2009 Ultra, oil in air filter : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

nerdybiker · 09-15-2009, 03:45 PM

A few posts back I had mentioned that the dealer over-serviced the engine oil by about 3/4 of a quart during the break-in maintenance and I realized it when I checked the bike over after the ride home. The air filter was brown around the bottom and there was oil by the throttle valve and around the vent tubes, not to mention oil all the way up the dipstick.

Now that it's got 2,400 miles on it, the new filter they gave me (when I raised holy hell) is also soaked around the bottom. There are no quantity issues, as it's just a small amount of oil going past the rings and into the intake (or so it seems).

Should I worry or will this stop as the bike breaks in? Dealer said he "has never seen damage caused by over-servicing," and was very apologetic.

School me, hog riders, it's much appreciated.

Krayven Sumhead · 09-15-2009, 04:28 PM

My dipstick sez, "Caution, Do Not Overfill". I always run mine 1/2 quart low to avoid blow-back. I'd be apologetic, too. He probably forgot to tell you that he'd thrown in a free quart of oil.

MilesToGo · 09-15-2009, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerdybiker

A few posts back I had mentioned that the dealer over-serviced the engine oil by about 3/4 of a quart during the break-in maintenance and I realized it when I checked the bike over after the ride home. The air filter was brown around the bottom and there was oil by the throttle valve and around the vent tubes, not to mention oil all the way up the dipstick.

Now that it's got 2,400 miles on it, the new filter they gave me (when I raised holy hell) is also soaked around the bottom. There are no quantity issues, as it's just a small amount of oil going past the rings and into the intake (or so it seems).

Should I worry or will this stop as the bike breaks in? Dealer said he "has never seen damage caused by over-servicing," and was very apologetic.

School me, hog riders, it's much appreciated.

Blow-back - oil leaking from your air filter is a common problem with Harleys. Some do it worse than others and usually becomes more of a problem with stage one and other mods. Running your oil half-way between add and full will help prevent this problem but is not a cure-all. Do yourself a favor and change the oil/filter yourself.

route66paul · 09-15-2009, 08:34 PM

Most HD v-twins do this at one rpm or another. run it 1/2 quart low and find the rpm that is the problem and don't cruise there

bwana01 · 09-15-2009, 09:27 PM

FYI
That is not oil going past the rings and into the intake. The top end of the motor is also supplied with oil for cooling and lube. This is where the oil mist comes from that ends up in the air cleaner.

elmosac · 09-16-2009, 10:56 AM

Your bike sounds like it is working as desinged. The breather tubes vent air pressure created by the pistons moving up and down. A by-product of this is a small amount of oil vaper comes out also. The EPA won't let the manufatures vent that oil onto the ground, so they vent it into the intake so that it gets burned (in theory). You end up with a small amount of oil residue being left on the filter backing plate that drips down and gets absorbed by the filter when the bike is not running.

I have had 3 differant air filter systems on my bike and they all suffer from this. My solution is to wash the filter every 2500 miles instead of at the 5000 mile interval suggested in the service manual.

MilesToGo · 09-16-2009, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elmosac

I have had 3 differant air filter systems on my bike and they all suffer from this. My solution is to wash the filter every 2500 miles instead of at the 5000 mile interval suggested in the service manual.

Wish it was that easy. My SE cleaner, with K&N filter, started driping after around 500 miles. Another thing you can do is push a small sponge or sanitary napkin between the filter and the cover - at the bottom. Don't tell anyone your bike is on the rag though.

elmosac · 09-16-2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miles to go

Wish it was that easy. My SE cleaner, with K&N filter, started driping after around 500 miles. Another thing you can do is push a small sponge or sanitary napkin between the filter and the cover - at the bottom. Don't tell anyone your bike is on the rag though.

I'm running a heavy breather now and the oil pools in a chamber that has chrome plugs with an O-Ring that holds them on. When this chamber starts to fill up it starts to leak out and splatter on the front of the saddlebag. The good thing is that the caps pull off fairly easily and a paper towle cleans up the oil. Something that can be one at the gas pump.

sgod1100 · 09-16-2009, 02:05 PM

I have a spike air filter on my bike (similar to the SE heavy breather) and all I did was take the breathers that came with my filter, ran them into a "t", then ran that line all the way to the back of my bike....now there is no more oil in my intake AND no more oil down the side of my bike after a couple of hard runs!!!

nerdybiker · 09-16-2009, 05:13 PM

I just read in the owner's manual, these filters get cleaned, not replaced at normal intervals. How much is one of these and how long to they typically last before needing replacement?

Doc 1 · 09-17-2009, 08:47 AM

Harley stock filters usually last about 10K miles but I prefer the K&N a better quality and is guaratneed for the life of the bike.

1fast2liter · 09-17-2009, 09:58 AM

yup.. if you had oil going past the rings you would be burning it not goint into the intake.. although the design of the breather is that it is thrown into the air intake to be burnt.

Tennisman · 09-17-2009, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerdybiker

A few posts back I had mentioned that the dealer over-serviced the engine oil by about 3/4 of a quart during the break-in maintenance and I realized it when I checked the bike over after the ride home. The air filter was brown around the bottom and there was oil by the throttle valve and around the vent tubes, not to mention oil all the way up the dipstick.

Now that it's got 2,400 miles on it, the new filter they gave me (when I raised holy hell) is also soaked around the bottom. There are no quantity issues, as it's just a small amount of oil going past the rings and into the intake (or so it seems).

Should I worry or will this stop as the bike breaks in? Dealer said he "has never seen damage caused by over-servicing," and was very apologetic.

School me, hog riders, it's much appreciated.

My 110" with Stage I does the same thing since new (now with 20K on the clock). It's just oil carryover from the crankcase caused by the pistons coming down on their stroke and ejecting air from the crankcase with some oil mist.
I just remove the filter every 500 miles and wipe out the excess before it gets a chance to wet down the paper element. Then at 1000 mile intervals I wash it in hot, soapy water and let dry. I have a spare filter I rotate out so there's no bike downtime. On long trips I just wipe it out to avoid having it drip on the motor or blow back on the bags or the missus. Works fine.

T-man

hifiman · 12-27-2009, 11:48 AM

Just took my 09 Classic out for a brisk but nice ride. All ran great. However I have a stage one and SE air filter and when I returned I notice a couple drops of oil on the front of my right bag. Then noticed it was coming from my SE air intake and the bottom of the filter was wet with oil. Any worries? Is this because I have not run it in a month or is it something I should worry about? Thanks

nosillyname · 12-27-2009, 08:07 PM

Why cant you just run the crankcase breather line to a small breather filter mounted somewhere on the frame instead? You can mount them virtually anywhere and they come in chrome too.