Final Drive / Crown Bearing

BruceLaQuinta · 07-12-2006, 09:07 PM

My GS Adventure has just been diagnosed with a bad crown bearing. While doing my 48,000 service I found flakes of metal doing the final drive oil change. Talked to the dealer they said not to worry. If in doubt, rest your hand on the luggage rack and spin the wheel. If you get vibration, it might be the crown bearing starting to go.

Short story long, I did as they suggested, and I did have some vibration. I tried the same thing with my S, and it too had some vibes, but not nearly as much.

Took the GS in on Saturday and they confirmed it was the bearing. Now I have to wait until August since that was the first appointment I could get. Good thing I bought the extended warranty, $482 for the repair

So, now paranoid about my S, I decided to change the final drive fluid again, but it came out "normal", i.e., a fine layer of crud on the plug. I did notice that slowly turning the wheel would result in a "rolling" sound, as if the metal balls in the bearing were repositioning. If I spin the wheel with any force, the brake drag drowns out the rolling sound, so maybe that is why I never noticed it. Anyone else ever notice this sound?

Sorry for the rambling.

Regards.

And BTW, I have this crazy notion of trading the GS in on a new K1200R. Help me!

Steve Carlton · 07-12-2006, 09:32 PM

I'll give you $100 more than the dealer will for the GS...

roger albert · 07-13-2006, 09:31 AM

Not been a problem to any degree on the S.
The S is lighter, and gets stressed less than a GS, much less a K.
More or less a non issue here.

emccarty · 07-13-2006, 06:18 PM

I just replaced mine. The dealer told me this is a very common failure. The bearings have 18 balls the new upgraded bearing has 17 balls and a much heavier cage which keeps the ball bearings seperated. The cage fails and small pieces of metal gets ground up by the gears. The bearing cost $148.00 and the seal cost $20.00 I believe. If in dought just remove the rear wheel and the allen head screws behind it. Tap on the black inside housing and it will come out in your hand you can easily inspect the seal, ring gear and bearing.

roger albert · 07-13-2006, 06:44 PM

> The dealer told me this is a very common failure

Very common, on 11Ss? I'd question that dealer.
I'm not saying it's unheard of, but it's never been a topic hear, nor at the local dealer, nor at my shop, and only moderately common, at most, on the GS laden ADVrider.

I call bunk on 'very common'

Raven · 07-13-2006, 08:37 PM

Roger,

I heard the same comments to some extent, it is not uncommon. That is why they redesigned the carrier bearing.

emccarty · 07-13-2006, 08:37 PM

It is my understanding this same bearing is used on all the models for several years. It is common enough that the dealer in Cape Girardeau, Mo. always stocks the up-graded bearing and seal. Roger it sounds like your local dealer doesn't do the volume of service work that this dealer does.

BruceLaQuinta · 07-13-2006, 11:17 PM

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm going to visit my dealer again to look at the KR, and I'll have them take a look at it.

Also, I just changed the tires this evening and the rear wheel has a bit of play. If I remember correctly from some of the other posts the wiggle comes from the loose bushings... I'll have to read up on it.

Thanks again.

Steve - if you are serious let me know. I'll probably be putting it up for sale in early August once it's repaired. Here's a picture of it in "super-moto" trim.

roger albert · 07-13-2006, 11:19 PM

Could be, but it's a pretty high volume dealer, so I remain skeptical, especially when added the the fact that the problem has shown up at my shop exactly zero, and has not exactly been lighting this place on fire. Again, it's seen a bit more on GSs, and the Ks, but is darn rare on R11Ss, Rs, and RSs. Not sure on RTs. Haven't seen that yet either, but I don't have a lot of customers with RTs. Plenty of GSs though, and not even the ones regularly pounded in Mexico and with >100k miles have had it show up (yet)
In any event, "very common" is pushing it.

ErricZ · 07-14-2006, 08:43 AM

And if Steve doesn't want it, I might be tempted ... if I don't find that sweet GSPD I'm hankerin for.

roger albert · 07-14-2006, 09:34 AM

Contemplating and airhead Eric?

ErricZ · 07-14-2006, 01:38 PM

You betcha. My buddy has an R100GS that we have to do the same crown bearing job on. And in all the GS talk, I decided that that I'm gonna go with an R100GSPD next year, when "new bike" time comes.

Besides, I need to know how to work on them for my future shop.

Flatbutt1 · 11-21-2007, 03:12 PM

OK so I'm a dopey ****, no big news there. My FD is s-l-o-w-l-y leaking so I figured I'd get it rebuilt over the winter. Bought the parts and called the indy that does my bigger jobs for me. "Sorry T I can't do that job, I don't have the special tools".

FRAK! Now what? I'm not in the habit of bringing raw meat to a diner for them to cook for me so not sure I can I go to tyhe dealer with the parts and hire them for the labor only.

WWYGD?

AZ-Twin · 11-21-2007, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flatbutt1

WWYGD?

I would have had my brother out for Thanksgiving.

AntonLargiader · 11-21-2007, 05:22 PM

What's leaking? If it's just the crown gear seal, and there's no evidence of a bearing problem, it's worth just replacing the seal yourself to see if it does the job. Leaking seals do NOT always mean a bearing failure is behind it. Sometimes it really is just the seal. The crown seal is very easy to replace.

Pinion, different matter. Send it to someone with the right tools. That would be a dealer or Tom Cutter (who is in Yardley PA, maybe not too far from you), off the top of my head. I fix them also but I'm a bit farther away. Tom (or your dealer) will be a lot closer.

Flatbutt1 · 11-21-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntonLargiader

What's leaking? If it's just the crown gear seal, and there's no evidence of a bearing problem, it's worth just replacing the seal yourself to see if it does the job. Leaking seals do NOT always mean a bearing failure is behind it. Sometimes it really is just the seal. The crown seal is very easy to replace.

Is there an idiot's guide to doing the crown seal? I have the pix from the manual but.....

emccarty · 11-21-2007, 08:23 PM

Flatbutt, Take a long flat blade screwdriver and carefully place it under the inner edge of the seal. Push the handle down (don't worry about ruining the old seal) once it starts to come up move the screwdriver 90 degrees and repeat. It should pop right out now. Clean the surface and the bearing with brake cleaner. The old seal had a coat of silicone type sealer on the outer edge make sure to remove all of the old sealer. Inspect the bearing closely. If it is good blow all the brake cleaner out of it. Apply a small amount of silicone around the outer surface of the seal and gentlely push the seal streight in by hand. Make sure you get it back to the same heighth as the old seal. Put some lube on the bearing, roll it around a few time to get the balls all lubricated. Put the bearing housing back into the rearend, line the bolt holes up, start the bolts and tap the housing with a rubber hammer (take extra care to make sure you keep it streight). Tighten the allen head bolts to the proper tork. If the bearing is bad any automotive transmittion shop which repairs streight shift gear boxes will have the necessary tools to remove the old bearing and press the new one in. An experienced tech can change the bearing in less than an hour. Good luck

AntonLargiader · 11-22-2007, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flatbutt1

Is there an idiot's guide to doing the crown seal? I have the pix from the manual but.....

Just carefully pry it out. Or drill a tiny hole in it, thread in a screw and yank it out.

Take some crocus cloth or a scotchbrite pad and smooth the surface of the axle where the seal will slide. Wipe it clean, clean the inner surface of the cover where the seal will install, then warm the FD housing with a hair dryer, heat gun, propane torch, whatever... the new seal should push in with finger pressure. No sealants!!! Install it dry. If you really need to, tap it in using a mallet and a block of wood to distribute the force over as much of the seal as possible. You might be amazed at how easily it slides into place. Install flush with the cover.

Flatbutt1 · 11-22-2007, 07:31 AM

Thanks guys, I'll keep ya posted.

Fixxxer · 11-22-2007, 11:04 AM

Here's my saga of a leaking FD seal:
Was ist das?

I ended up taking the FD cover off because I had to replace the seal and the o-ring (see the last couple of posts from me on page 2). If you want to see some pics of the job, you can check 'em out here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leemarr/