How do I check my oil on my 03 fxdl when motor is cool

 

Start it up and warm it up first.

 

As was said, get it at running temp and check it. Being a car guy all my life
I was going by the assumption that you check Twin Cams the same way and
never bothered to read the owners manual. When I finally did I found out that
it will read full when hot and a half quart down when cold. Confused the hell
out of me at first until I posted a question about it. BTW, Have you happened to
read the owners manual? Should tell you in there.

 

Guys are correct. Must check hot. As long as you see oil on dipstick when cold it's safe to start and warm up to do the real check.

 

wow things have changed! Every vehicle I've ever operatedneeds to be checked cold. My '08 states cold check on jiffy stand. The manual shows two levels one for hot and one lower for cold. I keep mine at 1/2 the stick cold that way I avoid excessive blow-by from the breathers and negates useles topping up of the oil= less wasted oil.

 

When I check oil when it's cold, I first put on my leather coat, then pull the dip stick out. What kind of a silly question is that?

 

Using the manual you can check it both ways. When cold it should be close to the center of the hd emblem on the oil stick.
I prefer to check it warm though.

 

I understand what you are saying. I have been checking mine cold "BUT" I never read my owners manual and was filling the oil level to the full mark.
I happened to read the owners manual one day and when I read the part about checking cold/checking hot, it didn't make sense to me. I have been
working on cars since '69 and not once did I think a Harley would be any different than a car, cold it would all drain into the pan (car guy thinking).
I was wrong. I did a post about this in the general forum last month and got lit up a little and there was some interesting debate about this.
I have been checking mine both ways now to verify what the manual says and what I learned on the forum, cold it is at the half mark on the stick.
Hot it is on the full mark.

 

, Oil expands when it gets warm. That`s why if you add oil when the engine is cold you are likely to overfill it. I always check my oil when I put the bike in the garage just after a ride.

 

Make your own "cold mark" on the stick. Check it hot one day and make sure it's at the proper level. Next morning pull the stick out, and make a mark of your own on the stick where the oil level is... now you have a "full cold" mark.