Dave (Wizard) I certainly don't take issue with what you say concerning the overfilling and I have heard others also report that it seemed to help, but I have a hard time getting my peanut-sized brain around the overfill issue. The oil tank input to the pump is below the pump in the bottom of the tank. I can see where the overfill may affect the "ease" at which the intake side of the pump can vacuum the oil in, but a "normal fill" should not flow from the tank into into the crankcase. The problem with the blow-by is excess oil down there where the scavenge side of the pump is. The supposed advantage in using the Fueling (spelling unsure) oil pump is that it has a much larger scavange side to pull this oil out. HD did go to a larger pump a couple of model years back after years of saying there was nothing wrong with the original pump, but it still may be too small. Fueling swears they can solve the blow-by problem with their pump.....I don't know.

I rather tend to think the overfill issue (draining some out) eases pressure within the system and that could be why it helps. If there is a positive pressure in the oil tank...it's just that much harder for the scavenge side of the pump to push the oil back in the tank. Usually, an overfill will result in a dipstick blow out, but you new guys have the screw-in dipstick.

That must be why letting a few ounces out tends to help. I am just making the point here that some people think you are pouring oil right down into the motor when you fill the tank...like in your automobile, but you're not. These are dry-sump engines.

I think the reason why is starts showing up after a few thousand miles all at once in some cases is....as the filter gets dirty it becomes harder for the intake to find it's air, resulting in more suction being applied to anything it can find...which is the oil vapor from the crankcase vent...which makes the filer more clogged and it just gets worse until you clean the filer and start all over again.

I'm not doubting your word or advice. I say....whatever works...do it!

 

VT... one of our new bikes is a screw in oil cap (Touring) the other is a push in plug (Softail) so there goes that theory. But both seal as well as the other so maybe not. The Softail did have a few drops of oil seeping from it's dipstick and running down the oil tank. I chalked that up to them not cleaning up.

The air filters are brand new (1000 miles) and not dirty. The vents on the CC are all in working order. The CVO 110 uses the same oil pump from model to model, same year. Fresh oil will not increase interior pressure but will increase oil pump pressure like the difference between cold and warm oil.

Both cases of the 1K aftermath resulted in oil dripping from the AC where it was not before. Also in both cases I rode the bike home resulting is a greasy mess and oil stained jeans... ughhhhh. Cleaning the Buffalo saddle bags on the ConV wasn't much fun either. Cleaning the hard bags on the SESG was a breeze but paint was damaged (long story). I removed both AC's and cleaned them out. Also found was oil standing in the neck of the TB.

In both cases our plugs were not removed and checked. How do I know? I loosened both rear plugs a little and tightened the fronts with anti-seize. Yes, I am a sneaky devil but you already know that. When I rechecked afterward and they were in the same condition so I highly doubt anything else was done to take the bike out of showroom stock working condition. When pulling them out all plugs were oil soaked where they were not before. The rear cylinder being the worst in both cases.

Oil just doesn't "blow out" by itself. There has to be a mechanical reason. A clinical test was set by my experience after a baseline was established. In both cases the reduction of oil quantity was reduced (draining) and no further blow out was noted. One could only gather the decrease in interior volumetrics produced by lack of ventable air (compressible) replaced by the increase of oil (non compressible) and out comes the puke (so to speak). The only question that remains is, will 1/2 qt of oil actually replace the same volume of ventable air in the crankcase and cause said oil to push be means of vapor or liquid through the head vents and cause cold engine blow-by?

Isn't that why a PRV was invented? In most internal combustion engines you maintain pressure within the engine crankcase below atmospheric. This reduces leaks through gaskets and seals from the crankcase. This also reduces the risk of horsepower reduction by driving the unnecessary air pump created by piston movement. The crankcase vacuum shouldn't be too excessive, which would cause outside air to be pulled through any worn crankcase seals or gaskets. PRV's maintain a slight crankcase vacuum and maintain a negative vacuum, right?

A "Blow off valve" would eliminate the slight leanness created with the pressure increase in the air box while under braking. This device will blow off the excess pressure if you had one but... since we don't it's pushed to the AC taking the oil with it. I think they call that "power venting".

Thanks VT.. now you got me hitting another pot of coffee this morning.


Sorry to get off track Barb... VT and I are just like this sometimes. Since he is getting old I help him keep his cobwebs cleared.. LOL

 

U guys don't pay much attention to me and Wizard.....we are want-to-be technocrats. I am going to concede defeat on this one. He used some bigger words and tried to write a longer post than I did.

I was already on my second pot of coffee this morning....what do you think started all this!

 

 

So Barb......does all this help????

 

Day'um, you guys are amazing! I'm going back to the dealer today...should I ask about the oil pump alignment? My gut feeling is the issue of puking oil is not over.....me thinks all that Service did was wipe down the trike (I know how to do that), cleaned air filter/spark plugs (I had to ask) and returned trike home!

Is there a machine that can be plugged into the trike and isolate a problem? Like in cars?

Writing and printing out responses....wish me luck. Hope they don't push my "jack-***" button

 

Not for this issue... One would hope they removed the "overfill" as they stated was the problem.

This is not an isolated issue. Barb... I would run the bike and if it pukes oil again have them simply remove 1/2 qt of oil. It will not hurt your trike and you are running good temps. I would have also told him to take his bill and put it where the sun doesn't shine... he already said it was too full.. that was there problem, not yours to pay to fix.

 

+1 on not paying.I really and truely believe that if 1/2 quart of oil is drained your problem will go away. The beauty of it is removing 1/2 quart of oil costs you nothing to try. If not than the oil pump may need aligned.

 

, I sure wouldn't be paying for their mistake.

 

Update: Service Mgr says this is an isolated incident and probably will not happen again. Could be that my trike is 'sensitive' to the oil added...spec says to the line. Maybe mine has not been filled 'to the line' in the past.

Mgr said just ride it.....also, I wasn't charged, that's the amount that he has to keep track of for warranty work (whew)!! Got me 7 yr extended warranty.

Of course, now there's rain in the forecast for the next week.