Shifter Shaft Oil Seal Replacement - any Tricks?

[Guest]

So...

Who's got a clever way to remove and old crusty shifter shaft oil seal on a GS650GL?

The seal on this bike is recessed nearly 6 inches in from the side of the engine. You can barely even reach it/touch it with your fingers, so getting any sort of tool in there to remove it is gonna be tough.

In the past I've removed really stuck ones from other bikes by drilling a tiny hole in the face of the seal and then pulling it out with a curved pick using that hole to grab it.

The seal on this bike so far recessed into the back of the engine that this method won't work.

Anybody got a clever method or trick they use to remove one?

Thanks!

[jms]

I haven't done this myself but read somewhere (on here I think) that you can just screw a long screw to the seal and pull it out like that.

In your case I'd do 2, one on each side to pull it out evenly.

Hope this helps!

Be safe, have fun!

[tkent02]

6 inches recessed?
Remove the cover.

[WingMan71]

6 inches recessed?
Remove the cover.

Yes! Cover already removed.

Stuck a long screwdriver in from the side of the engine to reach it. It's between 5 and 6 inches from the outside of the engine (where you can get with your hands) with the cover removed. Very narrow passage to reach to it as well. It's nearly on the longitudinal center line of the engine case. Never seen one set back this far from the side of the engine.

It's gonna be a bear to get out.

[tkent02]

Unfortunately don't have a 650G here to look at, can you post a picture?

[WingMan71]

... can you post a picture?

Took some photos last night trying to evaluate how the heck I'm gonna get this old seal out.

Here's the first shot confirming that the drive shaft seal was not leaking and there is no oil at all inside the boot.

You can see how much crudded up old oil there is on the shifter shaft and the outside bottom of the rubber boot from the leaky shifter shaft oil seal.



Here's another shot showing the boot and the cruded up shifter shaft and leaky shifter shaft oil seal.

All that oil on the bottom of the drive shaft boot and on the shifter shaft is from the leaky shifter shaft seal.



Here's one more showing the shifter shaft and leaky oil seal.

You can see how far recessed in toward the back of the engine this seal is located.



The shifter shaft is 5 inches long. 4 inches of that are recessed in toward the center line of the bike past the side of the engine case. So any work to be done on it,or tool to be used, will have to will have to reach in from the side about 4 inches to even touch the thing.

Going in from under the engine doesn't work either. The center stand is blocking any direct access to the seal from underneath. Yes, you can touch it with a long tool from underneath, but you can't get any leverage on it from that lousy angle.

It's going to have to come out from the side. I may have to hit the hardware store and see if I can buy a really tiny drill bit that is about 6 inches long so I can drill a hole in the seal and then pull it out with a pick.

What fun!

[Charlie G]

I have the problem on my 650g. I wanted to explore the possibility of seeing if the shift fork can be removed from the other side ( clutch basket, ect. out) and the seal pushed out from the opposite of the bike. I changed the seal for the clutch pinion shaft (?) and tried to pull it out from the exterior and failed, breaking picks in the process. I wound up pulling the case cover off and pushing it out.

cg

[520eek]

That certainly does not look like fun. Keep us posted as to what you wind up doing!

[WingMan71]

That certainly does not look like fun. Keep us posted as to what you wind up doing!

Well... it's done! Oil seal is replaced.

This was the hardest shift shaft oil seal replacement I've ever done due to the recessed location of the seal under the engine.

Here are the tools I used to finally get the job done.



1. A nail puller! (Yes, a nail puller!)
2. A screwdriver with a tapered-threaded tip on it.
3. A 12" extension for a drill bit.

Notice that I had to loosen the drive shaft rubber boot and move it up out of the way, and remove the left side foot peg just to get enough room to get tools into the area.

I first carefully drilled a hole in the old oil seal, avoiding touching either side of the metal seat it is inserted in.



Next I tried the usual technique of inserting a screw into that hole and pulling on the screw head to yank out the seal. Wouldn't budge! Not even a tiny bit!

So, I used the tapered-threaded screwdriver and threaded it into the hole in the seal. It fit really tight as I screwed it in, so I had hope.

I gave a few tugs on the screwdriver handle, and nothing! Wouldn't budge! Needed more leverage.

So, I got out the nail puller and wedged it under the front of the handle on the screwdriver as shown below.



Pulled left hard on the nail puller handle using it's leverage for advantage and the thing finally popped out.

(I pulled on it so hard that when it finally popped out I fell off my shop stool and smacked my head on the wall behind me!)

Took me over an hour messing with this thing to finally get it out.

I used two deep well sockets stacked together over that 5" shifter shaft to tap the new seal in place. DONE!

[GSX1000E]

Thanks for sharing the clear/well lite pictures for the solution to this problem.
I was going to suggest a 6" long skinny wood screw and a lever off of the shifter shaft itself. (As I go out to check my 650G shifter shaft for leaking...)

[chef1366]

Nice write up with pictures!
We need more of this on the site!