I have been looking into common failures of Harley engines and comparing them with newer engines on the market.

I would like to reduce the chance of failure in the engine so what would i need to replace to reduce the chance of failure.

Current engine
Revolution Performance 107 Kit 10.5.1
543 Feulings Cams
Adjustable Push rods
Stock Heads
Stock Injector
Air Filter (PRM Jet Stream Intake)
2009 Model (127-71578) SuperTrapp Kerker 2:1 SuperMegs for Harley Davidson FLH/FLT 2009 in Black Finish
ECU replacement (Thundermax)

So far I see I need to change.
Oil Pump for a High Pressure Oil pump
Rocker Assembly - Due to warping
Connecting rods
Oiler Cooler
Gear drive cams
Chain Tensioner - if not gear drive cams


What more do I need to change to make it more reliable?

 

Your OEM pump is more than adequate.
Has your rocker arm support plate warped? Not a common ailment.
Connecting rods are not the best but if the motor is running OK with no issues; why do a complete tear down to replace them?
Oil cooler is always a good idea IMHO.
Gear driven cams and the SE billet plate would also be a good idea; upgraded oil pump is part of the 25282-11 kit.

It ain't broke...........................

 

S&S lifters.
Send the crank to Darkhorse, are a couple more items.
Scott

 

I understand this and I want to do preventative measures before it is broken.


Ok so cost wise, if I were to break this down into phases in relation to cost for work hours would I be right to say the following

Low workload
Gear drive cams
High Volume oil pump
Billet Cam Plate
Rocker Assembly
Lifters

Medium WorkLoad
Oil Cooler


High Workload
Dark horse Crank Balanced
Connecting Rods
Fly Wheel balancing

is this an accurate assumption?

 

I am pretty sure 2009 is in the 21st century.

 

I am not sure I understand the phased breakdown by work load; perhaps you can clarify. You have not mentioned how many miles on the motor.

Adding the oil cooler is a no brainer; doesn't affect motor operation but certainly can't hurt and could add to the longevity of the motor. If the lifters are noisy, replace them but what I am saying is that if there are no issues with the motor, leave well enough alone; no need to "borrow trouble".

Often times when one starts diddllng around with a motor that has no issues, the didling around introduces issues. So, I am back to "if it ain't broke.....................".

 

Yes it is but the current Harley engine (2009) is base around a carburated 1930's design that hasn't really changed since then.

All im trying to do, is to bring the engine up to a technological standards that gives the engine more durability without having to spend hours in the service department.

For example. running your cams from a chain is so old school that most companies went away from this years ago. there are issues with the tensioners breaking to pieces for these chains causing massive damage.

I understand what you are saying with "if its not broke don't fix it". I also agree with you that didling may cause more issues so dont do it. However from searching on the internet and investigating where problems may occur in my engine I have found that the following are the major issues.

1. Low pressure from the oil pump is approximately 3lbs at idle and 30's at running. Because of this when starting the engine and warming the engine up
it takes along time to pump the oil around the engine causing damage to the engine. When there is a fault with the oil pump a lot of times its hard to identify if there are any issues of it due to the low pressure of the oil.

2. Cam chain tensioner. These are small and not much surface area to them. Reading the complaints about then they have a tendency to self destruct causing the cam chain to cease. The plastic then ends up in the pump and throughout the engine needing a engine to be flushed and cleaned.

Resolution - Replace the chain cams to gear cams removes the tensioners and the slack issues in the chain when changing gears

3. The quality of the rocker assembly is not the best and it has a tendency of warping. to overcome this a better quality of rocker assembly should be fitted.

Now for my own personal satisfaction to have the engine run smoother as the tolerances from harley are massive balance the engine to create a smoother running engine with less vibration.

Just yesterday my mates harley was taken off of the road as the bike lost three mounting bolts as they were sheared off due to the vibration in the engine.

So I want to prevent this happening to mine.

 

Running chains is NOT old school and is in fact a blessing with the 30s engine we surely do have. Gear drives are vastly over done. The chain drive is vastly superior, when used in our engine. 2007up bikes do not have near the issues with chain adjusters, than 06 back does.

21st century is a 2014 "A" motor. You already have that engine. You will NOT be making our engine into something it is not.

Why exactly do you THINK the engine needs more oil, anyways? Because a car engine does? Two vastly different engines. Our engine uses roller bearing for the crank and rods, wherein a car uses babbit type bearings. The only thing we could use more pressure would be to keep lifters pumped up. Stock bikes do well with the set up you have. 2009 is a good engine. Low oil does NOT hurt a roller bearing and whomever said it will? Thinks its a car engine that HAS to ride on a film of oil. Our bikes need no such film. Just a splash to keep the rollers nice and clean.

My advice is to quit reading the internet so much. All one reads is about issues, NOT about the thousands of bikes with no issues.

I, myself, have NEVER heard of 'warped rockers'. Not once. That's a new one on me.

If member DJL saying doing all of this work will introduce new issues, seems wrong to you? Well, let me repeat that, then. Don't mess with it unless you are going for a power increase and NEED some of these upgrades. And I do not mean a simple Stage1 or Stage 2.

 

It sounds like you are determined to mess with a perfectly good running motor for no apparent reason which is a recipe for disaster. You have yet to indicate that there are any issues with your motor that need to be addressed. This and other similar forums are for providing advice and I believe you have been given some pretty good advice so far but I will try to address your issues/concerns individually with more specific support for reverting to "if it ain't broke..............." But it is your bike so you get to decide what to do.

Oh contrare my friend. Obviously you know not what you speak. There have been countless design changes to the Harley TC motor since 1999; you need to keep up.

As wurk-truk points out, your '09 motor is the same as the 2014 motor.

You have been reading stuff on the internet that is out of context and not applicable to your '09 motor.

Do you have an oil pressure guage? I doubt it simply because your '09 motor has the first generation higher capacity oil pump installed in the later models which will produce 10-12psi at idle and 32-34psi at cruise. Your frame of reference is to the early model oil pumps, i.e., '99-'06 (except the Dyna)

Wrong frame of reference again. The early model chain tensioners are spring loaded and the cam chains are link chains. Without a doubt, there were some catastrophic failures that destroyed motors. However, the '07 and later models run the upgraded cam chest hardware that includes hydraulic tensioners and roller chains. There may some premature failures but they are uncommon; I haven't read of any on any HD forum. I can't argue against gear drive cams in any model, early or late; an owner's choice but the later model hydraulic tensioner/roller chain setup is very reliable.


This anomolie is unheard of; at least by me.

If your motor vibration is extraordinary, there might be something else going on, I doubt it is the "massive" factory tolerances. Your mates mounting bolts shearing off could be the result of poor maintenace or, as stated above, something else going on the was causing vibration excessive to the point of shearing off mounting bolts. This is a very uncommon occurence. Betting that the bike is a Dyna??

 

Thank you for clearing allot of this for me. I am relatively new to harley and just trying to get upto speed.

This is why I am posting the questions.

The other harley is a low rider so if that is a dyna then yea.

I am also comparing the engine against its competitors and seeing where the differences are and why they say they are different to Harley, then looking into the reasoning why and noticing the common complaints for that engine.

So I am comparing the Harley Engine Against other American V-Twin engines like Victory, Confederate, Indian

thanks for your input.