HD shifting problems after switching to Amsoil

[KillerBee]

Looking for some opinions. I just put Amsoil gear lube into my 5spd HD tranny. It seemed to work fine for the first couple of rides, but now it doesn't want to downshift or shift into first after coming to a stop. The tranny does have 27K, but never had any problems before putting the Amsoil in. I drained the Amsoil and filled it with the HD stuff. It still doesn't want to shift, but there is still a green tint (Amsoil) to the fluid. Is there a way to flush the tranny?
Any help is appreciated.

Bernie

 

[userfriendly]

Bernie; You could try Chevron Delo trans fluid ESI 40.

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by KillerBee:
Looking for some opinions. I just put Amsoil gear lube into my 5spd HD tranny. It seemed to work fine for the first couple of rides, but now it doesn't want to downshift or shift into first after coming to a stop. The tranny does have 27K, but never had any problems before putting the Amsoil in. I drained the Amsoil and filled it with the HD stuff. It still doesn't want to shift, but there is still a green tint (Amsoil) to the fluid. Is there a way to flush the tranny?
Any help is appreciated.

Bernie

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I think you are blaming the gear oil for an internal problem with your tranny. Does your clutch cable need adjusting.

 

[Propflux01]

27k is not alot of mileage to have the tranny go out unless you beat it to death. If the lube you were using worked ok, go back to it, and give it a few rides to work itself in. I know Amsoil gear lube is thinner or slipperier or something, and some trannys don't work well with it, others it is the best thing in the world. Try doing that first, provided there is no mechanical problem, I think it will go away.

 

[47HO]

Just curious, what weight of AMSoil gear lube did you use?

 

[KillerBee]

Thanks for the suggestions. The clutch works fine with the right amount of play. I know some bike trannies can be picky with different lubes. BTW, I used the Amsoil synth 75w90 gear lube recommended for V-twins. I will probably leave it a bit longer. I talked to a HD tech and he said you can flush it out with kerosene w/o wrecking anything. I hope he's right!

On another note putting Amsoil 20W50 synth did drop operating temp about 15 degrees at idle versus HD dino.

 

[msparks]

quote:

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Originally posted by KillerBee:
Thanks for the suggestions. The clutch works fine with the right amount of play. I know some bike trannies can be picky with different lubes. BTW, I used the Amsoil synth 75w90 gear lube recommended for V-twins. I will probably leave it a bit longer. I talked to a HD tech and he said you can flush it out with kerosene w/o wrecking anything. I hope he's right!

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Fist off I wouldn't flush any internal component with kersosene!!

Next, if you want opinion, I recommend the Amsoil 75w140 for the rough transmissions on the H-D's that call for gear lube. I had to do the Same thing with my BMW transmission, when I used the 75w90(even the amsoil) the "clunk" associated with shifting was very noticable, when I went to the 75w140 it all but went away and shifted great. No matter the weather it shifted great, from 30 degrees up to 100+!

Hope this helps

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by KillerBee:
Looking for some opinions. I just put Amsoil gear lube into my 5spd HD tranny. It seemed to work fine for the first couple of rides, but now it doesn't want to downshift or shift into first after coming to a stop.
Bernie

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I spoke to a local Harley mechanic today who happens to use Amsoil and he asked me what year your Harley was. Seems one year they had a problem with spring breakage inside the tranny. Also, the spring can also break on other years but they were upgraded after the problem was noticed. Not having a photo of the inside of a harley tranny I can't say exactly what it looks like but I believe he told me it was attached to one of the forks. He also said the fix was labor intensive for a lousy 2 dollar spring, about 8 hours.

Hope this helps.

 

[wulimaster]

I believe it was one of the following 2 items that could be the cause of your problem.

Broken shifting-drum stopper spring


Broken shift-linkage return spring

 

[KillerBee]

Thanks for the tips. I'll give the 75w140 a try. Maybe the 75w90 is too thin/smooth. The tranny shifts smoother than my CBR. The tranny upshifts through all gears, so I don't think it's one of the springs. I hope not. I just looked at an exploded diagram of the tranny and those springs aren't easy to get to! The bike's a '97 Bigdog.

 

[wulimaster]

So. Did you figure out the problem yet?

 

[KillerBee]

I put about 75 miles on this weekend and doesn't seem any better. It's beginning to look like Wuli may be on the right track. It may have been a coinkydink that the return spring went out the same time I switched lubes. I can downshift if I manually move the shifter up before each shift. I guess the bike will have to wait until winter unless I find a discount HD tech (oxymoron). 396 stroker=no cash!

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by KillerBee:
I put about 75 miles on this weekend and doesn't seem any better. It's beginning to look like Wuli may be on the right track. It may have been a coinkydink that the return spring went out the same time I switched lubes. I can downshift if I manually move the shifter up before each shift. I guess the bike will have to wait until winter unless I find a discount HD tech (oxymoron). 396 stroker=no cash!

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Good luck. When you get the tranny fixed try the 75w90 Series 2000 again.