free website stats program Clutch Cable Leak/O-Ring/Breather Tube ??? | Harley Davidson Forums

Clutch Cable Leak/O-Ring/Breather Tube ???

Dr. Dolittle

Dr. Dolittle

Experienced Member
Contributor
Retired Moderators
A while back, I was having the dealer take care of something I didn't want to tackle myself. As part of their "courtesy check," they pointed out that my clutch cable was leaking slightly where it enters the cover on the right side of the bike. Slightly being the key word here. I made a mental note to keep an eye on it and for some reason I started thinking about it more the other day.

I've read all the Self Help Tips and it sounds like the first thing to do is simply to replace the O-ring. Seems like something I can do easy enough.

I also did a forum search and came up with this interesting post from PetieJ:

Not saying that this is your problem, but I thought I might mention this as it has to do with the clutch cable leaking oil.
Make sure the breather tube for the tranny is not plugged. If the tube becomes plugged, pressure will build up in the tranny when it gets hot and it will force oil up the clutch cable. I have seen this happen several times on older bikes.

However, this was in a thread about a 2000 Sportster. Read through my manual and examined all the pictures I could find and couldn't find a single mention of a breather tube on my 2008 Street Glide.

Is there a breather tube somewhere in the clutch/tranny of my TC96 6 speed? If so, where is it? Anything else to consider besides starting off with replacing the O-ring? Anything else I should consider doing or checking while I've got the cover off to replace the O-ring?

Thanks!
 
Don't know if they changed it but on the 05FLTRI the breather hose is just behind the oil filler spout and runs forward to the cam chest.
 
Breeze3at said:
The vent tube on my '07 FLHTC is on the chrome trans. top cover, right below the exhaust "Y". It's short and touches the starter. #114 in the attached.

2008 Harley-Davidson Touring Street Glide FLHX Parts, 2008 Harley-Davidson Touring Street Glide FLHX OEM Parts - BikeBandit.com
Click to expand...

Yep, Breeze has you covered on this. But it is just as stupid a design as the J tube was on my model. If the tranny blows any lube mist out, it makes a mess all over the top of the tranny. I suggest getting a couple of feet of tubing and running it back to the right side and out the bottom of the bike so the mess goes on the road.

I chased a "leak" on my Primary for a couple of months (actually replacing the Primary seals) until I figured out it was just lube mist out of the J tube blowing on the back of the Primary!! Two feet of tubing fixed that!!

But back to Dr. D's issue. I assume you have tried snugging up the sheath to the side cover? If it is still leaking, have you inspected the sheath itself to make sure the cable has not worn through. That happened to my UC, and I looked for a leak there too (of course doing all the hard stuff first!!). Turned out the cable had warn through a tiny slot in the sheath from the inside that seaped lube on the cloth mesh cover. Messy. And hard to find with that cover hiding the problem.

TQ
 
Last edited:
Thanks, TQ. I read about your issues in the threads that came up on my forum search so I will look closely for that. I haven't done anything to it yet but now I'm armed with lots of info from you knowledgeable members!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top