Huggy Posted July 24, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 24, 2014 I have removed the descant for the air pump from the bike and this what i have see picture. Everything is covered in a light oil feels like 4 in 1 oil. the form on the end disc is falling apart and mixed in with the beads. What should I do?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairiehammer Posted July 24, 2014 Share #2 Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) The only time I ever messed with the desiccant on my Venture was to dry it out and it didn't look anything like yours when I removed it. My desiccant was more granular/angular and dry. Your oily looking spheres look unusual. Perhaps someone has already replaced the OEM desiccant with something else. Some silica gel desiccants are spherical. Some silica gels are 'non-indicating', meaning the crystals or spheres do not change color as the crystals absorb moisture. Try drying it out in a low heat oven (175°) for a couple hours and see if the color changes to blue and the oiliness is gone. If so, then replace the renewed spheres/crystals into the canister, making sure to sift out the fines. Sometimes the fines will get past foam filter and clog or jam the CLASS control valving. As for the deteriorating foam, seek some replacement filtering media and cut a disc of it and use that new filter in place of the crummy old one. This particular filter is just to keep the silica gel from migrating into the valve body, so any 'screen' of a suitable density should work. There is another filter at the intake of the compressor. Is this the foam that you show? If THAT filter has deteriorated, again find a suitable replacement, but the goal is to filter the intake air, so it should be a finer filter than the one intended to retain the silica gel. Edited July 24, 2014 by Prairiehammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share #3 Posted July 24, 2014 OK thanks for the advice. Now is there anyway oil from the front forks can leak back to the filter? I can push the front forks down and they bounce right back to where they where so I don't think there would be oil leaking back from there. It's almost like they media was soaked in oil and the oil is much lighter then fork oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairiehammer Posted July 24, 2014 Share #4 Posted July 24, 2014 OK thanks for the advice. Now is there anyway oil from the front forks can leak back to the filter? I can push the front forks down and they bounce right back to where they where so I don't think there would be oil leaking back from there. It's almost like they media was soaked in oil and the oil is much lighter then fork oil. There HAVE been some reports of oil from the forks migrating into the CLASS air lines, but ordinarily this happens after an upset of the bike (laying on its side). Even then, it would be unlikely to travel all the way to the valve body and then through the closed solenoid valves into the desiccant canister. The rear shock could fail internally and perhaps pump an oily mist into the dryer canister, but once again the oil would have to pass through a lot of plumbing and the valve body to get to the dryer. Perhaps, some misguided previous owner tried to lubricate the compressor and succeeded in pumping the lubricant into the silica gel. The compressor is an oil less pump, BTW. On a similar vein, perhaps the PO thought the compressor intake filter might require some additional filtering capability (ala K&N filters) and oiled the foam filter there. If heating and drying the silica gel does not remove the 'oil' and return it to it's dry color (blue), then one should probably replace the old desiccant with new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) There's no hint of oil coming from the rear shock. No oil in the line to the shock. There was a little oil in the line to the front forks but just a little. The greatest amount of oil was in the canister as if it had been oiled on purpose. Also the amount of desiccant seem to be very low for the size of the canister. Edited July 25, 2014 by Huggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videoarizona Posted July 25, 2014 Share #6 Posted July 25, 2014 +1 what Kevin said. Replace the stuff with new. No sense messing around with an unknown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van avery Posted July 25, 2014 Share #7 Posted July 25, 2014 I have been working on a 86 goldwing and the desicant looked just like yours. Put it on aluminum foil lined pan a baked it at 350 F for 5 minutes and it turned a nice light blue. The thread I was working from in the goldwing docs also said that Harbor Frieght carries the desicant for around 5 bucks if you want to replace. BTW the inlet filter (foam rubber) had degraded badly and some had traveled through the compressor so make sure to check it out too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share #8 Posted July 25, 2014 I have been working on a 86 goldwing and the desicant looked just like yours. Put it on aluminum foil lined pan a baked it at 350 F for 5 minutes and it turned a nice light blue. The thread I was working from in the goldwing docs also said that Harbor Frieght carries the desicant for around 5 bucks if you want to replace. BTW the inlet filter (foam rubber) had degraded badly and some had traveled through the compressor so make sure to check it out too. OK I'll try that. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairiehammer Posted July 25, 2014 Share #9 Posted July 25, 2014 ...the amount of desiccant seem to be very low for the size of the canister. The service manual specifies 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of desiccant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share #10 Posted July 25, 2014 OK I have purchased new desiccant since the price of it makes it really stupid for me to mess around with the old stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now