Not sure I can post this here. I posted in DIY, oil related as well.

I know this is a bit lengthily, but I wanted to give as much information as possible to see if someone could steer me in the right direction.

I have a 07 FLHTCU with the HD Premium Oil Cooler. THe oil cooler has been on the bike since new and I believe it has an internal thermostat that opens at 185 degrees. I just got the bike back from an oil/filter change and instead of the HD synthetic oil I had the mech put in Amzoil. That is the only thing changed from before.

Last year I installed a Dakota Digital Dash, which shows (LED) my oil temp. This summer, the dash gauge started blinking at me showing the oil temp had reached 250 degrees. Outside air temps were in the mid 90's, but it is always that hot here in Florida. I got worried, pulled over and checked the oil level (stock HD dipstick). The level was a bit above FULL. I let the bike cool down a bit, started up and continued on. The oil temp had gone down to acceptable temp by then. About 15 minutes later the same thing happened. I stopped at the next Harley dealer I came too and purchased the new Digital readout dipstick and installed that. I was thinking the digital gauge in the dash had to be wrong. Well, the dipstick matched the information I was receiving from the digital dash.

On the way home, the oil temp once again rose to a very high level (over 250 degrees). After I got home I checked the oil level, with the new dipstick, and wound up taking out almost a pint of oil to get the oil level down to what it is supposed to be.

At this point I am wondering if the thermostat is not opening completely in the oil cooler?

Could it be the Amzoil? Although I was told that using Amzoil should lower the oil temps.

Is there a way to check and see if, in fact, the thermostat is not opening or not opening fully?

Or, is there something else that I am overlooking altogether?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

It's really hot outside man....i think you are over thinking this....Just ride.

 

Not since I got my PCV and a real tune.. I can sit at a light in 95degree weather and not cook my nads..

I actually had to get my hand an inch or so from the motor yesterday to be able to feel the heat... Amazing how low the temp is running.. I'll be adding a temp guage to my dash just to see what it is...

 

Don't worry about it. 250F isn't high and Amsoil isn't gonna break down at this temperature.

 

I have a Jagg 10 row low mount oil cooler and I am in Florida, since installing it my temp never gets above 227 if I am moving and is typically 217-220, if I am in heavy stop and go traffic I installed the bigsky fan kit on mine I simply switch on the fan and it will stay below 230 as well

 

If you had no oil temperature gauge before the digital, you may be over reacting a bit. The thermostat is a car generally works at about 190 degrees and it's liquid cooled. I would guess that it doesn't take long for Harley oil to get to 185 degrees.

 

[QUOTE=jetspeed8;7035183]
I got worried, pulled over and checked the oil level (stock HD dipstick). The level was a bit above FULL. I let the bike cool down a bit, started up and continued on. The oil temp had gone down to acceptable temp by then."


I run a big inch motor in my FLHT (131 Billet) and I run 3.5 quarts in a Baker 5 quart. I do this to allow my engine to breathe a bit better and increase the volume of flow through oil channels. It also keeps my oil presure around 23-28lbs at crusing speed which helps scavenging. I too have Digital Dakotas and I changed my factory warning flash from 230 to 240. The highest I get in heavy stop and go is about 250-252 in 90 degreee weather. and about 227-235 crusing

I'm not saying to run a quart and a half low, but do not overfill. More oil does not = a cooler motor. Change your oil and try about a third to half a quart low and see what it does before you go on any long trips. It may help. Every motor does not cool as efficient as the next. If so mark your dipstick to this new fill line and you can have reference for future oil changes/checks.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I was on vacation recently and the outside air temp was around 98 degrees. I do not have an oil cooler. My oil tem gauge krept up to close to 260 for the first time in stop and go traffic. The bike continued to run excellent with no indications of overheating (pinging) however, the yellow engine light on the speedo illuminated. I've never seen this before. I was a bit worried that the bike's trying to tell me something. I turned onto a side street and was able to cruise at 35mph or so. After about a minute, the engine light went out. Anybody have any ideas what this could mean? First time for me seeing something like this.

 

[QUOTE=bazam9s;7035382]Thanks for all the good advise. I'm going to take your advise and dump the oil and filter and put in new, and take it from there. This time I'll do the oil change myself instead of relying on someone else.

 

lets see 90 plus deg,hot engine ,250 plus deg engine ,250 deg oil,that seems normal,lets ride