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96 sportster cavitation

jeraldbrown94

Premium Member
Premium Member
Hello all,

Background: I picked up a 96 sportster from market place with a know cavitation issue a few weeks ago just got the chance to go through the drive system. The kid i bought it from showed me a video of him in the water only getting the throttle to about half before complete thrust loss. I thew in the water for 5 min to verify. I tried easing it it up and couldn't get it to plain. Prior to selling it, the previous owner had the wear ring replaced. The owner prior to him had the whole engine rebuilt last summer. He was able to provide recipes and work orders for all the work performed.

What i've done: after going though other forum post on the issue and the trouble shooting section in the shop manual i decided to go through all the drive components. I found sevral issues that from my limited understanding, could be the culprit but want some experienced options. In the attached images you will see that the new wear ring already has contact damage. The sealant between the impeller housing and the shoe was half assed to say the least. The sealant was also still very tacky and malleable. The carbon seal the slides under the accompanying boot had been previously cut and RTVed back together. The RTV wasn't holding. The smaller click clamp was smashed. Im guessing they cut out the seal so the could pull the drive shaft since I had to cut that ring off. There is also a nick in fiberglass in the corner of the impeller housing area. There is also a surface crack that runs down the area and some damage to the end of the shift protector.

Current plans: Replace broken parts and properly seal upon reinstall.

Questions: ive seen sevral of the parts listed on Amazon and other suppliers cheaper then the parts link in the forum. Any recommendations on where I should get them? Any general recommendations on what I should do before or during reassembley like other things i should check out or replace while im already there? Thank you in advance!
 

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