Oil Pressure Concern

[av8r]

Greetings All,

I have a factory stock '04 Ultra Classic that I believe has low oil pressure. The OEM electric gauge in the fairing will not reach halfway (32 psi) even on cold starts. At operating temp it will not go above about 20 psi. Knowing that all gauges are not created equal, I installed a Ness gauge along with the OEM.

The results were not promising. The Ness gauge indicates 25 psi @ 2,000 rpm with 185*F in the sump. Too far below spec in my book.

To eliminate possible variables, I did an oil change, put HD360 20W-50 in, and installed the 63731-99 "super premium" filter. Still no change. To make matters worse, this was the first oil change at 447 miles. I'm thinking the only things that may cause this are the relief valve, or the pump is misaligned from the factory.

My gut tells me that this engine will probably run happily ever after like this, but there's something about laying out $20+ large that makes a little oil pressure into a big concern.

I just wanted some thoughts from the field before I head for the dealer.

Thanks for reading and ride safe,
V

[HDMD88]

Originally Posted by av8r

Greetings All,

I have a factory stock '04 Ultra Classic that I believe has low oil pressure. The OEM electric gauge in the fairing will not reach halfway (32 psi) even on cold starts. At operating temp it will not go above about 20 psi. Knowing that all gauges are not created equal, I installed a Ness gauge along with the OEM.

The results were not promising. The Ness gauge indicates 25 psi @ 2,000 rpm with 185*F in the sump. Too far below spec in my book.

To eliminate possible variables, I did an oil change, put HD360 20W-50 in, and installed the 63731-99 "super premium" filter. Still no change. To make matters worse, this was the first oil change at 447 miles. I'm thinking the only things that may cause this are the relief valve, or the pump is misaligned from the factory.

My gut tells me that this engine will probably run happily ever after like this, but there's something about laying out $20+ large that makes a little oil pressure into a big concern.

I just wanted some thoughts from the field before I head for the dealer.

Thanks for reading and ride safe,
V

Pressure is not a big concern on a all stock bike....its not the pressure its the oil flow. Oil is 85% of your colling so the more flow the cooler the engine runs. The HD motor is mostly roller bearings, pressure is not needed for roller bearings likepressure is needed for a babbit bearing. TRhe piston jets work at 12 lbs pressure...they cool your pistons, the Bmotor has hyd pistons to keep the ballancer chain tight....these work with 10 lbs pressure, so as long as you have 10 lbs your good to go. Now when we start building a motor with stronger seat pressure on our valve springs we need more pressure to maintain a constent pressure in the lifters. At this point we might change the lifter to a S/E lifter and add a Baisley spring in the oil pressure slide.

[csoday]

There is nothing wrong with the numbers you are seeing.

[newultraclassic]

Originally Posted by av8r

Greetings All,

I have a factory stock '04 Ultra Classic that I believe has low oil pressure. The OEM electric gauge in the fairing will not reach halfway (32 psi) even on cold starts. At operating temp it will not go above about 20 psi. Knowing that all gauges are not created equal, I installed a Ness gauge along with the OEM.

The results were not promising. The Ness gauge indicates 25 psi @ 2,000 rpm with 185*F in the sump. Too far below spec in my book.

To eliminate possible variables, I did an oil change, put HD360 20W-50 in, and installed the 63731-99 "super premium" filter. Still no change. To make matters worse, this was the first oil change at 447 miles. I'm thinking the only things that may cause this are the relief valve, or the pump is misaligned from the factory.

My gut tells me that this engine will probably run happily ever after like this, but there's something about laying out $20+ large that makes a little oil pressure into a big concern.

I just wanted some thoughts from the field before I head for the dealer.

Thanks for reading and ride safe,
V

=============================
Hi,

I have an '04 Ultra and my numbers are similar to yours with Syn3 oil. I'm happy though. It's the first Harley I ever had with ANY oil pressure.

I've ridden three or four Ultras within the past year and all were similar, that is, slightly below half on the gauge when underway. That would appear to be around 25 psi, although those gauges are not all that accurate.

The 2004 Touring Service Manual has an oil pressure test at page 3-7 that you can run which connects a test gauge directly to the motor. The test says that the pressure should be 30-38 psi at 2,000 rpm. I don't think they will do this much, though. Harley is being optimistic. Perhaps they read higher when directly connected to the crankcase.

As HDM88 says, flow is more important than sheer pressure. If it bothers you, you could replace the oil pressure spring with one of those Baisley ones. I'm not fooling with mine until I have to.

Good luck.

[george douglas]

Harley's are a low oil pressure machine as described in the below post. To help with your comfort level take an oil sample and send it in to the lab to check how the engine is wearing. If it is normal wear then keep riding. I thought about adding a pressure gauge to my road king, but it would probably bother me with the low numbers so it is best to stay with an idiot light and be happy. Same with the tack I removed. I am not racing and also the engine has rev limiter so I can't really hurt the motor. With loud pipes you don't need a gauge to tell you when to shift.