Went to check my 2006 FLSTN for wear on cam chain tensioner. For 22k miles, it was pretty bad, so did some homework and decided to go with gears and installed S&S kit with 510 cams.
Crankshaft run-out was about .0026 and the whole process seemed very smooth. I kept the original lifters and pushrods (510 cams work with stock lifters, springs etc. according to S&S) taking off the tank and removed the rocker plate to get it all done and replaced the gaskets, of course.
Here's where it gets interesting: Manual says to put no more than 3.5 quarts of oil in, I put 3 1/4 or so and it was waaay over the full line , but I suspected that was because it was cold. Fired it up and shut it back off because the oil cap flew off and oil went everywhere, so I figured the oil pump must be working. I re-counted my oil containers to make sure I didn't put 4 1/2 quarts in, and I definitely put in 3 1/4 plus a little in the filter.
Took a turkey baster and sucked out 1/2 a quart, fired it up and noticed a loud ticking. shut it off after about 30 seconds and the idle was still high. I noticed the exhaust pipes were hot as hell even in that short a time frame.
Waited 15-20 minutes for it to cool down, took another 1/2 quart of oil out and the dipstick still showed about 1/4 inch above full, fired it up again and ran it for closer to a minute, the idle speed was lower, closer to normal and I was able to determine the ticking was not the good ole gear cam clicking, but much louder and at the rocker box area. Fired it up another 20 minutes later and it really didn't want to stay running, back fired a couple times and the clanking had me worried, so I shut it off.
I drained the fuel, took the tank back off removed the lifter covers and it was bone ^%$#ing dry. No oil splashed on the roof of the cover, nothing around the rocker support, it looked just like it did before I fired it up.
Is there any way the oil cap would have flown off if the oil pump wasn't working? Is there a chance that the rocker area would still be dry after a couple minutes of running?
Sorry for the novel and thanks for any help.

 

Adjustable pushrods? Did you bleed down the lifters to properly adjust? Sounds like your lifters didn't pump up yet. Sometimes it can take several minutes.

 

You could have two issues going on.

1. Did you drain the oil and start with a new oil filter? If you did not, you have over filled with oil. While you were working on the bike, all the oil in the tank drained into the crank case sump. If you did, there was still about a quart of oil hanging around in the motor that has drained into the sump. In either case, you have too much oil in the motor which is why the cap blew off and, yes, the oil pump is working. If you did start with oil drained and a new filter, drain another half quart out and start again but check it as soon as the motor has run for a few minutes and act accordingly, if below full, leave it alone; if above full, suck out some more.

2. You said you used OEM pushrods so pushrod adjustment is not a contributing factor. Before you restart, pull the plugs and ground them; put the trans in neutral and hit the starter a few short bursts, five or six, to help facilitate oil pressure build up. Short bursts for 10-15 seconds; longer is hard on the starter and you need to make sure you have a fully charged battery. After that, put the plugs back in and fire up the motor. Don't mind the rattling, let her run for a few minutes and the rattling should go. When the rattling goes away, there will be oil up top. The oil up top does not squirt all over the place like a small block Chevy. The HD oiling system is based on flow not pressure.

 

Yes. They are stock pushrods. I drained the oil before I got started on the project and left the plug out and a pan under it for days while doing it. I suppose it still had too much oil in it, but now that I've taken over a quart back out, that would leave whatever may be in the sump , plus 2 1/2 quarts or so. I was afraid the noise was from too much oil, but that doesn't make any sense.
When you say " pull the plugs and ground them" do you mean pull the plug wires, pull back the insulation and set them between some cooling fins, or remove the plugs from the cylinders and tape them to the frame?
It's good to know the rattling is normal. Looks like I could have probably let it run a while, but I would have had to fight to keep it running the way it was back firing.
Something I didn't think about until today, the previous owner put a power commander III in it . It has Vance and Hines Longshots on it. I had the battery disconnected for a couple weeks during all this. Is there anything I need to do to the power commander?
Thanks again for the replies.

 

Did a quick check on the power commander. It's not supposed to lose it's mapping when you disconnect the battery, but it looks pretty easy to remap.
Even if it reset to factory preset, I can't imagine it would run like complete ^%$#, so probably not a factor from what I've read.

 

Leave the plugs in the wires and just let them contact the cylinder fins.

I don't have an explanation for the backfiring unless cam timing is off. Check compression, if there is a big difference from one cylinder to another, cam timing is off.

 

Good deal. Thanks for the advice. Since I've got the lifter covers off I'll get me a compression tester.

 

Front cylinder 165, rear cylinder 180. I checked it twice, (this is cold compression mind you). Put a dab of oil in the cylinders with a turkey baster, waited a minute and checked again and got 180 on front and 190 on rear.
Considering how well the bike has been maintained and that it has less than 23k on it, I wouldn't think the rings are bad on the front. Is that enough difference to mean the cams aren't lined up? I sure took a lot of time getting the marks right and lining everything up. I'm starting to think maybe, possibly I put the pushrods in the wrong slot. Going to check that.

 

pushrods are correct. Put it back together and did a compression test again, but remembering to open the throttle this time and got 180 front 190 back. Put it all back together, turned it over a few times with spark plugs out and grounded, put spark plugs back in, fired it up and ran it for about 2 minutes. still rattling, turned it off, checked the oil, it's still showing high, but the oil itself is cold after 2 minutes of running.

 

Let it cool off a little, ran it again for 4 minutes, it stayed running on it's own, but still rattled. The oil light stayed on. Still showing a little too full on oil level and oil is still cold