I can't see going that way either. I like K/N 171C Chrome HD oil filter with the 17mm nut on the bottom. Filters good, easy on and off, can find deals on Amazon sometimes. Good deal, less hassel.

 

Ive seen my fair share of bent push tubes but not on a harley. What caused it?

 

Sometimes pushrods aren't given sufficient radial clearance and they touch the casting at the end of the rocker travel. The cam follower moves along a straight line and the rocker rotates, bringing the pushrod close to the edge of the cover in this case.

 

Im going to respectfully disagree. If that were the case every other 88 96 103TC would have bent push rods.
When pushrods are bent it is most probably from poor adjustment.
If the adj length is set too long between the upper retaining ring of a hydraulic lifter and a pushrod seat, this will cause bending.
This is true in all non OHC engines with pushrods rockers etc

 

Hi 99%er,
Do you mean that the pushrod forces against the rocker until it bends?

When there is no lateral interference, a well seated pushrod must push the valve against the piston to limit the travel of the rocker; in this case the camshaft is off by a few degrees.

When you put an engine together you look for the lowest side of a chosen cam and then you insert the pushrod that centers itself with the help of a slight pressure of the hand over the valve. Adjustable pushrods will not allow the valve to close if they are set too long, but there is some tolerance left before touching the piston.
Both types of pushrods must turn freely between your fingers before setting the gap between rocker and valve. Once you get to this stage if you can rotate the crankshaft manually you're almost there
I accepted pushrods with a camber of 0.015", they were never really straight in my days...

 

..they're working on that problem....this is the latest developement...

http://youtu.be/Ac7G7xOG2Ag

 

I don't think your reply pertains to stock harley engines. the push rods in stock 88, 96, 103 engines are non adjustable....they are hollow tubes with little ***** at each end...with an oil hole. POINT being....I don't think it matters as to what cuased it .....ISSUE is a bent rod is a shorter rod....a shorter rod will have less lift...as a mis adjusted rod...so you get Ticky Tick.....not an oil flow or pressure issue. I was able to check my rods when I had them out for my engine upgrade and they were all bent. NOW, I wonder how many ticky tick problems are actually bent rods....how much of a bend are we talking...not much....but it can be measured and if you roll the rod on a glass top...you can see the bow as it rolls. BYW, the new rods don't ticky tick.

 

An impact produces a "tick", so there has to be a gap between the cam and valve stem. The hydraulic lash adjuster establishes a compressible cushion between cam and valve. The valve stem is kept in contact with the rocker to avoid the "tick". When you start the engine after a long period, you hear the ticking sound for a few seconds until the oil pressure comes back to normal.
In addition to this you have the sound of the valves hitting their seats which is music to my ears

 

Perhaps a Hydraulics 101 perspective may help out a but here.

Firstly the pumps used are positive displacement pumps (as opposed to centrifugal type pumps). What does this mean? Well, in theory and to a very large extent in practice, this means that the pump will deliver exactly the same volume of oil (metric units being cc/rev) for every 1 revolution of the pump - IRRESPECTIVE of the pressure in the system. Sure, if you spin the pump faster you will get more flow, but the flow rate delivered will be directly proportional to the rpm of the pump and completely independant of system pressure.

Secondly, a very tough concept for novices to get to grips with. A pump does not deliver PRESSURE. It delivers flow and will continue to deliver this flow against a resistance in the system. It is the resistance to the flow in the system that leads to a pressure build up. The best way I have found to describe it is to imagine pushing against an object, then the compression on the palm of your hand is pressure. You can push as hard as you want against an open door - you will never feel pressure on the palm of your hand!

So how does this relate to the OP. The pressure required by the lifters is a function of the spring resistance in the lifters and any flow restrictions associated with this part of the circuit. It has nothing to do with the filter....

Now, if your filter was a restriction in the system (lets say for now it is getting clogged) then what would happen. The total pressure at the outlet of the pump would be the sum of the pressure required to get the fluid through the filter plus the pressure required to lift the lifters and get through all the various restrictions in the system. As the filter blocks more and more, so pressure builds up until, ultimately, you reach the relief valve pressure. At that point, some flow continues through the system and some is diverted across the relief valve - BUT....the pump continues to deliver exactly the same flow (at a given rpm of course).

So, in essence, reducing the pressure drop across the filter will not make a blind bit of difference to what happens downstream PROVIDING the original filter posed a low enough pressure drop so as to stop the relief valve from cracking.

On a final note reference filters. I am not familiar with the particular filters you are considering, but....

The filtration rating typically specified in automotive applications is in the order of 10um (microns - or thousandths of a millimetre). The smallest particle one can see with the naked eye is between 25 and 40um. That immediately begs the question - how do you know the filter is clean when you think you have cleaned it if you can't see the contaminant? These kinds of filters come in and out of fashion in the hydraulics industry, and for some big plants with lots of hydraulics and lubrication systems (eg paper mills and steel mills) there may well be a justification. But...to clean the element properly you need to use an ultrasonic bath. If you want to clean it by flushing it with solvent....good luck.

 

I have been using my K&P filter on my 2011 RGU 103" since the first 50 miles (now 17,000 miles) and it is the quietest harley engine mechanically I have heard. I had a new RKP every from the time the T/C's came out thru 2008. This new 103 is incredibly quiet and absent the usually sewing maching tick tick of most 88's and 103's I have ridden in the past.