When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I thought I had an excessive amount of oil dripping from the crankcase breather, which is about 6" of hose open to the atmosphere...but the puddle wasn't under the breather.
When the primary was sealed they cut and blocked off the primary return hose that attached to a long oil line fitting that goes into the block, next to the oil pump.
The hose was full of oil and dripping from the loose clamp. When trying to tighten the clamp, the long fitting going into the block was extremely loose and oil was coming from around the fitting.
All of the Harley manuals and Climber all show this line going to the pump. The disassembly/assembly instructions mention nothing about this return going to the block.
However, the Harley book does identify it as a low pressure return from the primary and that a breather valve draws the oil from the primary and forces the oil into the gearcase.
My questions are: Can I simply tighten the fitting into the breather valve and how tightly?
Does it being ridiculously loose mean that some grommet or something inside the gearcase between the breather valve and the block has failed?
If I over tighten will the breather valve be harmed/fail?
Judging by the amount of oil caked around that fitting and under the engine it appears to have been working it's way loose for awhile. But it's impossible for it to spin with the blocked hose attached, so something inside has to be what was coming loose, right?
Don't know personally about your model bike but I can't imagine a fitting like an oil return being designed to be loose. The original shovelhead primarys were designed to be airtight which would allow oil to be scavenged back into the crankcase, a loose fitting would not allow that to function as designed. Here is a diagram that you might find useful
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
'82 fxrs primary return issue
