Hello All, Apologies for the long winded post!

I purchased an 08 Ultra classic with an Altec mountain motor in it. On day one of purchasing the bike I was on the way home and watched the temp gauge get buried beyond 260 degrees. It barfed about 1/2 quart of oil all over the place.
I called the dealer I bough it from. They apologized and stated they had over filled the oil and that because it was a high compression motor that it should have been run 1/2qt low or it would blow it out the intake. I let the bike cool, checked the oil and found it was 1/2 quart low just like they suggested.
I drove it home and have not seen the issue again until this weekend. Ive now got about 1k miles on the bike since Ive owned it. The ODO shows 36kish. I have no clue when the after market stuff was done to the motor. While out for a ride this weekend I watched the temp gauge climb past 280 again and was pretty sure I was going to have problems.
Sure enough, the bike started to spew oil all over the place. I stopped, let it cool down and wiped the bike down.I got into town, checked my oil. I was 1/2 qt low so i added oil. I got about another 20 miles and the bike blew another 1/2 qt out the air cleaner. My OIL PSI never dropped. I typically run about 15-20PSI at idle and 40PSI while running. all seemed normal.
I found a couple Youtube videos suggesting Old/Bad Breather's could cause the oil barfing. I pulled those apart today and the material seemed ok but I will replace them anyways. The Engine heat up is still unexplained. At this point im thinking oil pump but the PSI never dropped. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!!

 

Are you sure the "mountan motor" is Altec and not Axtell? I ran an all bore 107" mountain motor kit from Axtell in my '02 FLHT and had nothing but problems and after three top end rebuilds, had to start over from scratch. My problems were different from yours, cylinders would not hold a true bore.

Have you ridden other Harleys to be able to judge if the motor is sluggish? Your symptoms of over heating and puking oil are symptomatic of sumping; a condition resulting from poor oil scavenging from the crank case which will cause the crank case to fill to a point where the over fill will be puked out of the air filter. Poor seal between the oil pump and scavenging port and/or poor oil pump alignment could be the cause. Head breathers not functioning properly could also cause oil puking but not the over heating which is why I am thinking sumping.

The only way I know to check for sumping is to remove the crank case plug located on the right (brake) side of the motor case. If you are going to check, you shoul do so carefully. The plug is not a drain plug but a 3/8" pipe plug. The only reason to ever remove this plug would be to check for sumping. If the plug comes loose without gorilla force, your golden. Drain the oil and see how much comes out; if more than 4-6 ounces, motor is definitely sumping. I have seen as much as a quart come out from a sumping motor. Clean and dry the pipe plug and the threaded boss, apply some pipe sealant and replace the plug. Again, no need for gorilla strength, just get it snug,

Next step is to find the source of the sumping. Pull the oil pump and check the o-ring between the pump spigot and the scavenge port; it could me missing, pinched, cut or the wrong o-ring. Replace with a new and correct o-ring (PN 11301), install the pump and align per the service manual procedure, I would also replace the head breathers with the later stamped breathers (PN 17025-03A). A hack I have employed on a severly sumping motor is to use an extra o-ring at the scavenge port. The small o-ring used for the pan oil drain plug (PN 11105) can be stretched over the oil pump spigot behind the 11301 o-ring and will provide a tighter seal at the scavennge port.

As usual, JMHO.

 

Hello djl, thanks for the info. You are correct, its an Axtell mountain motor. I have not ridded enough to notice the sluggishness. I'll definitely check out all the info you sent. Much appreciated!

I just noticed what looks to be a rear cylinder base gasket leak which could be part of the true bore issue you saw. What sort if problems did that cause for your bike?

 

I never had a leak between the cylinder and case and did not use a base gasket. I used a Three Bond product (same product as Yamabond) to seal the cylinder to case joint. My issue was after 1000 miles, the cylinders would bell or taper and pistons would start making noise; real noise. I tried to work with Axtell but their position was that operator error was the problem; dirt assembly, too much timing, not enough timing, too lean, to rich, basically all my fault. So, like I said, I sold the kit to a drag racer and starte over with different cylinders and pistons and got it all sorted out.

If the Axtell kit included the 4.125" cylinders, the case bore for the larger cylinder spigots removes the groove for the base o-ring which seals the cylinder to case joint. So, it is very possible to see a leak there. You might try re-torquing the head bolts to see if that does anything for the leak. If it continues to leak or get worse, you will have to pull the cylinders and see what's going on. If there is not base gasket, you might need one along with some Yamabond. Just remember that if you add a base gasket, you increase squish and valve train stack up. I thiink .010" is the thinnest you can get. I have a bunch of base and head gaskets for the 4.125" cylinders which you can have if you need them for postage.

 

Many people keep their Harleys half quart low. But even if you don't do it, it shouldn't do this.

 

What is a Altec mountain motor? If the oil is full level checked as it is marked on the stick to do and at running temperature, it doesn't throw out oil.

Sounds like you have a lot of blow-by from someone sorry rebuild if the bulk of your engine is a Harley.

All these V twins if you run them at high rpm are going to throw some oil into the vent system. But not a lot if things are right.

You say a 1/2 quart came out. Is that a wild guess? That would really look like it blew up. Then you say it was at the level they suggested.

The breathers are open one way out. That does not stop blowby. That small foam donut catches oil, so you can see why some can get thru. Some people think oil collects in that little box cause more blowby and they drill that little drain hole bigger. All that does is makes it worst by air blasting up thru the drilled hole straight thru rather than the normal twisted route.

 

Ripsaw, read the previous posts. Axtell motor, probably 4.125" cylinders to make the motor an under square 117" displacement. I am guessing at the bore but back in the day, those Axtell motors used 4.125" cylinders. That motor should rip if in good condition and not sumping.

 

The bike is an 08. It has a 4 3/8 crank.

The motor is sumping, classic.. No need to pull the plug. OP needs to do a leak test and pull the cam plate.

 

Do you think a vented Dip Stick like the Fueling would help out with the sumping, or would that only help with blow by? Odd that I haven't seen the puking for 1200 miles. I picked up the suggested parts and will swap out the breathers today.

 

I doubt that messing with the breather valves help but you never know.. You can pull the covers and breather valves..

One thing that you be best to do if you have a 117 would be to run the oil 1/2 quart low.. Drain out oil until it reads at the halfway mark. See how it runs.. Big motors seem to bleed less there..

If it is a 117, the next possible issue might be a twisting crank.. At that size the cranks typically need to be worked.