Intake seals swap

[rsm688]

Okay guys well I have noticed a little bit of hesitation in certain ranges and think it might possibly be some leaky intake seals, my bike has almost 34k miles on a 2003 XB9s so I am sure it's probably about time to swap them anyways. Luckily I already have the funky allen wrench tool from ASB that I got to use for my M2 when I swapped the seals on it.

I have seen some guys say the James Gasket seals are much better than the factory harley ones? Any thoughts on this? Any any tips on swapping them or idea of how long it took you to do the job?


Thanks,
Spencer

[JustinMT]

I changed them over on my 09, didn't need to, but after seeing the stock ones you'd be surprised how they all don't leak. The Genuine James are about three times thicker, and seal so much better.

I did mine on a rainy day, and it's not the easiest job to do. It's very hard to get the bolts out for the flanges, an fidangle the throttle body out. You don't need to rotate your engine to do this, just be patient. It probably took about 2-2 1/2 hours to complete.

The most aggravating part, I think, was getting the intake back in between the cylinders with the new seals. They are so much thicker, it's hard to wedge them down, while keeping them flush with the cylinder walls. It's also a pain the get the flange bolts into the holes, the bolt for the right side, rear cylinder took me forever to get the threads started.

Like I said, take your time, and be patient. If you have any amount of mechanical experience, you'll be able to accomplish it!

[rsm688]

Thanks a ton JustinMT, did you remove any material off the flanges for the james gaskets? I saw a thread where two users said they had to sand some off the intake flange to make it fit back up with the james gaskets (and I don't want to touch it at all, way too easy to mess something like that up lol)



thanks,
spencer

[JustinMT]

No problem. I did not come across any thread about removing material from the flanges. Once you get the GJ seals, you'll scratch your head to how the hell you're going to make them fit, but they will. Like I said, when the throttle body was out of inbetween the frame, be careful putting it down to put it back in, because the seals are so much thicker, the flanges will kind of start to slip off of the throttle body and the flanges will kinda rotate. It's a pain, but doable.

[rsm688]

Great thanks Justin, the thread I saw where two users said they removed some material to make them fit was badweatherbikers not buellxb, others said they fit without removing material I just wanted to make sure. Gonna order them tonight

[JustinMT]

Okay, I'm not a member over there, all those guys come across to be pretty ignorant (just from reading through threads via Google search). I guess I can understand why one would remove a very small amount (there really is a lot of seal between the cylinder side of the flange and the actual cylinder).

The reasons I changed mine was I had a hanging idle, and due to the seals being relatively cheap, and seeing I could do it myself, I went ahead and just did it for the hell of it. My idle issue worked itself out, have no idea how, but it's not hanging like it did before.

[afpreppie04]

I just replaced my intake seals with the blue Genuine James ones earlier this week. Like Justin says they are a lot thicker than the OEM ones. I had my frame off doing other work but even so getting the intake lined up with the bolt holes was a pain; I do not envy you doing it behind the frame. I found it much easier to get it in there with a thin coating of Sil-glyde on the new seals. It is a lubricant I use at work for things like o-rings, it lets them slide into place without affecting the sealing capabilities.

[rsm688]

Thanks afpreppie, I have some silicon lube as well that I was going to use (works wonders on things like intake/exhaust seals and all). I'm a vet student so I am used to working in tiny spots at awkward angles (doing surgeries in small dogs/cats that weigh 5 pounds lol)

[DiRTeNtwisted]

afpreppie - where could I pick up this Sil-glyde. I'm about to change my seals. And it sounds like it'll help a lot!

Justin - hey man where did you buy the Genuine James seals?

Thanx guys, DiRT

[wolfo68]

I used some high temp gasket maker as an aid on my R and I never saw a problem (cometic seals). Messing with the uly I got stuck with the stock seals and could never get them to work correctly. Going to be trying the james seals next