ive got oil puddle

[pmelah]

ive got the dredded oil puddle looks like its coming from around the clutch slave cylinder im thinking it may be the slave cylinder is it hard to replace

[Condor]

ive got the dredded oil puddle looks like its coming from around the clutch slave cylinder im thinking it may be the slave cylinder is it hard to replace

 

Yes and no. If you know what you're doing it's a piece of cake, but if you've never done it before it can be daunting. Don't ask me how I know that.... There are several places beside the clutch slave that could be causing the dreaded puddle. To get to the slave cavity you'll need to remove the middle gear cover, and quite possibily need a new gasket, and if you're lucky you might be able to spot the cause. To light things up behind the cover a mirror will make light of things. Just bounce the suns rays in there....

[Mike G in SC]

I would suggest a 2 Gen (VENTURE) owner snuck in on you with a little 10W30.

I've been known to do that to my Harley "friends".

 

Mike G.

[mbrood]

The clutch slave is fairly buried in the cavity behind the middle gear cover and will need an extended allen wrench to get to the two mount bolts. It means a new middle gear cover gasket and a seal replacement kit for the slave. Many slaves clean up fine but after so many years, quite a few have found scored pistons and a whole slave replacement isn't that much more money.

 

Smell the drip... oil and brake fluid are totally different. And check that you don't have the somewhat traditional oil draining out of the airbox and down the #1 carb... an overfull crankcase pumps oil froth into the airbox making a mess. Oil also has a nasty habit of wicking out the stator wire fabric cover from the left engine side cover

[Trader]

Don't be put off by those who say it is a big deal. It's not!

 

I am not much of a wrench as you probably know if you see all the dumb questions I ask....but I replaced my slave cyl. with a new one, without any issues in a surprisingly short time.

 

Hardest part was finagling it in and out....have to manoeuver it just so!

[frankd]

If you pull the rubber cover for the slave cylinder bleeder and also look up from the bottom, you can get a pretty good idea where it's coming from. To look up from the bottom, it helps to tilt the bike to the right, and I've used a floor jack to do this. Before you pull the middle gear cover, make sure you don't just have a valve cover gasket leak. In addition to the slave cylinder, it could be the neutral light switch, the slave cylinder or the stator or ignition pickup coil wiring leaking at the grommets.

 

Frank D.

[Condor]

Hardest part was finagling it in and out....have to manoeuver it just so!

 

That's the PITA part. Some get lucky...some get very frustrated....some actually know how to do it....

[Peder_y2k]

The clutch slave cylinder is held in by two allen head bolts. Use a hand held impact (hammer type) tool with a tight fitting hex fitting and smack it hard the first time. These allen head bolts can be frozen in place and a poor fit allen tool will round out the bolt head allen socket and then you're screwed. The impact driver with tight fit allen tool can overcome the friction that seizes the bolt. No sloppy fit or the problems just multiply. Spend the money for the right fit tools

 

Another possible leak source is the gear selection sending unit. The O-ring can shrink and start leaking motor oil past it. The sensor is held in with two flat head philips screws. Don't hard tighten the screws or the plastic housing of the sensor will crack.

 

One can use brake fluid cleaner spray to blast the whole area clean, and then watch where the fluid starts to appear.

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

'83, 88 Venture

[Dragonslayer]

ive got the dredded oil puddle looks like its coming from around the clutch slave cylinder im thinking it may be the slave cylinder is it hard to replace

Nope, not the slave cylinder it's usually the seal around the stator cover most likely from around the rubber plugs the stator and pick-up coil wire pass thru. The leak shows up at the spot where the slave cylinder is at. The fix dosn't require you disturbing the slave cylinder. With mine I coated the seal edge of the rubber plugs with black atv and reassembled and the leak stopped. You will need a new stator cover and middle gear cover gasket to do this repair.

[Dragonslayer]

That's the PITA part. Some get lucky...some get very frustrated....some actually know how to do it....

Aint that the truth:backinmyday:

[Dragonslayer]

If you pull the rubber cover for the slave cylinder bleeder and also look up from the bottom, you can get a pretty good idea where it's coming from. To look up from the bottom, it helps to tilt the bike to the right, and I've used a floor jack to do this. Before you pull the middle gear cover, make sure you don't just have a valve cover gasket leak. In addition to the slave cylinder, it could be the neutral light switch, the slave cylinder or the stator or ignition pickup coil wiring leaking at the grommets.

 

Frank D.

This one of the times when my right side lean stand comes in handy. I can do this operation without draining the oil by just putting the bike on the right stand. All the oil goes to the other side of the engine. Edited September 19, 2012 by Dragonslayer

[frankd]

Something else I've done to tilt the bike to the right is to put it on the center stand, and then put something about 1" thick under the left center stand leg. I just rock the bike to the right and slip the shim under the center stand leg with my foot. This is also enough to get the oil to the right so you can pull the left front engine cover (stator replacement) and leave the oil in the engine. Although I think you may need it tilted further to the right to look up the bottom of the middle gear cover, and that's why I suggested a floor jack.

 

Frank D.

[Dragonslayer]

Something else I've done to tilt the bike to the right is to put it on the center stand, and then put something about 1" thick under the left center stand leg. I just rock the bike to the right and slip the shim under the center stand leg with my foot. This is also enough to get the oil to the right so you can pull the left front engine cover (stator replacement) and leave the oil in the engine. Although I think you may need it tilted further to the right to look up the bottom of the middle gear cover, and that's why I suggested a floor jack.

 

Frank D.

If at all possible I would suggest adding the right hand lean stand it comes in very handy on many parking occassions as well. I always like to lean my bike to the right when backed in with a row of other bikes leaning to the left, just for kicks. You would be surprised how much attention that gets.

[Yamamike]

This one of the times when my right side lean stand comes in handy. I can do this operation without draining the oil by just putting the bike on the right stand. All the oil goes to the other side of the engine.

 

Ummmm...huh??? You have a side stand on the right side of yer bike? Is it homemade or aftermarket?

[pmelah]

well i hope its because i was stupid and overfilled the oil no oil im the site glass so i filled to full

[Dragonslayer]

Ummmm...huh??? You have a side stand on the right side of yer bike? Is it homemade or aftermarket?

It was installed on the bike by the previouse owner. What he had done was to fabricate a mounting plate and welded it to the removable section on the bottom of the right side frame. The stand and spring are stock left sided parts so had to be bolted on in reverse of the way it is on the left. It works fine but does not have a lean stand safety switch associated with it. There may be a way to do that but, I never bothered to do so.

[Yamamike]

well i hope its because i was stupid and overfilled the oil no oil im the site glass so i filled to full

 

There's yer problem right there!! IMHO

[cabreco]

ive got the dredded oil puddle looks like its coming from around the clutch slave cylinder im thinking it may be the slave cylinder is it hard to replace

 

If it is here's a write up. Complete with pictures!

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66302

 

As a Venture Newbie when I did mine I can honestly say: Was it hard...No, was it ANNOYING? Yes!

 

But all in all it wasn't bad.

The hard part is actually getting the old slave out. (it's a twist & drop thing)

 

Good luck!

[pmelah]

Ok its 2 problems 1 I over filled the oil 2i have to add brake fluid to the clutch master and I did a flush on it 2 months ago so now to order a new slave to fix 1 problem and to fix the other well there is no fix for stupid lesson learned