Oil Leak, again...
Oil Leak, again...
Bought my 2017 FLHTK in July. Had it a week and then had to take it back because it was leaking oil pretty bad. It was coating the right side of the bike to include the back seat and tour pak. The culprit was a defect in the rear cylinder head. It was replaced and that fixed that problem. Then I noticed it was still dripping oil into the air box. I assumed it was blow by. When I did the 1k mile service, I only refilled the oil halfway up on the dipstick (measured when hot). Still dripping oil. Before I left on a recent 1800 mile trip, I made my own breather bypass contraption. Turns out, it was not excessive blow by because the oil wasn't coming out the breather bolt but somewhere around it. I had also stuffed some paper towels in the air box to soak up the oil to keep it from dripping out. It helped, but oil still found its way out. I don't know exactly where it's coming from except it's in the general area of the front breather bolt. Oil gets into the air box and also runs down the outside of it on the engine side. I took it back in last Wednesday and am still waiting to hear what's going on and what the culprit/fix is. I really hope that's the last of the issues. I really like this bike and enjoyed the ride. I rode interstates, back roads and in the mountains. It rained a lot but it was still enjoyable. The bike performed and handled great. I'll update with the culprit and fix when I hear something, just in case anyone is curious...
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 999
Likes: 7
From: Allentown,Pa.
Bought my 2017 FLHTK in July. Had it a week and then had to take it back because it was leaking oil pretty bad. It was coating the right side of the bike to include the back seat and tour pak. The culprit was a defect in the rear cylinder head. It was replaced and that fixed that problem. Then I noticed it was still dripping oil into the air box. I assumed it was blow by. When I did the 1k mile service, I only refilled the oil halfway up on the dipstick (measured when hot). Still dripping oil. Before I left on a recent 1800 mile trip, I made my own breather bypass contraption. Turns out, it was not excessive blow by because the oil wasn't coming out the breather bolt but somewhere around it. I had also stuffed some paper towels in the air box to soak up the oil to keep it from dripping out. It helped, but oil still found its way out. I don't know exactly where it's coming from except it's in the general area of the front breather bolt. Oil gets into the air box and also runs down the outside of it on the engine side. I took it back in last Wednesday and am still waiting to hear what's going on and what the culprit/fix is. I really hope that's the last of the issues. I really like this bike and enjoyed the ride. I rode interstates, back roads and in the mountains. It rained a lot but it was still enjoyable. The bike performed and handled great. I'll update with the culprit and fix when I hear something, just in case anyone is curious...
Last edited by bob2002; Sep 11, 2017 at 09:45 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 7,673
Likes: 13,836
From: Northern New Jersey
Bought my 2017 FLHTK in July. Had it a week and then had to take it back because it was leaking oil pretty bad. It was coating the right side of the bike to include the back seat and tour pak. The culprit was a defect in the rear cylinder head. It was replaced and that fixed that problem. Then I noticed it was still dripping oil into the air box. I assumed it was blow by. When I did the 1k mile service, I only refilled the oil halfway up on the dipstick (measured when hot). Still dripping oil. Before I left on a recent 1800 mile trip, I made my own breather bypass contraption. Turns out, it was not excessive blow by because the oil wasn't coming out the breather bolt but somewhere around it. I had also stuffed some paper towels in the air box to soak up the oil to keep it from dripping out. It helped, but oil still found its way out. I don't know exactly where it's coming from except it's in the general area of the front breather bolt. Oil gets into the air box and also runs down the outside of it on the engine side. I took it back in last Wednesday and am still waiting to hear what's going on and what the culprit/fix is. I really hope that's the last of the issues. I really like this bike and enjoyed the ride. I rode interstates, back roads and in the mountains. It rained a lot but it was still enjoyable. The bike performed and handled great. I'll update with the culprit and fix when I hear something, just in case anyone is curious...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 7,673
Likes: 13,836
From: Northern New Jersey
For me it was a very slight dribble of oil out of the hose that aims into the throttle body. I just got sick of dealing with light oil spots on my exhaust.
Catch container inside the air filter housing. 6.4 oz plastic oil container and some hose.Works great. No fasteners needed, plenty of room to hold oil. It fits snugly in there. Had it on for 500 miles and no issues. Poke holes in the red cap as a vent.Make sure the hose going in is at least an inch off the flow of the bottle so oil build up doesnt block the end of the tube going in.
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 908
Likes: 121
From: VA
I had this very similar setup, just used a different container. I even zip-tied the hoses to the breather bolts to ensure a tight seal and wrapped the breather bolts with Teflon tape. But I like I said, very little oil was actually coming out the breather bolt into the tube. The oil is coming from somewhere around the bolt though, just can't pin point exactly where. Before I rigged this contraption up, I didn't notice any oil in the air filter. There was evidence of some going into the throttle body but it was minimal and probably normal. Hopefully I'll hear something later today...
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 11,463
Likes: 2,990
From: Charleston, SC
Every time I see a pic of that catch can you made Stixvrad, I giggle. So genius. Well played.
Yes, it's a 17' and I left it like that so they can see exactly what I'm talking about it and not assume it was blow by or "normal" lol...