the same washer and it worked fine. So weird! 90GTVert - I know you have used several Prima plugs... Do you have issues with the gear oil leaking? |
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Post by 90GTVert on Apr 5, 2018 7:39:56 GMT -5
Mine are fine using stock washers with them. I get oil leaks everywhere but there. lol Mine was an aluminum washer. Maybe try something else like copper.
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Post by FrankenMech on Apr 5, 2018 23:34:49 GMT -5
Bolt heads with serrations like that are meant to lock like a lockwasher. They are not at all good for sealing applications even with washers. The serrations also tear up the 'sealing' bearing surface in normal applications also. Kind of a one or two time use fastener. Totally bogus part for sealing. I would send that part right back to the manufacturer with a note about sticking it where the Sun don't shine.
Personally I like a nice O-ring seal setup.
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Post by jbjhillbilly on Apr 6, 2018 2:07:42 GMT -5
I follow the scientific method of “fill it until it starts coming out, then seal”.... Is it possible that it is leaking from overfilling? Yes it is entirely possible. My CH150 only uses 150ml when I change the final drive oil. |
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Post by zummerp on Apr 7, 2018 8:50:03 GMT -5
Well I'm just glad it is fixed now and after googling some more, there are lots of people complaining about small gear oil leaks with the Prima bolt. I'm going to just add my own magnet to the existing and call it a day!
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Post by FrankenMech on Apr 7, 2018 14:07:59 GMT -5
For gear boxes one can always use the fill it full and whatever comes out the vent is excess method.
I usually make my own magnetic drain plugs with a drill and magnet.
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