The TC88 and TC88B engines are good, well thought out designs for your motorcycle. Up to a point that is. The cylinder setup, oil cooling jets, much larger cooling fin area, cylinder base o-ring seal and the new rocker boxes are good improvements. We have been receiving more and more requests for a motorcycle part like the "Cure" for the EVO as oil is still being blown out the breather of the "Twinkie". We are in the prototype stage of some new motorcycle part designs and ideas and will hopefully release a solution soon. On our own 2000 FLHRCI (2KRK) we have had more than a fair share of problems. We were one the first of the cam bearing failures locally barely catching it in time and more recently lost half of the oil pressure for no visible reason. We tore down the cam chest, top end and had a look see and found no apparent cause. We decided to pump it up to 95" and add a 203 SE cam. We ordered a Delkron cam plate and new style OEM oil pump that was supposed to address the return sumping issues of the original motorcycle part design. After assembly with all new parts we found that the new pump would not prime even through back flowing from the filter. We called Gene at Feuling Engineering to get some input as to what he may have come across. He has studied the new oil system and is in agreement that it is a blend of high-pressure low volume and low-pressure high volume in design yet the pump is not capable of meeting the design needs. The oil jets require oil pressure to open and may not get the needed pressure all the time. The bottom line is the oil pump needs help. This is where the Feuling "Super Pump" comes in. The specifications are 40% more flow on the feed side and 60% more flow on the return side. During the initial tear down, we found that the chain tensioner shoes were worn out of tolerance at 20k miles! So, the SE 203 motorcycle cam was changed out for a TW37G and S&S gear set. There are several advantages to gears and very little downside. The advantages are free horsepower, durability and extremely accurate timing. The stock setup cam timing can vary as much as 10º according to some experts. We could feel and see the slop during tear down and assembly. In our opinion it should have been gear drive in the first place. Hypoid gears and properly sized and pitched gears would be no noisier than a so-called silent chain drive. The down side of the gear drive is gear lash. S&S has no control over the quality of the cam plate casting. As a result some gear sets whine or make a ticking sound. S&S has developed a series of under and oversized gears and are working on the procedure to measure the gears in the field. They are also looking into a method of determining the spacing of the cam plate so the customer can specify the proper gear set. After installing all the nice new motorcycle parts we had to chuckle that only stock item left was the Pinion shaft. We primed the pump by pumping oil into the oil filter housing holes and then filling the filter. We still had the cam cover off and the pushrods and tappet blocks out. I was going to get oil pressure BEFORE I assembled this thing again! We spun the motorcycle engine over and we had 20 PSI almost instantly! After buttoning up the top end, we fired it up and at idle oil pressure was at 42 PSI. Blipping the throttle would peg the 80-PSI test gauge. We were due to leave for the annual Bike Talk run that Friday and had to hustle to get some break in mileage on the fresh top end and cams. We checked the motorcycle oil pressure several times and it dropped no lower than the 40 PSI hot. After some test rides, oil pressure was holding steady so we proceeded with the break in and annual Bike Talk ride. While we were working on this problem a customer contacted us asking if we knew of a problem with motorcycle oil pressure! He had the same oil pressure problem and priming problem with a new oil pump motorcycle part. We filled the customer in and he purchased a Feuling pump

 

2005 FLHRI TWIN CAM ..The first start (cold engine)at idle my oil pressure light comes on.If I raise the idle the light goes off.Engine sounds normal.Could this be the oil pressure switch going bad?

rixflhr

 

Could be the oil pressure bypass relief is sticking. You have to remove the bypass (this can be done while in the bike) from the cam plate and make sure it's not sticking. You can also install a shim or a stiffer spring.

 

Thanks dawg I'll check it out.

 

Hi, new member here. I've been following various threads on the TC88 oil pump issues. The idiot light on my 2000 Electra Glide has started flickering on now and then lately. It goes off at highway speed. 46K miles. Engine sounds fine. I picked up a new sender unit at the dealer the other day and also ordered one of the tools to get it off. I'm going to try that first, but I doubt that is the problem. From what I've been reading, it seems the ultimate solution is to switch everything out, which I believe is very expensive. In the meantime, I picked up a used stock HD oil pump from Ebay and ordered a Baisley spring. My plan is to go in and take a look and see what's going on. I've read that the bypass may be stuck open? What else should I look for other than physical damage. Thanks in advance for tolerating the newby!

 

On a 2000 if you still have the stock cam tensioners at 46k you better have a look. They are prone to need changing long before that. Do a search for cam tensioners on the internet and on this forum and look at some of the pics posted. You can upgrade to the new HD setup which includes new plate with new tensioner system and a hi-flow oil pump. You should also change out the bearings. Best to get a look in there before the tensioners take out your engine. I bet you'll see some scoring on your oil pump!

 

I took the cam cover off over the weekend. The outside tensioner shoe is only about a fourth worn down. I ordered a new one anyway. I didn't take the cam support plate out yet. I didn't have time to take the gas tank off, the rocker boxes and then take the push rods out. I installed the Baisley Spring. I did not see any obvious signs of wear. The teeth on the gears look fine and the cam chain looks fine. I'm going to get a new gasket tomorrow and put it back together and see what happens. I'm hoping the spring will solve my problem; I'll let you know. Thanks!

 

Well, I took a day off work and reassembled everything with no problem. Tried to start the bike; no run! It has a real funny sound when it turns over and kind of squeaks. Would not start at all. The pulleys can only be installed one way, so there's no way to screw that up. Now I will have to pull everything off again. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I tore things apart again. I assume I must have the gears misaligned. The two punch marks on the cam ends do not quite line up. The flat on the rear cam shaft end is straight up; it looks like it needs to be left of center to align with the bottom gear. The punch marks on the end of the cam shafts are about an eighth of an inch out of alignment. How could this happen and how can I fix it?. Any words of advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

Got it; sorry for the panic posts! Still didn't fix my flickering oil light problem however. Don't have a press or all the "special" tools; trip to the dealer?