Oil change help for a newbie? : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Rfirst96 · 07-14-2009, 02:44 PM

Hey all,

I picked up my 07 FXSTC 2 months ago. I'm a "do it yourselfer" by nature, but this is my first Harley and I want to do things right. In reading through the owners manual, the only thing mentioned about changing oil is draining the oil tank which is said to hold 3 quarts of oil. My question is, why is there a drain plug (allen head) on the bottom of the crankcase too? Does this not get pulled to drain the oil from the crankcase as well? If so, why does the owners manual not say anything about it? How does all the oil that's in the crankcase get out?
Sorry for the stupid questions, but that's part of the reason I joined! Thanks in advance for any replies.

J

tomv · 07-14-2009, 02:47 PM

the bike has a dry sump...the oil is stored, used from and returned to the oil tank....there is no oil in the crankcase to drain...

nvsteve · 07-14-2009, 02:51 PM

Don't try to remove that plug. There was a thread here, or on another forum, about a member cracking his case attempting to do so.

huckinfog · 07-14-2009, 03:01 PM

you may be looking at the drain plug for the trans. The drain plug for the oil tank is directly below it near the right side of the swing arm where the shocks mount. Warm it up good before you drain it.

Rfirst96 · 07-14-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huckinfog

you may be looking at the drain plug for the trans. The drain plug for the oil tank is directly below it near the right side of the swing arm where the shocks mount. Warm it up good before you drain it.

Thanks for the help guys! I figured it was a dry sump kind of system, but again, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thanks for the pointers on the other drain points as well. I've got all of them located.
Another question though. The manual is not very clear as to how to remove the seat. Looks like it could be a real B!+ch. I just want to snoop around to get more familiar with the bike, (battery, wiring etc.).
Thanks again!

rides99fatboy · 07-21-2009, 06:15 PM

[quote=Rfirst96;1636866 Another question though. The manual is not very clear as to how to remove the seat. Looks like it could be a real B!+ch. I just want to snoop around to get more familiar with the bike, (battery, wiring etc.).
Thanks again![/QUOTE]

My first thought was there's only one screw! Then it occurred to me your bike probably still has the grab strap on it. I've always replaced the stock seats with different ones so the strap was the first thing tossed. My recollection on the Dyna was a bolt or screw on each side of the fender strut holding the brackets attached to the strap. Just remove the bolts, and take the strap off, then reinstall the bolts. Then you only have to remove the screw on the back of the seat holding it to the fender. Lift the back of the seat up slightly and gently pull back. You may need to put downward pressure on front of the seat to allow the tongue to clear.

As for the strap, I've never found a use for it so I just toss them.