Hey Guys and Girls. My dad and I just tried to start our Fatboy up and ended up unloading all the oil from the engine onto the garage floor. It is on a stand and we are freaking out trying to figure if we pinched a line or cracked the bottom end. We just cranked it over a few times without any luck and then heard the dripping. It looks like the oil is coming from right below the engine. Any ideas on what the hell we might have done.

Thanks

 

Did you just do an oil change? Perhaps the filter is loose.

 

Maybe one of the bolts wasn't tightened all the way. Do youi ahve a service manual. It might prove helpful in this situation. What part of the engine is the oil dripping from?

 

Need more info...Hope you shut it done right away.....

[IMG]local://upfiles/2670/F9D877E5AA1F4AC7A997C81E620917E4.jpg[/IMG]

 

What year model is it? If it is a Evo engine I would say it could be wet sumping...

 

did you put the bolt back on.? LOL i only ask this because i did that over the summer [:@]

 

It's a 93 Fatboy. We didn't do an oil change and yes we shut it down right away. It's hard to tell where it came from because after wiping the excess oil away we can't see any more oil. We're going to have it looked at asap but thought this might sound familiar to someone.

Thanks

 

Why was it on the lift and what were you doing prior to starting it? Was the bike coming out from winter hibernation, when was the last time it was run?

Limited info provided. Hard to diagnose. If you are too curious to wait for a mech to look at it, put a drip pan under it and fll it up again and see if it leaks again and if so where from.
Rule out the smple stuff first before assuming the case halves have cracked open. Look at the oil lines, filter, drain plugs, etc, for obvious problems.

 

I have read that since the oil tank is above the sump that the motors have a check valve inside them, what happens is the "ball" thats in the check valve gets worn after a while and leaks somewhat. Then when you store the bike for the winter the oil all drains into the sump. When you start her up you get a nice mess on the floor. ......This I read out of some v-twin,..type of magazine... some mechanics on here could chime in though.

 

I had a similar issue with my first bike (87 Low Rider Sport). After the bike had been sitting all winter I went to fire it up. The battery was very weak and I had to kinda bump it along to start it. After a few failed attempts I hooked up a charger. I impatiently fired it up right away and oil poured out of somewhere near the carb(breather hosesI guess). Lost about half a quart before I shut it down. I freaked out and called my mechanic. He said that I built up pressure in the crank case by trying to start it the way I did. I let the battery fully charge, wiped up the mess, filled the oil back up. and it ran fine with no future problems. I hope this helps.