Leaky Right Fork Seal

[RaYzerman19]

Both my seals started leaking last year on a trip to Ohio, one side worse than the other. Noticed front brakes weren't up to snuff. Sprayed them down with some brake cleaner and wrapped a rag around the fork. Once I got to destination did a parking lot fix, removed calipers and pads, cleaned everything up, including a homemade seal cleaning tool. It improved things a lot but the leak wouldn't stop..... in this case, there was fine grit in the seal grooves that no seal tool could possibly clean. But the leak was minor enough not to contaminate the brakes again til I got home. New seals and brake pads......

Cause - We had ridden through quite a stretch where they had cut grooves in the concrete highway and it was sprinkling slightly, prolly got the grit in there.

 

[Fred W]

Ross - The thing is, (unlike in Ray's situation above) you were able to get the seals to seal up after cleaning; so that proves that they are not damaged. You've probably just got more road spooge in there, or else you did not get it all out the last time and it has moved.

Hit it with the seal mate again. You can take the fork leg off to clean it thoroughly, so you can really get that thing in there and scoop the dirt out, if need be. If you do remove the fork leg, you can exercise it after cleaning by putting the lower leg on a rag on the floor and pushing down holding the the upper leg in your grip (not on the rebound adjuster!)

 

[RossKean]

Fred - Not a bad idea. I might give it a try (removing the fork leg and having a real go at it). The leak is small at this point but if there is any question, I'm not going to be able to head out next week (Friday) as planned.

Ray - You may be right that the seal just needs to be replaced. Since my planned trip is over 20,000 km, its beyond wrapping a rag around it and taking a chance.

I'll post up after I have had a chance to look at it. I'll try the local dealer as well as a couple of others in the province and see if there is any chance they have some seals in stock (doubtful). I would rather do the replacement (using Ray's method for getting the seals out) than risk it.

Thanks...

 

[RossKean]

Dealer has oil seals in stock but no dust seals. I assume it is advisable to replace both if I go that route?

 

[Fred W]

No, the dust seal doesn't do much of anything. You can just replace the oil seals (if you can get them out).

Problem is, Ray's drill and screw method is destructive to the seal, so if you can't get it out after you have drilled them, you'll be doing them the slide hammer method (meaning you also need new bushings).

 

[RossKean]

Dealer in Moncton (1.5 hours away) says he can get the parts and do the forks (bushings and seals) while I wait on Wednesday. Stuff going on at work makes it hard to take the day off and I hate to pay someone to do what I could do myself but due to the epic nature of my planned trip and a shortage of time, I'm going to get it done.

Pretty fair chance that another go with the Sealmate would get me through this but after 70,000 miles, the bushings and seals are probably almost due anyway. I had hoped that they would last until the end of the season.

I appreciate the help and suggestions.

 

[Bungie]

You can bet the dealer will charge you full pin.

Now if you had of spent the money at the start of this thread when I called you a cheap ***, you wouldn't be having this crisis and you likely would have saved money in the long run. See what happens when you nickel and dime yourself?

My .. how petty of me

 

[RaYzerman19]

Yes, a 20k round trip would justify the full job. No sense fooling around now..... go for it. Re-use the dust seals if necessary.

 

[RossKean]

Yes, a 20k round trip would justify the full job. No sense fooling around now..... go for it. Re-use the dust seals if necessary.

The "Fork seal kit" includes two oil seals and two dust seals and is only a few bucks more than buying two oil seals by themselves. They happened to have one in stock.

 

[RossKean]

You can bet the dealer will charge you full pin.
Now if you had of spent the money at the start of this thread when I called you a cheap ***, you wouldn't be having this crisis and you likely would have saved money in the long run. See what happens when you nickel and dime yourself?

My .. how petty of me

2.5 hours of labour with me bringing in the forks - not bad although the hourly rate is outrageous. Parts (seals, bushings and oil) will run something over $100.

Part of my cheapness is because of my preference for doing it myself. If I had the tools (especially the one for the middle bushing), I would have done it myself. I knew it would have to be done eventually - was hoping I could hold off until December.

 

[stealth1]

Now you'll have time to do something else in December.

 

[RossKean]

Now you'll have time to do something else in December.

Yeah - shovel snow! (Jan, Feb and March - maybe April too.)

 

[RossKean]

Scheduled to bring the forks in to the dealer tomorrow. Unfortunately, the middle bushing is on backorder so they may have to reuse the old one if it is not destroyed in taking them apart. (or just leave it out as done by some shops).

When I got the brake calipers off to remove the wheel and the forks, I gave the front wheel a spin and it felt decidedly "notchy". Crap, I'm going to have to get the front wheel bearings done at the same time. The bearings are original at 130,000 miles and I might be able to run them a bit longer but best to not have an issue on the road a long way from home. The hub and axle don't seem to be running warm or particularly noisy and the wheel will spin for several revolutions if given a reasonable push (with the calipers off).

I hope the rear bearings are still OK. Much harder to tell with the driveshaft/U-joint moving as the wheel turns. I would have to remove the wheel to check and that's not going to happen before I leave on my trip.

 

[Fred W]

Ross - On either front or back wheel, I usually just stick a finger in the bearing and turn it by hand when changing tires.(feeling for any notchy-ness)

 

[RossKean]

Ross - On either front or back wheel, I usually just stick a finger in the bearing and turn it by hand when changing tires.(feeling for any notchy-ness)

I usually do the same. I think the rear was OK with the last tire change but don't remember if I checked it that time. The front was definitely bad this time.