HELP Front OIl seal stuck! NC30 1989

[kneedown400]

help, I'm having trouble removing the front oil seals. They seem to have been corroded onto the internal Diameter of the fork! ive soaked in penetrating oil, tried knifes, heated the casing. they wont come out.

Any suggestions how to remove this is welcome!

[CMSMJ1]

you split the fork and seperate the legs? They should be pulled out with the forks unless I am being thick?

Welcome to the site too....

[Neosophist]

Erm.. knives and heating the casing?

As Mark (CMSMJ1) has said, you need to dismantle the fork.

There standard damper rod forks so plenty of guides around if you search the internet.

in a nutshell.

1. loosen but not dont remove both fork caps.
2. remove forks from bike after disconncting brakes / mud guard and wheel
3. drain oil from forks from drain bolt
4. remove hex bolt from the bottom and take the caps off and drop out the spring and internals.
5. Remove the dust seal from the fork and take the circlip out
6. pull sharply apart to remove stantion (shiny part) from the lower leg, it will pull the fork seal and bush out at the same time

re-assembly is by reversal of the above. always use genuine honda seals and genuine bushes if they look worn

[kneedown400]

guys, the oil seal is so corroded its bonded into the inner diameter of the fork. the right handside one came out ok. the left is stuck. ive followed the haynes manual for sequence. no matter how hard i ram with the lower assembly the oil seal remains stuck.

[Neosophist]

guys, the oil seal is so corroded its bonded into the inner diameter of the fork. the right handside one came out ok. the left is stuck. ive followed the haynes manual for sequence. no matter how hard i ram with the lower assembly the oil seal remains stuck.

So you already took one apart.

The reason why its hard to believe that is that the seal is rubber so shouldnt corrode. Theres a spring to keep tension on the lip in the inner.. I take it you didnt forget to remove the circlip? they can shit up and mank thinkgs up but with it out you should get it out. Or if its really bad you can pull the fork tube through the seal (ive done that before..) then you can dig the seal out without worrying about scratching the tube

I would advise against heating / prying as your likely to scratch the lower of the stantion, and then its ruined at it wont seal.

Trick I always use is not a little ram.. push the stantion tube all the way in and then open it fully with firm force like your doing one of those srpingy chest exercise things, having your arms stretched wide apart. Will often come out easy then

[VFRkieran]

If you have taken the circlip out you shouldnt struggle if you have the right technique, take the stanchion in one hand and the lower fork tube in the other and sharply pull the two apart after a few times of doing this in quick sucession you should have them out easily. Its called the slide hamer effect if im not mistaken, if you give it a search on youtube then im sure a video showing how to do it will come up.

[kneedown400]

Guys, sound advice! im a strong guy ive been chest extending for hrs! circlip is out! understood that the seal is rubber too. but its like its glued in, the dust seal was knackered and ive got no idea how long its been like this! the oil seal has metal insides they are corroded and its stuck to the inside. at the moment its soaking in WD40, for a few days. there is nothing physicall stopping it from coming out! u can see the circlip groove! had the old man holding the upper tube while i was tapping with a wooden block still wouldnt budge

[NGneer]

The set of forks I have just striped came appart - just as the Haynes and all the advice says they will, IE a couple of slide hammer actions and Bobs was my Mothers Brother .

However the first set I ever did, sound very sililar to yours. I ended up with the lowers wrapped in rags to protect them, then clamped in a large bench vice and then I got all medievil on the slide hamer actions. Still no joy and I was managing to move a very large and heavy bench around. Ended up getting a mate to sit on/brace the bench and went at it again. I really was giving it some brutal slide hammering and figured that i was going to bust something, but it had to come appart so I figured I would just see what was broken once it did and take it from there.

Some more full contact sldie hamering and a few choice phrases and suddenly it came free. Upon inspection (and after a clean up) there was not a mark on there to worry about. I rebuilt them and have been using them ever since.

Corrsion can be funny stuff stiff as f**k, but one you break the stiction, very little evidence. You are doing the right thing, just get a bit more eeeerm enthusiastic with it