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Final Drive seal

8K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  rbentnail 
#1 ·
Hey all! My name is Rusty. I bought a 05 FJR a few months ago and took my first multi day trip a couple of weeks back. Had a blast, but on my way home after a day of riding in 105 deg. heat, I noticed gear lube making a mess of the left side of my rear wheel. I wiped it down, checked my fluid level and rode on. When I got home oil had again coated that same area and it seemed clear that it was coming from bottom of the Final Drive or Ring Gear housing. When I removed the rear wheel, much fluid was dripping from both sides of the now exposed area with no seepage from the weep hole on the shaft housing. I did my best to research this and found much about seal leaks in the shaft drive area, but not regarding this area. I went to the parts explosion, looked it over and ordered the 3.5" seal #93102-70167, the O-Ring #93211-54698 and the Yamaha Exclusive Gear Lube. Parts arrived yesterday, so I removed the drive assy from the bike and pulled the old seal. I also removed the two bolts and 6 nuts that secure bearing housing and housing cover to access the the above mentioned O-Ring, but the bearing housing does not simply lift off. Should I be suspicious of that O-Ring and if so is there a trick to accessing it? I've downloaded the Yamaha Service Manual but lhave not found my answer, so I'd really appreciate some guidance. I suspect someone here will be able to point me to a write up that address' all of this. I LOVE this bike and can't wait to get it back on the road!
Thanks! Rusty
 
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#3 ·
Thanks Kieffer! The bike has 11,000 miles on it which is not much but I suspect it may have sat for long periods of time, which ain't good on seals....
 
#4 ·
Rusty, I've never had one apart, however I'd be amazed if that o-ring would go bad...... that said, there was some banter on FJRForum about changing gear ratios (to get lower rpms) and using a rear diff gear set from a Venture to reduce final drive ratio.... that guy will have had it apart..... suggest a search over there and a PM to him might be in order.

Edit added - Here's the thread..... he got it from a local shop. http://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/157786-final-drive-swap-6th-gear-solution/

Another edit - Similar issue to yours? If you cleaned it all up, go ride, see if it still leaks? http://www.fjrforum.com/forum//inde...ar-drive/?hl=+final++drive++ratio#entry868562

Dumb question - I'm assuming not... Are you sure you didn't overfill (which would leak out the vent cap)... this only happens if you turn the wheel while filling. Will expel excess when it gets ridden/up to temperature. Tends to cover the housing with a mist... might drip off.
 
#6 ·
You jarred a brain cell on the rear drive mention.

Rusty2; I have one from http://www.rmsportmax.com and you can email or call John and I'm sure he could explain it. Very nice fellow.

I haven't put my RMS rear drive on my 2013 yet but when it was on the 2005 it was a great addition, should have been the factory gear.

I'll be mounting a new rear tire soon and will pop it on the KYCherry.
 
#9 ·
Rusty, I was just trying to eliminate overfill as a cause (doesn't seem to be), and a lot of dripping would indicate a leak.... more likely to be a seal than the o-ring but that's just an opinion....... best of luck with the fix.
 
#10 ·
Hey, I much appreciate every ones thoughts on this. I may just forgo the O-Ring, pop the new seal in and give it a go. Guess I'm being stubborn. lol.. Thanks again!
 
#11 ·
After submitting a long reply which promptly disappeared, I will try a 2nd time..... There is an inner seal on the backside of the right side rear drive bearing. If you have oil inside the housing where the bearing spacer is (that the axle shaft goes through) then this is the culprit seal. To change it requires removal of ring gear AND right side bearing . (unless you have proper tools this bearing is very difficult to remove without damage).The seal is under this bearing. To be safe order a bearing (needle and race) and don't worry about damage free removal.
Once the drive is off bike on bench less than an hour should have it completely reassembled with new inner seal. (added as a time reference)
 
#12 ·
It's a WIN! Thanks Joe for the extra effort with your second attempt, but I finally got the two pieces separated which exposes that big O-Ring I was trying to get to. To be more clear, I removed the bearing housing, bearing and ring gear assy as one unit. As for removing the seal, I was able to remove it with out removing the bearing, so your comment about this is confusing unless you are referring to the "outer seal" found at the outer most left side of this assy. That outer seal would likely cause seepage around the outside of the left side of this assy. My leak is on the wheel side. Anyway thank you! I think now all I have to do is install the new seal, the new o-ring and reassemble. Please let me know if I misunderstood your post and thanks again.
 
#13 ·
Sorry for the confusion, even confused myself:grin2:. I got it turned around in my description.


I am referring to seal pt # 93101-30084-00 and #5 on the rear drive parts fiche.


It's not the big seal, or the big oring, but the "small" seal that is actually (doh) on the most inner part of drive on the left side (as it sits on the bike.
If you have oil on the axle spacer inside where it resides, then the culprit seal is this one. Hope that is more clear than mud;)
 
#14 ·
Sorry for the confusion, even confused myself:grin2:. I got it turned around in my description.

I am referring to seal pt # 93101-30084-00 and #5 on the rear drive parts fiche.

It's not the big seal, or the big oring, but the "small" seal that is actually (doh) on the most inner part of drive on the left side (as it sits on the bike.
If you have oil on the axle spacer inside where it resides, then the culprit seal is this one. Hope that is more clear than mud;)
Thanks everyone. The bike is back on the road, o ring and all. Time will tell, but hopefully we got it whipped : )
 
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#16 ·
Well, that's what you're supposed to do. What some people do is fill to the filler hole then rotate the rear wheel and add a few more ounces of gear oil. Poof! Overfilled & leaking.
 
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#17 ·
Yep, then you wonder what that splooge is fogged all over the pumpkin when you get it up to operating temperature. Hopefully not enough to get on the rear tire. It comes out the top vent.....
 
#19 ·
Instructions? Men?.............really :D? But yeah, R'ingTFM solves so many problems before they ever occur.
 
#20 ·
What manual ? 😜 I think he works down the street, must be a handyman cause the wife tells me when I get stumped to go get the Effing Manual, who names their kid Effing ?
 
#23 · (Edited)
Congrats on a job well done! :)

I also find it hard to imagine a failure in that area, but I suppose there's bound to one here or there.
My '99 Virago 1100 went up to 46,000 miles and saw no signs of trouble in the rear end.
I beat it like a redheaded step child, but I changed the oil every 10K and lubed the splines every tire change.
That's basically the exact same rear end design for all Yamaha's for decades.

And finally......
For the benefit of others still reading,
What didn't used to be written in the manuals was,
when you are bolting everything back together,
you install the 4 bolts holding the rear drive to the swingarm barely finger tight,
then you tighten the axle down first to avoid alignment issues.
The last thing you do is torque up the 4 bolts to the swing arm.
Class dismissed! LOL
 
#25 ·
And finally......
For the benefit of others still reading,
What didn't used to be written in the manuals was,
when you are bolting everything back together,
you install the 4 bolts holding the rear drive to the swingarm barely finger tight,
then you tighten the axle down first to avoid alignment issues.
The last thing you do is torque up the 4 bolts to the swing arm.
Class dismissed! LOL
I've seen this before, and remain unconvinced of the necessity.

The UJ takes care of drive-shaft alignment, and I've never had issues with the rear axle sliding right in.

It is possible that the rear axle alignment might be improved by tightening the axle first. Set against that is the difficulty of getting a torque wrench on the acorn nuts, with the rear tire in the way.

So I'm neither for nor against ... but I do wonder if this is simply "forum gossip".
 
#24 ·
Rusty2 you are welcome. Sometimes oil leaks can be sneaky and the real source is not always apparent.
 
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#26 ·
If it is, it's 30 yr old gossip. LOL
It made sense to me, so when I lubed the splines on the old bike, that's what I did.
In general, when I have a lot of assembly to complete on any machinery, furniture, tooling or whatever,
I have a habit of snugging everything up a little bit at a time and going around a few times.
 
#27 · (Edited)
My guess is that when you put 80 ft lbs on the axle bolt, it takes care of any minor mis-alignment of the pumpkin. Those acorn bolts are really not very tight. They don't have to be, with the rear axle holding the unit tight.

Also, I'm thinking that if alignment was super critical in that area, Yamaha would have keyed the pumpkin to the driveshaft tube ...
 
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