• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

CARC Input Seal Leak

P

PhilM

Just got it firing!
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
11
I don't recall seeing anyone report this one before, but if it's on the forum somewhere point me in the right place.

I noticed a small patch of oil on the floor beneath the swingarm and after investigating found it was coming from around the plastic brake hose cleat just in front of the CARC/Swingarm joint. Took the CARC off and there was quite a bit of oil in there, oil over the inside of the rubber boot and around the input drive splines. I'd already checked the level and it looked OK, but it's obviously leaking to some extent. I've ridden quite a few miles since cleaning it up and putting the CARC back on and nothing showing yet, just have to monitor the level for now.

I've got the dealer to order a seal, but having looked at the manual I think there's alot more to replacing it than I thought, special tools etc.

Anyone had one of these changed before ?

Phil
 
Phil

Are you sure the oil is coming from the CARC end and not down from the gearbox output shaft seal?

Replacing the CARC input shaft seal shouldn't be too difficult. The parts manual shows just a circlip and ringnut to access the seal. Maybe a special tool is recommended to remove the ringnut, but I'm sure that any "enterprising" mechanic would manage with a hammer and suitable drift.
 
Phil

Had exactly the same issue - After having it looked at a couple of times and being told their was nothing wrong, I ended up taking the bike to Pete Roper - it turned out to be the Pinion Seal, and yes a special tool is required. Refer to Pete's comments below from another thread.

Tony

Pete Roper
Re:Carked CARC 1 Month, 2 Weeks ago
burnie wrote:

Sorry to hear about your CARC Mike
I bought one of the first Breva 1100's in Aus December 05 and the Carc seal was replaced under warranty at 1000km service after the mechanic found metal in oil.Seal replaced no problem but about 1000km later same problem but this time oil leaking onto rear rim and tyre.Back to dealer and Guzzi replaced the CARC comletely.Bike now has 24000km and I still get a little oil on CARc housing but I'm pretty certain it is only weeping from gasket.I still wonder whether the bearing will fail again and I have a habit of checking the rear tyre and rim after every longish ride.The bike has been superb otherwise and would like to keep longterm.Does anyone have any idea how much the repair bill would be for another CARC replacement if failure was to reoccur.


While the bearing is the same as the failure prone ones on BMW's the CARC's once they have a bearing produced by people who don't have bones through their noses and measure their riches bt the number of swine they posess seem to be fairly bulletproof. I've done well over 50,000kms on 2 CARCs now and apart from my first one having a bearing failure because although it was out of the recall range it had a bad one in I have had zero problems.

On customers bikes I've seen one other with the bad bearing outside the recall range and one that had a failed pinion seal. The actual 'Business bit' inside the housing looks like the turret operating mechanism for a large battletank! this is one majorly strong component! As long as the oil changes are looked after it should last pretty much forever.

One note about the above statement. There are NO gaskets in a CARC. The two halves of the casing are sealed together with a sealant which should be of the semi-hardening variety. I use Threebond 1211 but Hondabond or Yamabond will do just as well if you can't find Threebond. The front of the CARC and the top where the torque arm comes out are sealed by boots with clamps holding them in place. As I mentioned before the 'Single Use' clamps used by Guzzi can easily and effectively be replaced with CV boot clamps as used on many small, front wheel drive cars. I also add a small smear of Threebond about the boot sealing surfaces.

If you are still getting drips check around the clips that hold the brakeline under the swingarm and CARC. It seems that the drillings for the clips may of been deliberately allowed to go through into the swingarm to allow the egress of oil in the event of the pinion seal going so the owner knows something is wrong. Note also that the pinion seal replacement requires a special peg spanner to undo the seal holder. Try doing it without this, (Or a home made alternative but it'll need to be accurately made.) and you'll almost certainly damage the front of the CARC 'Bridge' that holds the pinion. Just so you know........

Pete
 
Also, the fuel overflow hose ends at about that position. With all the niceties that can get in there, a spill can look a lot like oil (albeit rather fluid oil). Keep an eye out, but with a bit of luck, it was just that ... your Norge blowing her nose, so to speak ;)
 
THe pinionseal is a bit of a pain. As an addendum to what I wrote to Tony I should explain that to replace the seal you need to split the cases of the CARC to access the pinion seal holding mechanism. This is a bit of an embuggerance but isn't the end of the world. What I usually do is start th separation by using a spreader in the input end of the CARC and prying between the external flanges at the rear. Once the two halves are showing signs of separation I heat the RH side case with a heat gun until it just lifts off the bearing. The LH case can then simply be inverted in a press and the CARC business bits pressed out of the large pinion bearing.

You then hold the CARC in soft jaws in a vice, remove the boot, remove the locking clip for the seal carrier and use the special peg spanner to undo the seal carrier. Be warned! It is done up 'Till you fart' tight! You'll need a long breaker bar! :lol:

Replace seal and reassembley is a reverse of dissassembley with the RH case being heated up first and the CARC bridge being dropped into that first and then the LH side being pressed back onto it. As stated, I seal the halves with Threebond 1211 but Yamabond or Hondabond are perfectly acceptable alternatives!

Pete
 
Thanks for the info guys, I was hoping it might be something from the breather and checked that out first. Having taken the CARC off though it's definately the input seal that's on the way out. I don't think it's too bad at the moment as the oil level doesn't seem to be changing noticeably.

I've just had the bike serviced (except the CARC oil) and the dealer has got me a new seal and the boot clamp. Apparently they've split these before and have the tools needed. I'll probably hand over the CARC to them. I haven't got much in the way of facilities to tackle a job like this but I'd do it if I did.

I'll be doing my own servicing in future though, their labour charge has gone up £10 an hour since last year (to £55) and I thought we'd gone into deflation !!

Cheers

Phil
 
Here's peek inside the wee darling.
CARChousingopen1.jpg


Labout costs here are about 35UKP.
 
At £35 per hour, even I might be able to afford it.:laugh:
I was charged 58UKP per hour, plus our VAT at 17.5% last September. And it hasn't gone down since, apart from the VAT rate dropping to 15%.

Nice picture of a lovely bearing Graham. Got a spare?:laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top