Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
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Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
I just bought a 2006 Heritage, it had been sitting for quite a while, I trailered it home, after I got it off the trailer I checked the oil in the tank and none was showing on the stick, I didn't want to risk engine damage by starting it this way so I filled the tank to the correct level. I then started the bike and it was running fine and then after a couple of minutes of it idling the filler cap from the tank blew off and oil started to spray out of the hole, what's going on !!!
and no I don't yet have a manual and this is my first Harley.
Please help, I'm panicking !!
and no I don't yet have a manual and this is my first Harley.
Please help, I'm panicking !!
May our Moderator Rest in Peace
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 11,386
Likes: 35
From: Rochester, NY
RE: Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
You made a rooky mistake.
A Harley has a dry sump oil system. That means that all the oil is supposed to be in the tank and not in the engine itself.
However, may bikes will "leak down". This is where the oil in the tank seeps back down into thecrankcase over timw. One of the things that happens when the engine is started is thatthe scavenge side of the oil pump starts pumping any oil that's in the crankcase back into the tank.
Now you refilled the tankfirst, so now its going to try toput all the oil that wasin the crankcase back into the tank with the oil you added.
So 6 quarts or thereabouts are trying to fit into a 3 quart tank.
You now know whathappens when you try to do that......oil everywhere.
Best bet will be to drain the tank, clean up the mess and start over again.
This time don't put more tahn 2 1/2 quarts into an empty (drained out) tank.
Run the engine for a few minutes and recheck the level and bring it up to the stick level.
And never again check the oil without running it a few minutes first.
Good Luck your going to have a hell of a job cleaning up all that oil.
A Harley has a dry sump oil system. That means that all the oil is supposed to be in the tank and not in the engine itself.
However, may bikes will "leak down". This is where the oil in the tank seeps back down into thecrankcase over timw. One of the things that happens when the engine is started is thatthe scavenge side of the oil pump starts pumping any oil that's in the crankcase back into the tank.
Now you refilled the tankfirst, so now its going to try toput all the oil that wasin the crankcase back into the tank with the oil you added.
So 6 quarts or thereabouts are trying to fit into a 3 quart tank.
You now know whathappens when you try to do that......oil everywhere.
Best bet will be to drain the tank, clean up the mess and start over again.
This time don't put more tahn 2 1/2 quarts into an empty (drained out) tank.
Run the engine for a few minutes and recheck the level and bring it up to the stick level.
And never again check the oil without running it a few minutes first.
Good Luck your going to have a hell of a job cleaning up all that oil.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,918
Likes: 4,688
From: West Texas Sandhills
RE: Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
ORIGINAL: Citoriplus
You made a rooky mistake.
A Harley has a dry sump oil system. That means that all the oil is supposed to be in the tank and not in the engine itself.
However, may bikes will "leak down". This is where the oil in the tank seeps back down into thecrankcase over timw. One of the things that happens when the engine is started is thatthe scavenge side of the oil pump starts pumping any oil that's in the crankcase back into the tank.
Now you refilled the tankfirst, so now its going to try toput all the oil that wasin the crankcase back into the tank with the oil you added.
So 6 quarts or thereabouts are trying to fit into a 3 quart tank.
You now know whathappens when you try to do that......oil everywhere.
Best bet will be to drain the tank, clean up the mess and start over again.
This time don't put more tahn 2 1/2 quarts into an empty (drained out) tank.
Run the engine for a few minutes and recheck the level and bring it up to the stick level.
And never again check the oil without running it a few minutes first.
Good Luck your going to have a hell of a job cleaning up all that oil.
You made a rooky mistake.
A Harley has a dry sump oil system. That means that all the oil is supposed to be in the tank and not in the engine itself.
However, may bikes will "leak down". This is where the oil in the tank seeps back down into thecrankcase over timw. One of the things that happens when the engine is started is thatthe scavenge side of the oil pump starts pumping any oil that's in the crankcase back into the tank.
Now you refilled the tankfirst, so now its going to try toput all the oil that wasin the crankcase back into the tank with the oil you added.
So 6 quarts or thereabouts are trying to fit into a 3 quart tank.
You now know whathappens when you try to do that......oil everywhere.
Best bet will be to drain the tank, clean up the mess and start over again.
This time don't put more tahn 2 1/2 quarts into an empty (drained out) tank.
Run the engine for a few minutes and recheck the level and bring it up to the stick level.
And never again check the oil without running it a few minutes first.
Good Luck your going to have a hell of a job cleaning up all that oil.
Since the bike has been sitting for quite a while, just do a complete oil change...all 3 holes...change filter too
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 257
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From:
RE: Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
According to the book, it says to look through the filler welded neck, if you don't see any oil, fill it til the welded base of the neck. RIDE the bike to bring to temperature, then check the stick and fill accordingly. If it's been sitting for a while (3, 4 6 months???) then an oil/filter change should've been done
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Road Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,084
Likes: 181
From: Texas
RE: Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
"fill it til the welded base of the neck"
Wrong.... warm engine first before filling... maybe 2 or 3 minutes to see if oil is flowing back to tank.. what "Citoriplus" said...
If you ever fill to the "neck" you are going to be blowing oil for a long time... fill it to the proper dip stick level...after being warmed.
I should know....:
https://www.hdforums.com/m.asp?m=219...page=1&key=
Wrong.... warm engine first before filling... maybe 2 or 3 minutes to see if oil is flowing back to tank.. what "Citoriplus" said...
If you ever fill to the "neck" you are going to be blowing oil for a long time... fill it to the proper dip stick level...after being warmed.
I should know....:
https://www.hdforums.com/m.asp?m=219...page=1&key=
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May our Moderator Rest in Peace
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 11,386
Likes: 35
From: Rochester, NY
RE: Oil everywhere, what's going on !!
maencana,
Don't feel bad about it. Your not the first guy to make that mistake and undoubtedly won't be the last. At least you had the right idea and tried to make sure thaere was oil in it before firing it up.
That you didn't know about the oil leaking beck into the crankcase doesn't mean what you did was a stupid thing, just ignorant. You made a good decision based on a faulty understanding, its regretable and no doubt messy, but understandable and with a bit of elbow grease, cureable.
If all itcost you is a little embarasment, someoil along with the time and effort to clean up, so be it, you have learned a valuable lesson. Believe me its far less embarasing, and cheaperthan having to buy a new engine.
Harley's are a little unique in their use of using seperate, self containedoil reserves for theprimary and transmission and a pressurizeddry sumpsystem for the engine.
Most bike'sthese days may seperate the oil from the tranny and the engine or use a commonsump for everything. But they are almost all wet sump systems wherethe oilis contained in the bottom of the engine. So checking the oil usually involves no more than pulling a dipstick or looking at a sight glass on the side.
As I said above the dry sump system Harley has used on their BT engines since the year of the floodhasthe oil tank above the engine andbecause liguids of any kind always try to find the lowest point, they willleak down some. Its very common andthey all do it to one degree or another. It just becomes more pronounced the longer the bike is parked.
So don't worry about it there's nothing to be overlyconserned about. Just think of it this way, if you had added 3 quarts of extra oilto the averageMetric bike engine it might well have destroyed it.
Don't feel bad about it. Your not the first guy to make that mistake and undoubtedly won't be the last. At least you had the right idea and tried to make sure thaere was oil in it before firing it up.
That you didn't know about the oil leaking beck into the crankcase doesn't mean what you did was a stupid thing, just ignorant. You made a good decision based on a faulty understanding, its regretable and no doubt messy, but understandable and with a bit of elbow grease, cureable.
If all itcost you is a little embarasment, someoil along with the time and effort to clean up, so be it, you have learned a valuable lesson. Believe me its far less embarasing, and cheaperthan having to buy a new engine.
Harley's are a little unique in their use of using seperate, self containedoil reserves for theprimary and transmission and a pressurizeddry sumpsystem for the engine.
Most bike'sthese days may seperate the oil from the tranny and the engine or use a commonsump for everything. But they are almost all wet sump systems wherethe oilis contained in the bottom of the engine. So checking the oil usually involves no more than pulling a dipstick or looking at a sight glass on the side.
As I said above the dry sump system Harley has used on their BT engines since the year of the floodhasthe oil tank above the engine andbecause liguids of any kind always try to find the lowest point, they willleak down some. Its very common andthey all do it to one degree or another. It just becomes more pronounced the longer the bike is parked.
So don't worry about it there's nothing to be overlyconserned about. Just think of it this way, if you had added 3 quarts of extra oilto the averageMetric bike engine it might well have destroyed it.