Ok so on my heritage softail classic.I changed starter and of course I had to take oil tank off and lost all the oil in it..
so after my starter replacement and putting tank back on.
The shop manual said for an oil change to ad 3 quarts.so I did. Now my oil seems to be very full.
I drained out some from oil drain hose..About half a quart.I rode bike then back and checked it with bike up right level..It was just at bottom of filler neck on tank..
I came out this morning after bike sat overnight and put bike upright.I took off oil stick and it was so full oil came out!
Any ideas why a cold check is too full on my bike and warm is about right?
Makes no sense

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Maybe has something to do with the fact you didn’t do an oil change, you spilt the oil in the tank.

What does the tank hold? Sure the data is out there.

It seems you over full by quite a margin.

Best thing to do would have been to put in a quart. Check level. Start it. Check level.

But you’re past the point of no return on that.

Definitely drain some more oil.

Good luck, a resident expert on softail will steer you through.

 

Thanks for reply..
at this point I'll just change oil again since it mixed with the bad oil..
This time I'll ride it for 15 min then drain oil and do like you said..A quart at a time..
Thanks

 

What year is your bike? Reaper's (2005 Night Train) oil is checked while she's leaning on the jiffy stand.

Cheers!

 

Ok well I was going by the shop manual 1997 and 98 softail
so that's what is confusing

 

If that covers the year of your bike, follow it. I know that earlier year Softails had solid dipsticks, and needed to be upright to check the level. I don't know the year it changed to the style where it's checked while leaning on the stand.

Cheers!

 

What year is your Heritage? Why didn't you drain all of the engine oil before removing the oil bag? Many of us keep the oil level halfway between add and full on the dipstick.

 

Mine is a 1998
I e heard both ways on having it up on jiffy stand or up right but the manual I'm going by is 97 to 98..and my stick is solid with just one machined scribe about half inch from end of stick.Norhing else.So I'm assuming that the scribe at end is low point.
Like I stated. This is my first Harley..I've had Vulkans and
V stars and their methods are different
So when I replaced starter I had to take oil bag tank off and figured 3 quarts after replacing and never warmed bike to normal temp Not knowing about the sump oil.
That's where I went wrong because I noticed oil being dirty right away so I looked further into it and bought manual..
I did drain about a half quart out..
So today I'll ride it about 10 miles roundtrip and drain oil while hot from tank.
The I'll put 2 quarts a check it and ad as needed.
My dip stick has temp gauge on it so not sure if it's factory..
Let me know if doing oil change like this is right? Thanks

 

Ok, you have the correct manual for your bike. That's good. Follow what it says, and you'll be fine. Since the dipstick is solidly attached to the oil cap, you're meant to check the level with the bike upright.

Whenever I change Reaper's oil, I always start with 2 quarts in the oil tank, then fire her up, wait until the oil light goes out and add enough oil to get it to halfway between "add" and "full" on the dipstick. If your dipstick only has one mark, I would suggest you find an OEM, or an after market with the range markings. There's no way to know if that mark is the "full" or "add", although, it would make sense that it's the "full" mark, since there would be no way to know how much to add if it was the "add" mark, and you really don't want to overfill it.

Cheers!

 

Ok just took a 15 min ride and came back.
drained oil from hose from tank
Since I didn't change oil filter
It was just changed a few days ago when I did oil change
I put back in tank 2 quarts of fresh oil .Synthetic 20 50
I started up bike for 5 min to get oil circulating.
Sat on bike with it level turned of bike waited couple minutes wiped off stick put in back in all the way and checked oil on stick
It is almost half way on stick about an inch from bottom mark.
I figured about half quart is left in oil filter?
What do ya think? Should I ad more? Keep in mind there is no full mark on this stick