Pushrod tube oil leaks

Gasaxe

Gasaxe

Club Member
Looking for suggestions , recommendations for a seal kit for my 1990 1340 pushrod tubes . Quite a few makes out there , what’s good , what should be avoided ? Any tips?
Thanks
 
Lots of good makes. Harley, and James are good. There is nothing wrong with the vast majority of aftermarket O Rings for pushrods, the problems occur with incorrect/hamfisted installation. A smear of Oil on the O Rings and making sure it is fully seated in the Head and Lifter Covers is the way to cut down likelihood of leaks.
 
Yeah you will only be leaking if something is split, worn, or incorrectly placed - or someone has tried to cheapskate with ''non-Harley fitment'' o-ring
 
Well it’s been a year since I fixed the oil leak on the pushrod tubes . One of the FXR chaps suggested that I lift the tubes , clean the O ring and groove and replace . Worked !
Not just the crap under the O ring but cleaning and greasing the push rod tube spring to allow it to move as the cylinder expands . I recon that my pushrod tubes haven’t moved in 30 odd years when I cleaned and greased . The spring is a great idea to allow for expansion in a very big lump of alloy but probably needs a bit of maintenance .
 
I'm a bit confused. Are pushrod check and adjustment part of routine maintenance?
How come some say not moved in literally decades?
 
Hodgie said:
I'm a bit confused. Are pushrod check and adjustment part of routine maintenance?
How come some say not moved in literally decades?
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As I understand it they are Fit and Forget so long as there are no leaks. There is no adjustment, once fitted. :)
 
You would only need to check Hydraulic Lifters if there was a noticable noise coming from that area. Solid lifters, being solid, cannot change their length. From what I understand, there is no routine maintainance needed.
 
The solid lifters need regular checking. Its the same as with all the old Triumphs, Norton's, BSA's etc and the harder you rev them the more frequently they will need checking/resetting.
 
Ron said:
The solid lifters need regular checking. Its the same as with all the old Triumphs, Norton's, BSA's etc and the harder you rev them the more frequently they will need checking/resetting.
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Ron, how do you reset a Solid Lifter? Are you talking about Adjustable Pushrods which can sometime loosen and change their length? I am intrigued to know. 🤔
 
The "Solid Lifter" is a bit of a misnomer as it is not one solid piece but as you say it is actually an Adjustable Pushrod with no hydraulic unit. I guess it was called solid to differentiate it from the factory fitted hydraulic units.

Even without any loosening off the metal to metal hammering ( there has to be some running clearance ) without the softening of the hydraulic unit results in wear, hence the need to readjust, or at least check them.
 
Thanks Ron. I had forgotten that early Harleys had adjustablle Solid Lifters. 😳 My brain is tuned to TC 88 Stuff. You live and learn. 👍🏻
 
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