How to adjust clutch inside primary case? - 2000 Harley Davidson FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide

Does the grinding noise stop once you get the transmission in gear? if so, you may need to adjust your clutch. To adjust the clutch, find the cable adjuster in the middle of the clutch cable. It should be near the downtubes of the frame in front of the engine. Slide the boot up or down to expose the adjuster and loosen the lock nut. Turn the adjuster barrel inwards getting a good deal of slack in the clutch cable. Then, stand the bike up fairly straight and remove the derby cover from the primary. Inside, you'll see the clutch assembly with the adjuster screw in the center of it. Loosen the locknut and turn the adjuster screw inwards until you feel a resistance. DO NOT FORCE THE SCREW OR YOU'LL DESTROY YOUR INNER CLUTCH HUB. Once you feel the pressure, back off on the screw 1/2 turn and lock the lock nut down tight. Replace the derby cover. Go back to the cable adjuster and turn the adjuster barrel outwards until you have about 1/8 inch freeplay in the lever at the pivot. Lock the lock nut down tight and replace the protective cover. Also, make sure that the oil in your primary is not too high. With the bike standing straight up, the oil should be just to the bottom edge of the outer clutch drum, the bright aluminum ring on the outside of the clutch assembly. If it's too high, the clutch will drag and you will be unable to find neutral with the engine running.

Good Luck
Steve

Find the cable adjuster in the middle of the cable, loosen the lock nut, and turn the adjuster barrel inwards to get as much slack in the cable as possible. Take the E-clip off the bottom of the clutch lever pivot pin and remove the pin. Pull the lever out and disconnect the cable from the lever. Stand the bike straight up and drain the primary case. Down on the primary, take the round plate off to expose the clutch release mechanism. Disconnect the clutch cable from the link that connects to the release mechanism. Screw the end of the cable out of the primary case. Install in reverse order and readjust the cable. Add oil back to the primary case.

Good Luck
Steve

There's nothing to replacing the regulator. It simply bolts to the frame. The wires from the regulator to the stator plug into the plug on the lower left front of the engine case. The larger longer wires runs back along the frame and up to the positive post of the battery.

There's a bit more to replacing the stator. To replace the stator, disconnect the battery and drain the primary case. Remove the outer primary cover. You'll have to take the engine compensator sprocket nut off and remove the mainshaft nut that holds the clutch assembly on. To get the clutch assembly off, remove the snap ring in the center of the clutch assembly and remove the clutch adjuster. The mainshaft nut is inside the hole in the center of the clutch assembly. The nut has LEFT HANDED THREADS. Take the nut off the primary chain adjuster and take the engine sprocket, primary chain with adjuster, and the clutch assembly off all together. The rotor is on the engine sprocket shaft. It can be difficult to get off because of the magnets inside of it. The rotor has two holes in it. I use two long bolts and put them just into the holes deep enough to hold the rotor by squeezing the ends together. Pull the rotor off. The stator is held on by four small Torx bolts and it has a wire support that is held on by two small sheet metal screws. When you install the new stator, make sure you use thread locker on the threads and torque the bolts to 40 inch pounds of torque. The sprocket shaft nut torques to 150-165 foot pounds of torque. The clutch mainshaft nut (LEFT HANDED THREADS) torques to 60-80 foot pounds. You'll probably need a locking bar or some way to prevent the engine from turning while you torque the nuts.

Good Luck
Steve

To adjust your clutch on your Sporty, loosen the lock nut where the cable adjuster goes into the primary case. Turn the cable adjuster into the primary cover and get as much slack as you can in the cable. Then remove the round plug on the outside of the primary. Take the spring and the lock nut out of the adjuster hole. There is a slotted screw in the hole. Turn the screw counterclockwise until it stops. Then turn it back 1/4 turn. Reinstall the lock nut and the spring. Replace the round cover. Then turn the cable adjuster out as far as you can get it. Then turn it back in until you get a 1/16 inch freeplay at the clutch lever.

Good Luck
Steve

The clutch is dragging or the primary has too much oil in it. In either case, the transmission is almost impossible to get into neutral with the engine running.

To properly adjust the stock clutch, find the cable adjuster in the middle of the cable. Loosen the locknut and turn the adjust barrel all the way in giving as much slack in the cable as possible. Remove the derby cover on the primary cover. Loosen the locknut on the adjuster screw in the center of the clutch assembly. Turn the adjuster screw inwards until you feel a resistance. Do not force the screw. If necessary, back the screw off and adjust inwards several times to get the "feel" of what you're doing. Turn it inward just till you feel the resistance. Then back the screw back out 1/2 turn. Lock the locknut down and reinstall the derby cover. Go back to the cable adjuster and turn it outward until you have about 1/8 inch of freeplay at the lever.

Overfilling the primary will also make the clutch drag. The oil is up between the clutch plates and it acts like the transmission fluid in the torque converter of an automatic transmission in an automobile. If you look at the clutch assembly with the derby cover off, you'll see that the outer clutch shell is made of bright aluminum. Just inside that, the clutch spring is a darker colored steel. With the bike standing straight up, fill the primary with oil just up to the lowest point of that spring, no higher.

Warped steel clutch plates can also cause the problem you're having.

Good Luck
Steve

The primary chain adjustment has nothing to do with the clutch. Take the small upper inspection cover off the primary cover and use your finger to check the primary chain tension. It should have 3/8 to 1/2 inch up and down movement in the top run of the chain when the engine is cold. To adjust, loosen the lock nut on the primary chain adjuster on the bottom of the primary case. Turn the screw upward to tighten the chain, downward to loosen. Once set, tighten the locknut.

To adjust the clutch, loosen the clutch cable adjuster as much as you can. Remove the derby cover from the primary cover. Remove the spring and the locknut. Turn the adjuster screw counterclockwise as far as it will go. Turn it back in 1/4 turn and replace the lock nut and the spring. Replace derby cover. Adjust the clutch cable so that you have about a 1/8 inch play at the hand lever.

Good Luck
Steve

To adjust the clutch, first at the front of the primary cover, loosen the locknut and turn the cable adjuster into the primary cover all the way. Back at the rear of the primary cover, remove the round "plug", the spring and the locknut. Inside the hole, you'll see an adjuster rod with a screwdriver slot in it. Turn the screw clockwise until it stops then back off 1/4 turn. Replace the locknut, spring, and the plug. Adjust the cable adjuster out until you have about 1/8" freeplay.

If you have questions about the assembly of the clutch, please repost with a specific question and I'll answer it as best as I can.

Good Luck
Steve

There are a couple of things that could cause your bike to be hard to get into first gear. One, cold oil. If this is only a problem when the engine is cold, the oil in the transmission is cold and thicker causing the gears in the transmission to have more force against them.

Two, too much oil in the primary case. This makes the clutch drag as it acts very much like the torque converter in an automatic transmission.

Three, the clutch may need to be adjusted. Find the rubber bellows in your clutch cable and slide it up or down to expose the cable adjuster. Loosen the lock nut and adjust the adjuster inwards to get a lot of slack in the cable.

Remove the derby cover on your primary. Loosen the locknut on the adjuster in the center of the clutch assembly. Turn the center screw inwards until you feel the resistance. Do not force the screw. Just turn it until you feel the resistance. Then, back it back out 1/2 turn. Lock the lock nut.

Go back to the cable adjuster and adjust it outwards until you have 1/8" freeplay in the cable. Lock the locknut and replace the rubber bellows.

Check the oil level in the primary. Stand the bike straight up. Look at the clutch inside the primary. The outer clutch hub is made of shiny aluminum with a darker or black "plate" inside of it. The black "Plate" is the spring. The oil should be no higher than the lower point of this plate. If overfilled, remove the drain plug on the bottom of the primary and drain a little of the oil out. Replace the derby cover.

If this does not fix your problem, the shifter pawl may be out of adjustment. I would recommend that you take it to your dealer to get this done. It is a delicate adjustment that requires special tools.

good luck
Steve

Are you sure it just came loose? More than likely, it broke. To find out, drain the primary oil and loosen the locknut at the cable adjuster on the outer primary cover. Turn the adjuster inwards as far as it will go. Remove the four screws on the derby cover. and lift it away from the primary cover. Remove the spring and the locknut.

Now, remove any footpegs or anything else that may be in the way of the removal of the outer primary. Loosen the locknut on turn the primary chain tensioner out on the bottom of the primary cover. Remove all the bolts from the primary.

Now, turn the clutch adjuster screw back at the derby cover in a clockwise direction and remove the outer primary cover. With the primary cover off, you can replace the cable if necessary or simply hook it back up.

Reassemble in reverse order. To adjust the primary chain, turn the adjuster bolt upwards until you have 1/2" to 5/8" up and down slack in the top run of the primary chain. To adjust the clutch, turn the screw counterclockwise until it stops. Then, go back clockwise 1/4 turn and install the locknut, spring and the derby cover. Then adjust the cable adjuster out until you have 1/8" freeplay in the cable.

Good Luck
Steve

Sounds like your clutch throwout bearing is either bad or going bad. This is due to improper clutch cable adjustment. Just like in a straight shift automobile, if you keep your foot on the clutch pedal, the throwout bearing runs continuously shortening the life of the bearing. On a motorcycle, if the clutch cable is not adjusted to have just a bit of freeplay in it, the bearing will run continously as well shortening the life of the bearing. But, then again it could have just been a faulty bearing.

To repair the problem, you must remove the outer primary cover. First, drain the primary/transmission oil. Then you must loosen the primary chain adjuster beneath the primary cover. Loosen the lock nut and turn the adjuster bolt outward to lower the adjuster shoe inside the primary.

Then remove the clutch inspection cover, the small spring, and the locknut on the clutch release mechansim. Remove the left hand foot peg. Remove all the bolts holding the outer primary cover on. As you remove the primary cover, you will have to turn the screw inside the release mechanism inwards to get it out of the release mechanism.

Once you get the primary cover off, you can see the clutch throwout or release bearing in the center of the clutch assembly. Remove the snap ring and pull the bearing out. Inspect and replace the bearing if found to be defective. Carefully drive the center bolt out and the bearing out of it's holder. Install in the reverse manner.

Reassembly is reverse of disassembly. Install a new gasket on the primary and slide the primary cover in place while turning the clutch release screw into the the release mechanism. Install the bolts that hold the primary cover on and tighten. Tighten small primary cover bolts to 80-110 Inch pounds and the left foot peg bolts to 16-28 Foot pounds.

Adjust the primary chain tensioner to obtain 3/8' to 1/2" up and down slack when checked through upper inspection cover on outer primary. To adjust the clutch cable, find the bellows looking cover over the cable adjuster. Loosen the lock nut and adjust the cable as short as possible. Back at that the adjuster on the primary cover, slowly turn the adjuster screw clockwise until it bottoms out and quits turning. Do not force the screw to turn, just until it bottoms out. Now, back it up 1/4 turn and install the locknut. You may have to turn it just a bit one way or the other to get the locknut in. Install the spring and the cover with the quad ring in place. ADD OIL TO THE PRIMARY, 32 OUNCES of H-D Sport Trans or equilivent. To adjust the cable, adjust cable adjuster in the middle of the cable out as far as it will go without forcing anything. Squeeze the clutch lever a few times and adjust the adjuster so that you have 1/16" to 1/8" freeplay at the lever, about the thickness of a nickle between the lever and lever stancion. Lock the locknut on the cable adjuster and reposition the bellows cover.

As you can see, this is not a very difficult job but it is not for the "faint of heart" since it involves removing the primary cover. I would rate the job difficulty as "moderate" due to this necessity. The only special tool required would be a set of snap ring pliers. Good Luck!