What did you do to your V11 today?

[FreyZI]

15 minutes ago, docc said:

There is some confusion in the posts referencing the sight glass/ level window on the "rear drive" as this is found on the gearbox.

Yes, sorry for the confusion.  Have to admit that I had a  moment.  I indeed was talking about the transmission, and I do very well appreciate the difference.  But my moronic moment makes me wonder whether one could put a sight glass on the back of the actual rear drive.

I will have to check the color and clarity (or lack thereof) of the rear drive.

10 hours ago, PJPR01 said:

Texas Chili

Is there any other kind?

 

Back then to my original, mistakenly worded question.  My TRANSMISSION oil is the color and clarity (or lack thereof) of Texas Chili, without beans or other chunks.  Procedure for "flushing" that?  Same?  Use a lot of oil and get it moving around?

Cheers,

Frey

[Pressureangle]

Not everybody likes my style, but for flushing gearboxes when possible I operate them under no load filled with diesel fuel. That gets all the nooks and crannies, suspends the particulates, and flushes clean except for the worst of circumstances. 
If I have rusty lube (looking at the insides of this V11 gearbox, all the rust was on the shift forks) as many industrial gearboxes do if they've been out of service and couldn't disassemble it, I'd have no issue flushing well with Acetone, blow air drying, and filling overnight with Evap-O-Rust. Slosh it, flush it, Isopropyl alcohol rinse, fill it, run it. 

[PJPR01]

All good...yes, you could do the same...fill it with fresh fluid, or as a better suggestion, fill completely, drive a little bit and drain again.  I was too lazy to do that so I just filled and flushed with extra fluid until it came out clear.

[FreyZI]

3 minutes ago, PJPR01 said:

I was too lazy to do that so I just filled and flushed with extra fluid until it came out clear.

That definitely sounds more my style, if less thorough.  I was planning to get Bubbles up to 50K miles and then treating her to a tank off/wheels off/decent tune up.  I guess I can do that a little early.

[FreyZI]

10 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

Not everybody likes my style, but for flushing gearboxes when possible I operate them under no load filled with diesel fuel.

@PressureangleWhen you do the diesel technique, anything after the diesel before refilling with transmission oil?

[FreyZI]

18 minutes ago, FreyZI said:

whether one could put a sight glass on the back of the actual rear drive.

I suppose this wouldn't work particularly well, as you don't have the benefit of tipping the bike a little left or right.  Still, might be kinda fun.

[Pressureangle]

21 minutes ago, FreyZI said:

@PressureangleWhen you do the diesel technique, anything after the diesel before refilling with transmission oil?

No, I just drain it as well as possible overnight, blow it out with air. Diesel is a lightweight lubricant itself, and the tiny bit remaining won't affect anything. With heat cycles, the lighter aromatics evaporate out and the rest integrates with the lube. If I was unhappy about how much I thought remained, I'd run a cheap gear oil for a lunch trip to mix the diesel in, then drain and re-fill with preferred lube.

[FreyZI]

29 minutes ago, FreyZI said:

I suppose this wouldn't work particularly well, as you don't have the benefit of tipping the bike a little left or right.  Still, might be kinda fun.

Or kinda stupid.  Looks like that's an M10 bolt, so a wee bit small.  My moronic moments continue.

[PJPR01]

Now I'm becoming OCD with this and thinking I'll drive 500 miles and then drain and refill all fluids again for transmission and rear drive.  Main engine oil I'm not concerned with as that seems to stay pretty clean, but the gearbox / rear drives do seems to get dirty faster.  I may have to start doing a fluid change on those every 2 engine oil changes.

Edited October 22 by PJPR01

[Pressureangle]

1 hour ago, PJPR01 said:

Now I'm becoming OCD with this and thinking I'll drive 500 miles and then refill all fluids again for transmission and rear drive.  Main engine oil I'm not concerned with as that seems to stay pretty clean, but the gearbox / rear drives do seems to get dirty faster.  I may have to start doing a fluid change on those every 2 engine oil changes.

Eh, that's obsessive. 
I use Chevron Delo ESI 85w140, which serves for instance Meritor and Mack warranty to 100,000 miles, 35,000 under 'severe service' (logging, mining, heavy haul) so our poor little things don't even warm it up. FWIW I measured a 15*F drop in temperature on my rear drive over RedLine shockproof heavy and very noticeable quieting of my straight-cut gearbox after a couple hundred miles. <shrug> magic stuff I found after about 2 days of very serious investigation of gear oils. ESI happens to be 'motive' but I found it while investigating industrial gear oils- ESI is as good as it gets, plus the 'motive' qualities are mostly resistance to water and contaminants. I've put 20k miles on this BMW rear lube, and it's still nearly clear. And while hard to find and not inexpensive, only 2/3 the price of boutique lubes like RedLine, Motul, etc. 

Edit; My bad, *500,000* mile interval.

https://www.chevronlubricants.com/en_us/home/products/delo-gear-esi-sae-85w-140.html

Edited October 22 by Pressureangle

[PJPR01]

Thanks Eric.

Very interesting...so even though the standard 75W90 or 80w90 weight is recommended, no concerns about putting in 85W140.  Saw that on the shelf at the autoparts store when buying the 75W90 fluid but didn't consider it as an alternative.  This seems like for a quart it runs about 50% of the price of Mobil 1 or Lucas Gear Oil, but it's a higher quality?

To be fair I am not hearing any gear noise from the transmission or rear drive, probably because my valves are slightly loose, but I'll keep this as a good reference for the future!

Edited October 22 by PJPR01

[Pressureangle]

11 minutes ago, PJPR01 said:

Thanks Eric.

Very interesting...so even though the standard 75W90 or 80w90 weight is recommended, no concerns about putting in 85W140.  Saw that on the shelf at the autoparts store when buying the 75W90 fluid but didn't consider it as an alternative.  This seems like for a quart it runs about 50% of the price of Mobil 1 or Lucas Gear Oil, but it's a higher quality?

To be fair I am not hearing any gear noise from the transmission or rear drive, probably because my valves are slightly loose, but I'll keep this as a good reference for the future!

You most certainly did *not* see ESI on the shelf at the auto parts. Well...I always hoped I would, but never have- perhaps in oil country it's possible. Chevron Delo gear oil is common, but it is an entirely different animal than the ESI. Nearly all gear oils use ZDDP as does engine oil (used to anyway) but ESI uses Borate-based chemistry. The ESI, though viscosity-rated, appears to me to be thinner at 85w140 than any off the shelf xxw90 oils. Don't know the current Auto Parts Premium prices for Mobil 1, Lucas, etc.

Here's my last order-
 

Order #14083 Ship to  Jensen Beach, Florida, 34957, United States Chevron Delo 85W140 Gear Lubricant ESI 12/1.8# Case 224504319 Brand: Chevron USA $115.32 Qty: 1 $115.32

Subtotal: $115.32 Shipping: $40.00 Sales Tax: $0.00 Grand total: $155.32 Payment method: Braintree (PayPal) Shipping method: FedEx ® (Ground) for $40.00   Santie Oil Company santiemidwest.com

Edited October 22 by Pressureangle

[docc]

3 hours ago, Pressureangle said:

...a fine example of a blown-out main seal?

An example of what happens if the sealing surface of the crown wheel gets damaged by neglecting the outboard needle cage . . .

Mind that critical maintenance at every tire change . . .

[PJPR01]

13 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

You most certainly did *not* see ESI on the shelf at the auto parts. Well...I always hoped I would, but never have- perhaps in oil country it's possible. Chevron Delo gear oil is common, but it is an entirely different animal than the ESI. Nearly all gear oils use ZDDP as does engine oil (used to anyway) but ESI uses Borate-based chemistry. The ESI, though viscosity-rated, appears to me to be thinner at 85w140 than any off the shelf xxw90 oils. Don't know the current Auto Parts Premium prices for Mobil 1, Lucas, etc.

Here's my last order-
 

Order #14083 Ship to  Jensen Beach, Florida, 34957, United States Chevron Delo 85W140 Gear Lubricant ESI 12/1.8# Case 224504319 Brand: Chevron USA $115.32 Qty: 1 $115.32

Subtotal: $115.32 Shipping: $40.00 Sales Tax: $0.00 Grand total: $155.32 Payment method: Braintree (PayPal) Shipping method: FedEx ® (Ground) for $40.00   Santie Oil Company santiemidwest.com

Sorry...let me clarify and be more precise, 85w-140 was on the shelf (Mobil 1 brand), not this Chevron brand.  My comment was around the viscosity rating, not the brand. 

The price says a case, I presume that's a case of 12 bottles or is the price of 1 bottle $115 bucks?

Mobil 1 75w90 is costing me $20 bucks a quart.

Edited October 22 by PJPR01

[docc]

3 hours ago, FreyZI said:

  My TRANSMISSION oil is the color and clarity (or lack thereof) of Texas Chili, without beans or other chunks.  Procedure for "flushing" that?  Same?  Use a lot of oil and get it moving around?

Cheers,

Frey

That sounds like RedLine Shockproof Heavyweight. It has a thick, milky red-ish consistency. I prefer the blue "lightweight" in both the gearbox and reardrive. Even at operating temperature, the Heavyweight leaves a lot clinging to the surfaces inside and makes overfilling an issue.