Drive Shaft Oil Level on an 82 R65

[GDeane]

Where in the filler hole do you take the measurement?  If I drop a probe dead center or towards the rear wheel I get one measurement.  This area is quite shallow.  Drop the probe more forward or at an angle towards the front you get another reading.  This site is a little deeper.  So, in which area should it show only 2mm?  When I did my drain and fill I lost quite a bit of oil when filling.  Was later told to use a syringe to fill.  Dealer told me to drain it again and slowly add 150 cc of oil as he had no idea where to take the measurement.  

[Bob_Roller]

Don't worry about measuring, just add 150 ml of gear lube and call it good .

You need to add it slowly, or you will get a 'regurgitation' of oil out of the filler hole .

[Vegasrandall]

Got one of those basting syringes to do mine

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I use one of these.  I have measured how many pumps it takes to reach 150cc, and go with that.

Click on the picture for sources.





And this is what I use to measure with:

[Barry]

When changing transmission/drive shaft/rear drive oil it's not a bad idea to measure what you put in and measure what comes out again at the next change. Migration from one area to another is not unknown although keeping oil up to the exact level is only really critical in the transmission.

[Dizerens5]

 This is a really frustrating business. On my 79 the oil transfers itself quite quickly into the gearbox (transmission). I keep tipping the stuff into the shaft and at the same time draining a surplus from the box. Years ago I had a 71 R60/5, that also quickly lost the shaft oil but it moved into the rear drive. That was a real pain because the surplus dripped on to the rear tyre. In the end I mostly left the shaft alone. Could not have been so bad because in  73 I rode the bike from Belgium to central Turkey and back without refilling the shaft, caused no noise or any other problem. I've studied the diagram and see the joint concerned must have very little movement (it's not a UJ judging by the drawing) so maybe just does not need much lubrication. Perhaps the occasional top-up is enough! What do others think? Btw in the US you say transmission for what we call gearbox - for us "transmission" means everything between engine and driven wheels - clutch, gearbox, shaft, bevels, differential if any...so what do you call all that in the US?

[Bob_Roller]

It's a regular common automotive type universal joint .

They can be replaced, if you have a shop that repairs drive shafts .

The u-joints are held in by a bit of 'staked' metal, from the drive shaft 'yokes' .

[GDeane]

I began with a Ratio Rite and a funnel, but oil went everywhere.  I picked up an oral syringe at the pet store, so that should do the trick.  Next warm day I plan to drain the shaft oil and SLOWLY add 150cc with my trusty syringe.  Thanks for the tips!

[Barry]

Btw in the US you say transmission for what we call gearbox - for us "transmission" means everything between engine and driven wheels - clutch, gearbox, shaft, bevels, differential if any...so what do you call all that in the US?  

Now that's a good question.

I got to admit I bowed to the majority on that one and called it a transmission but even the owners manual calls it a gearbox.
I also use tire instead of tyre since I learnt it was derived from the word "attire" meaning cover so "tire" seems the more correct spelling and anyway there's no point in arguing with the YaBB spell checker.

There are things I would draw the line at though. I'm not sure what I do but I don't "wrench" which could be their question for us and my garden is most definitely not a "yard"

Life would be dull if we were all the same.

[Bob_Roller]

Everything besides the engine is usually called the drive train .

[montmil]

OK, so the Brit/Am language hijack really has little to nuttin' to do with oil in the transmission but I think it's pretty cool.

Barry may have created a monster for us. I'm thinking a thread on "Translations" would be fun... Particularly since we around the Super Bowl DFW MetroMess are frozen in our homes with little to do but surf R65 dot org. Nasty ice, sleet and snow that won't let us thaw out. Even Bengt is getting bored and cranky; not being able to suck more dino outta the ground and corner world market share... :-P

Wrench = Fettle
Backyard = Garden
Garage = Shed

OK, lads. Who will start this thread? I'm hoping Lou and Barry and the Constellation will offer up some translations. And let's include our Aussie members, too. Dem cats talk way out Down Under.

Monte

[Dizerens5]

Thanks to tv and film most American terms are well known here in UK, but some are less so, for example median = central reservation, on-ramp and off-ramp = entry or exit slip road, traffic circle = roundabout. I noticed with some surprise in Minneapolis that there a multi-storey car park is called a parking ramp - so there may be regional variations in the US.
 And the first time I saw a sign reading PED XING (in Hawaii) I thought it was in Vietnamese or similar.

[Dizerens5]

That last post of mine was a digression. To return to the point of this thread - Bob thanks for your reply. I had another look at the drawings in the Haynes manual - I was thinking of the back end of the shaft but of course there's a UJ at the front only. I guess it gets plenty of lubrication from all the shaft oil moving fwd into the gearbox! A little additive like Greased Lightning might give that a more long-term effect. We used to use Bardahl for that kind of thing but it doesn't seem to exist any more.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

This is a really frustrating business. On my 79 the oil transfers itself quite quickly into the gearbox (transmission). I keep tipping the stuff into the shaft and at the same time draining a surplus from the box. Years ago I had a 71 R60/5, that also quickly lost the shaft oil but it moved into the rear drive. That was a real pain because the surplus dripped on to the rear tyre. In the end I mostly left the shaft alone. Could not have been so bad because in  73 I rode the bike from Belgium to central Turkey and back without refilling the shaft, caused no noise or any other problem. I've studied the diagram and see the joint concerned must have very little movement (it's not a UJ judging by the drawing) so maybe just does not need much lubrication. Perhaps the occasional top-up is enough! What do others think?

You need to replace either the output seal on the transmission which is a big job as you have to remove the output flange - and don't forget that the seal goes in "backwards" (reverse?) of how one would typically think of installing one.  And there is a seal on the driveshaft end of the pinion gear in the final drive housing.  
If they are leaking, they need to be replaced!

Btw in the US you say transmission for what we call gearbox - for us "transmission" means everything between engine and driven wheels - clutch, gearbox, shaft, bevels, differential if any...so what do you call all that in the US?

Yes, we use the term "transmission" as a noun (i.e. gearbox) which is a pretty sloppy way to treat the Queen's Engrish ( ), I agree.

Properly used, "transmission" is a verb, to indicate movement, I believe.  (Electrical transmission lines.)

And gearbox is a lot faster to type!

I also have a problem with calling the engine a "motor".  To me, if it is electric, it is a motor; if it is mechanical, it is an engine.
But I suppose anything that moves something could be a motor, as in "to motivate".