Brumby Mystery

[octopusenvy]

??? Greetings to the regular crew, and apologies for being a fair weather club sub visitor. Actually its more a foul weather visitor, as i am in need of some advice for a problem!

My red 84 brumby, which i love btw, has been motoring trouble-free until recently. I am getting leakage from the gearbox down the driveshaft. Replace the seal you say? I did it once with an aftermarket seal, and then again with the Subaru seal. Its well dry on the outside but continues to leak well along the inside of the seal and down the driveshaft, dripping on the exhaust etc.

Any suggestions as its definitely not the seal, sadly. The drive is smooth so cant really be a bent driveshaft. What about the coupling, or is it possible that theres a crack in the gearbox?! please say it aint so...

Is this a problem someone has had before? Driving is fine, no vibrations, no noise, just the smell of the odd burning g/box oil on the exhaust. I dont want to be leaking everywhere, and am reluctant to drive her til its fixed. I even had my mechanic look at it, and he was unsure what it could be. Do i need a new mechanic?

Much appreciated!

[DRFVDR]

When u say drive shaft do u mean the one going to the rear,

Photos say a 1000 words some would help

I would say that

a/ yes u need a new Mechanic

b/ I would also suggest that the area of the shaft where the seal runs will be worn/rusted/pitted/grooved making the new seal "chew" out faster causing it to leak again

c/Its stuffed cant be fixed u had better give the brumby to me heheheehehehehheh

[octopusenvy]

 DRFVDR said:

When u say drive shaft do u mean the one going to the rear,

Photos say a 1000 words some would help

I would say that

a/ yes u need a new Mechanic

b/ I would also suggest that the area of the shaft where the seal runs will be worn/rusted/pitted/grooved making the new seal "chew" out faster causing it to leak again

c/Its stuffed cant be fixed u had better give the brumby to me heheheehehehehheh

the leak is pretty much immediate after the seal has been placed and its a slow drip, not a flow. its the drive shaft that couples to the gearbox and goes to the rear diff. the leak is occurring towards the front of the drive shaft where there is a universal joint and a cowling to protect part of that (from the gearbox side). as for a pic...ive taken 2pix but loading them here is a bit of a mystery. "c" is not an option;)

let me know if u need another pic or what u reckon...im out of ideas other than replacing the part the seal goes around inside that cowling...cheers!

sorry i dont think the pics will come thru, as there's no simple button for importing the pix here! what am i meant to put between the [/img]? i dont have the pix online, i just have small size files on my desktop...grrr

[octopusenvy]

http://s704.photobucket.com/albums/ww44/octopusenvy/subaru%20brumbys/?action=view&current=brumbycoupling2.jpg&newest=1

http://s704.photobucket.com/albums/ww44/octopusenvy/subaru%20brumbys/?action=view&current=brumbycoupling.jpg&newest=1

hope that works with the pix?? uploaded to photobucket...

its actually not the driveshaft at all, but ahead of the driveshaft where the gearbox side of the universal joint is. joint looks fine, i think mayb whatever is hidden behind the cowling coming from the back of the gearbox could be worn, but then i dont know what that is called really. is it a separate part (hopefully) or part of the gearbox itself (hopefully not)??

until i know how to upload the pix properly, i hope this will help to give an indication of the problem...

[DRFVDR]

There you go

and no I still cant see what up

I may have to have a look at mine to see if I can figure it out

[Guest boostin]

It doesn't look like the seal is leaking, because the gold cup thing on the back of the gearbox is dry. It looks like its coming out through the prop shaft.

[octopusenvy]

 boostin said:

It doesn't look like the seal is leaking, because the gold cup thing on the back of the gearbox is dry. It looks like its coming out through the prop shaft.

yeah i noticed that and mentioned it on photobucket under the pic caption. i reckon there's trouble afoot with the prop shaft....now just have to source a 2nd handy and install, gulp.

[dubbedup]

there lots of parts available...so shouldn't be too hard to find.

[DRFVDR]

they the same as the later model ones as I have 3

will have alook and see if there a wee bung in the centre of the spline

[octopusenvy]

 DRFVDR said:

they the same as the later model ones as I have 3

will have alook and see if there a wee bung in the centre of the spline

much appreciated. if you have a spare prop shaft, then i spoze i might be interested also... :

[octopusenvy]

 DRFVDR said:

they the same as the later model ones as I have 3

will have alook and see if there a wee bung in the centre of the spline

I feel like ive done this before (twice actually) but here goes again just for shits and giggles.

Ive repaired my brumby!!

joy.

The problem was the welsh plug that sits on the back end of the propshaft. It had shifted or corroded or something, and oil was leaking out of it rather than following the return line back to the gearbox after lubricating the driveshaft. A quick spot weld of the plug, as i was assured it was not required to be removed ever, and no more oil leak. what a sneaky bugger place to have a leak!

Just thought i should post in case anyone else runs into the same problem. Now to focus on the bike engine that needs new rings...easy enough if it wasnt a Buell and i have to drop the entire engine out of the frame just to take apart the cylinders.

[Guest boostin]

Nice work!! Weird place to have a frost plug though!