Rear Main Seal - Additives?

[cktire]

Hello,
I believe I have a rear main seal leaking on my 05 Rocket Standard. The oil is in the dust cover at the front of the drive shaft. I was wondering what hazards I might face if I added a rear main seal product that is designed to soften up that seal to stop the leak. The bike has 62K miles on it and I bought it new in 04.
I have used products like this on old cars with relative success but the oil was not also in the transmission.
Wise to use the additive?
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Carl

 

[barbagris]

Thoughts - Change the **** seal.

At 62K and 13 years - it deserves a bit of Tender Love and Care.

God knows what that stuff will do to the inside of an engine and clutch.

 

[warp9.9]

Torsional damper bearings failing if its up front under the rubber dust cover. Have you lost any lube out of the rear differential. Now if your talking the back end of the drive shaft you might be loosing the seal and bearings in tbe differential no fix for that except buying a used one.

 

[rocketjohn]

If it was a car engine I'd say it couldn't hurt, but you've got the clutch swimming in that same oil as you put seal conditioner in. I'd say no. If it's not an egregious leak, run it as is, and be prepared at some point to spring for an overhaul. Even if there's a way to temporarily improve the situation, leaks get bigger, not smaller.

 

[cktire]

Thoughts - Change the **** seal.

At 62K and 13 years - it deserves a bit of Tender Love and Care.

God knows what that stuff will do to the inside of an engine and clutch.

Hey Warp, no it's up front. I put a used final drive on a few months ago. I thought it was leaking when I went to grease the spline. Could have been engine oil running all the way back or final drive oil running up to the front (doesn't seem plausible). Thanks for your insight.

 

[cktire]

Torsional damper bearings failing if its up front under the rubber dust cover. Have you lost any lube out of the rear differential. Now if your talking the back end of the drive shaft you might be loosing the seal and bearings in tbe differential no fix for that except buying a used one.

Torsional damper bearings failing if its up front under the rubber dust cover. Have you lost any lube out of the rear differential. Now if your talking the back end of the drive shaft you might be loosing the seal and bearings in tbe differential no fix for that except buying a used one.[/QUOTE

Hey Warp, no it's up front. I put a used final drive on a few months ago. I thought it was leaking when I went to grease the spline. Could have been engine oil running all the way back or final drive oil running up to the front (doesn't seem plausible). Thanks for your insight.

 

[cktire]

If it was a car engine I'd say it couldn't hurt, but you've got the clutch swimming in that same oil as you put seal conditioner in. I'd say no. If it's not an egregious leak, run it as is, and be prepared at some point to spring for an overhaul. Even if there's a way to temporarily improve the situation, leaks get bigger, not smaller.

Hello Rocket John, I agree with you that leaks never get smaller. Sometimes in life I have gotten lucky with shortcuts and other times burned. But this would be a big burn if I screwed up the clutch and transmission. I know these seals get dry when sitting so I try to ride once a month in the winter to avoid just that.
Thanks,

 

[cktire]

If it was a car engine I'd say it couldn't hurt, but you've got the clutch swimming in that same oil as you put seal conditioner in. I'd say no. If it's not an egregious leak, run it as is, and be prepared at some point to spring for an overhaul. Even if there's a way to temporarily improve the situation, leaks get bigger, not smaller.

Hey Warp, no it's up front. I put a used final drive on a few months ago. I thought it was leaking when I went to grease the spline. Could have been engine oil running all the way back or final drive oil running up to the front (doesn't seem plausible). Thanks for your insight.

Sorry Rocket John, I answered the wrong tread.

 

[cktire]

Hey Warp, no it's up front. I put a used final drive on a few months ago. I thought it was leaking when I went to grease the spline. Could have been engine oil running all the way back or final drive oil running up to the front (doesn't seem plausible). Thanks for your insight.

Torsional damper bearings failing if its up front under the rubber dust cover. Have you lost any lube out of the rear differential. Now if your talking the back end of the drive shaft you might be loosing the seal and bearings in tbe differential no fix for that except buying a used one.

Thoughts - Change the **** seal.

At 62K and 13 years - it deserves a bit of Tender Love and Care.

God knows what that stuff will do to the inside of an engine and clutch.

Hello Barbagris,
Sorry again, I was hitting the wrong reply button. I know, you are right. I've spent very little on repairs to this bike so I'm overdue. I have an 08 touring model with no issues but I want to keep the 05 forever, I still like it the best. Winter is coming so I guess I'll spring for the repair. Probably just a little more than I can do myself. I've never had it to the dealer for other repairs, most things are easy.

Thank you,

 

[cktire]

Thoughts - Change the **** seal.

At 62K and 13 years - it deserves a bit of Tender Love and Care.

God knows what that stuff will do to the inside of an engine and clutch.

It's frustrating that the seal is so hard to replace. Your **** hit the nail on the head!