stuck trying to lube rear drive splines

[specialk]

well, stuck in the middle of trying to lube the drive shaft splines. I got the pumpkin with the driveshaft off. Everything actually looks really good and well lubricated which is making this worse for me having attempted this procedure.

question is, how do I get the driveshaft out of the pumpkin? I know there is a seal which apparently holds the driveshaft in the pumpkin using nothing more than frication. However, when I go to pull on the driveshaft to remove it from the pumpkin, it feels like something much more solid than a friction fit with a rubber seal. Can anyone advise on how to remove this driveshaft from the pumpkin? I am concerned with damaging the oil seal.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Can anyone advise on how to remove this driveshaft from the pumpkin?

Unless I have been doing it wrong the last 5 years, you do not have to remove the drive shaft from the pumpkin. That end of the drive shaft is lubricated by the final drive oil that is in the pumpkin.

 

[SkooterG]

Dont' remove it. No need to.

If for some crazy reason you do want or need to, then just pull hard.

Clicky HERE grasshopper for the path to driveshaft enlightenment........

 

[specialk]

Can anyone advise on how to remove this driveshaft from the pumpkin?

Unless I have been doing it wrong the last 5 years, you do not have to remove the drive shaft from the pumpkin. That end of the drive shaft is lubricated by the final drive oil that is in the pumpkin.

thank you for the reply. I agree with you and will not remove it from now on. I finally got it out though and damaged the seal which will have to be replaced. :angry:

in any case, to remove this, you really do just have to pull..hard...really hard.

one other question though...there is the metal panel which the rider's (not passengers) footpeg anchors to on the left side of the bike. can this be removed with the bike on the centerstand or is this panel structural at this point? I would love to take it off to clean the transmission output shaft and regrease it but I don't want to take it off if it is under load.

 

[Queensland Ken]

one other question though...there is the metal panel which the rider's (not passengers) footpeg anchors to on the left side of the bike. can this be removed with the bike on the centerstand or is this panel structural at this point? I would love to take it off to clean the transmission output shaft and regrease it but I don't want to take it off if it is under load.

Yes you can,

You'll need a torx50 for one bolt and your side stand is bolted through as well, so that will come away.

It's ideal to gain access to your drive universal.

Cheers

 

[ahchiu]

A little tip when you put everything back together do not torqe the pumpkin/drive shaft untill you have the rear wheel back together. The pumpkin has slght movement where it's conected and you need to get the axel through everything, torqe the pumkin last.

 

[specialk]

thanks everyone for the replies. You are all very helpful.

Special thanks to Skooterg for that awesome post on the driveshaft 101. Really nice work. I am going to try and get this wrapped up by tonight...assuming yamaha has the seal that I damaged. <_<

 

[specialk]

thanks everyone for the replies. You are all very helpful.
Special thanks to Skooterg for that awesome post on the driveshaft 101. Really nice work. I am going to try and get this wrapped up by tonight...assuming yamaha has the seal that I damaged. <_<

forgot to ask... how hard is it to replace the seal? do you have to take off one set of the c-clips or both? can you do this without a special tool?

 

[wheatonFJR]

well, stuck in the middle of trying to lube the drive shaft splines. I got the pumpkin with the driveshaft off. Everything actually looks really good and well lubricated which is making this worse for me having attempted this procedure.
question is, how do I get the driveshaft out of the pumpkin? I know there is a seal which apparently holds the driveshaft in the pumpkin using nothing more than frication. However, when I go to pull on the driveshaft to remove it from the pumpkin, it feels like something much more solid than a friction fit with a rubber seal. Can anyone advise on how to remove this driveshaft from the pumpkin? I am concerned with damaging the oil seal.

I would check FJRTech before doing typical maintenance. The writeups are great and they have pictures...which I especially find useful.

 

[Bounce]

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/spline/spline.html

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/spline/Skoot...oupling101.html (in case the board is ever down)

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/sa/sa.html (which covers the 50 torx)

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

 

[FJRBluesman]

Dont' remove it. No need to.If for some crazy reason you do want or need to, then just pull hard.

Clicky HERE grasshopper for the path to driveshaft enlightenment........

Listne to the Obiwan of drive shaft enlightenment. :dribble: :assassin: h34r:

 

[specialk]

well...if I wasn't punished enough for pulling the seal our of the pumpkin...

got home today to find the weep hole under the swing arm leaking a few drops of oil. My guess was that the seal had worked its way out of the pumpkin which leads to my question...

how far are you supposed to press the seal into the pumpkin? Could someone give me a distance from the edge of the seal which faces outward (away from the pumpkin) to the hole in the pumpkin to which you palce the seal? Is it flush or should the seal be recessed in some amount?

here is a picture of where it sits now

 

[SkooterG]

That looks good to me. I didn't do anything special when re-inserting mine.

I'd say there's a good chance your leak is not that seal, but the 'coupler seal'.

Clicky.

 

[specialk]

That looks good to me. I didn't do anything special when re-inserting mine.
I'd say there's a good chance your leak is not that seal, but the 'coupler seal'.

Clicky.

skooter, though the splooge which is sprayed onto my tire looks a lot like your linked post, there was oil coming from the weephole which leads me to believe that it may be in fact coming from the pumpkin driveshaft oil seal (#34 in diagrams). If it was the #34 seal, there should not have been any puddling in the swingarm itself by the weephole right? Does this make sense or do you still think it is the #12 seal? Geez I hope you're wrong...

I am banking on it being the #12 seal because I never did anything to harm the other seal and my bike only has 8800 miles on it.

 

[SkooterG]

That looks good to me. I didn't do anything special when re-inserting mine.
I'd say there's a good chance your leak is not that seal, but the 'coupler seal'.

Clicky.

skooter, though the splooge which is sprayed onto my tire looks a lot like your linked post, there was oil coming from the weephole which leads me to believe that it may be in fact coming from the pumpkin driveshaft oil seal (#34 in diagrams). If it was the #34 seal, there should not have been any puddling in the swingarm itself by the weephole right? Does this make sense or do you still think it is the #12 seal? Geez I hope you're wrong...

I am banking on it being the #12 seal because I never did anything to harm the other seal and my bike only has 8800 miles on it.

Seals #12 or #34 going bad will result in the same thing - final drive oil weeping or leaking from the final drive into the swingarm and out the weephole. They BOTH are seals between the pumpkin and swingarm. So if you have oil in the swingarm, it's either #12 or #34, or both. The first time I had spooge I just had #12 replaced and that took care of my problem for 80,000 miles or so. When the rear wheel splooge returned, my 'guru' replaced both seals as that is his practice. But he told me it's usually #12 that goes bad.

When you disassemble yours again, look very closely. You should be able to tell if the seal you just replaced is leaking or is in good shape. If it looks ok, then look between the coupler and the final drive housing - there will most likely be lots of oil there.

 

[LAF]

Getting squared away for a WV trip and did this today.

First I don't recommend this tie down method but it works for safety more than anything. I need to get that Handel Bar Tie down thing? Also note the center stand is held forward, this is really important, but more so when removing the rear wheel.

This concerned me on first glance but I dressed it with wire brush and 100 grit, cleaned it all well, and slathered Honda 60 on it.

From factory, I think this is good enough for lube.

So nothing new here other then the rust which I can not figure where it came from but would think it had to come from the front u-joint opening?

I used Honda Lube and a cheap small artist brush, and as I said, I slathered it liberally on the splines. I coated from the small indent on each end of the drive shaft with good old bearing grease, a very lite coat, but from the diam change to each end I used the Honda because I was sanding on them, and surely did not want to see that rust at the FD end again. It was very nicely cleaned including the snap ring on both ends so I will hope for the best. If you look closely you can see in the spline end it had some corrosion/build up/whatever, that took some 100 grit to look good again. I know it is VERY hard metal to sand and get anywhere on.

So thanks to the forum, life is good, and one more score for this FJR Forum learning and schooling me.

Could you see me asking a dealer to do this at 1800 miles, and the cost?

 

[SkooterG]

A 'Canyon Dancer' is the tie-down you are thinking of.

I have had my rear wheel off a bazillion times and never tied down the front. Frequently, I have had both wheels off - on C-stand with front supported by hydraulic jack under the headers, or a fork lift. I really don't think you have much to worry about.

I only use the Honda Moly60 paste on splines. It's expensive and messy. I use Mobil1 synthetic grease to coat everything and protect from corrsion - driveshaft, axles, bearing seals, ect.

I want your lift.

 

[LAF]

A 'Canyon Dancer' is the tie-down you are thinking of.

I have had my rear wheel off a bazillion times and never tied down the front. Frequently, I have had both wheels off - on C-stand with front supported by hydraulic jack under the headers, or a fork lift. I really don't think you have much to worry about.

I only use the Honda Moly60 paste on splines. It's expensive and messy. I use Mobil1 synthetic grease to coat everything and protect from corrsion - driveshaft, axles, bearing seals, ect.

I want your lift.

Thank you for the Canyon Dancer tie down, need to get one.

If I was on the ground or not going up on the lift I would not have done anything. Since I have it at waist level I felt better with something on it. On a lift and with metal to metal contact, the center stand slides VERY easy. Also it can dance a bit up or down depending how well I operate the pedal. I also had the bright idea to use a dense foam under the CS to raise it a bit and that contributed to movement.

Been using that lift for about 5 years now and I do love it! Even though it is a drop tail I have never needed to pull the panel for rear wheel changes.

Have you ever seen the shaft rusted at that point? Anyone?

Yes I only used the 60 on spline areas, and as I said, back to the taper of the shaft at each end because it looked like it needed protecting. The rest of the drive shaft I used NAPA bearing grease, and for both axles and miscellaneous sliding parts in the rear.

This to pull the crap 021's with 2000 miles that are going trapezoid on me and spooned on two new PR 2's.

IMHO well worth maintenance item the lubing of the FD shaft splines, it is only 4 cap heads and a bit of time when combined with a rear tire change out.

 

[HotRodZilla]

No idea on the rust. My splines and shaft have never looked like that and we're at 38k. I've only had it apart twice to check on it.

I also like your lift, and after your explanation understand why you tie it down. I wouldn't want my bike moving around either.