Have all my fluids drained and slowly working away at all the changes, etc. Really wanting to do a total oil change which would include purging the nearly 1 quart of dirty oil that would normally mix with the new oil in a conventional oil change. I pulled the oil return line from the oil tank and see a lot of rust surrounding the line entrance. I ordered a quick connect kit which comes with the o-rings. But, I'd really like to clean up all that rust without pushing it into the tank, which, would mean tank removal. A bit more complicated than I expected, which means cutting the rubber part of the lower line and removing the exhaust pipe. Also, in order to purge the oil, the exhaust will need to be removed so I can pull the return line far enough out to attach a hose for purging. Should I bother pulling the oil tank or just carefully scrape away the rust the best I can to remove the o-ring and replace?

 

being the lazy guy I am...I wouldn't want to pull the oil tank.


just spit ballin' now.....but if the crud is on the outside, think I'd put the crevice tool on the shopvac and hold it within an inch of whatever tool I'm using to remove the crud

..L.T.A.

 

I'm thinking in that direction as well. I've just heard it's not easy getting those 2 o-rings and plastic washer back into the inlet on the tank.

 

over thinking the issue
i doubt seriously there is 1 qt left in the engine
and, there are millions of engines surviving out there without doing what you want. if you are that concerned, just increase service interval.
one?
do you do the same for you car/truck?
how about 47 years on a ch with no oil filter and nearly 200k miles.

 

I'll agree with you on most of that but "the proof is in the pudding."
Plenty of vids out on it. Here's one I like.

 

But what about all the oil changes that aren't done his way, but the engine still last 20 years or more? My thought is that, if Harley thought it needed to be done that way, they would have placed the drain plug in a location to drain every drop of oil out of the engine. That guy seems to have invented a solution for a problem that doesn't exist.,,,

 

unnecessary OCD...sure, I mean it looks good, but in real World application doesn't matter a hill of beans as all engines are proven to hold up just fine the normal OCI way