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[d_man]

just checked my engine oil on my 05 SEFB and was shocked to see how far up the stick the oil read.  Drained a quart and now the level is fine.  What damage can this do?  I'm going back to the HD dealer tomorrow with the extra oil and talk to the owner.  Any help would be helpful

d man

[AUSSIE_FLSTFSE]

dman,
Are you sure you checked it correctly??
1 engine hot, 2 on side stand, 3 after idling for a couple of minutes.

I have had similar issues & I rekon if it was a quart over it could blow the dipstick out as mine did.

Cheers
Aussie

[d_man]

I thought when the engine was cold, the cold level should be half way between full and add.  Mine was about 1/2" over the full when cold.  Took a quart out and now reads ok

d man

[2soaper]

I just make sure the oil is at the bottom of the dip stick holder or at the weld marks on the oil resivoir I don't pay much attention to the dip stick.

[grc]

just checked my engine oil on my 05 SEFB and was shocked to see how far up the stick the oil read.  Drained a quart and now the level is fine.  What damage can this do?  I'm going back to the HD dealer tomorrow with the extra oil and talk to the owner.  Any help would be helpful

d man

d man,

As long as the oil doesn't cover the vent line fitting in the tank, it shouldn't cause any real damage (other than possibly blowing out the dipstick and oiling you and the bike down when you get it hot).  It should be checked on the side stand, and when checked cold it should normally be half way between the add and full marks on the dipstick.  

Jerry

[Fired00d]

Wouldn't a quart over cover the vent line, and he have oil blowing out or blow out the dipstick? [smiley=confused5.gif]

Only reason I ask is to remove an entire quart seems a lot to me, and I would be concerned about now not having enough oil. [smiley=nervous.gif] I always thought that when you overfilled that bike would (for lack of better term) "puke" oil back out somewhere as you have described.

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

[grc]

Gary,

A full quart over on one of our bikes, with the oil pan below the engine, would probably be a little more serious.  If you cover the vent line, you will not get the proper amount of oil to the oil pump.  The Softail system, with the remote oil tank above the level of the oil pump, should not be quite as critical (in theory at least).  Been awhile since I messed with one, but it seems that there was more room in the remote tank for a minor overfill without creating a problem also.

The best way to verify all is OK is to check cold (halfway between add and full), and then verify hot.  If both readings are good, there is no worry about insufficient oil.

Jerry

[AUSSIE_FLSTFSE]

Checked my oil this morning cold (after standing for a week) & found nothing on the stick. When I switched it off a week ago & checked it. the level was spot on.
So it appears after standing for a long time the oil has drained down in to the sump. After running the engine it filled the tank again & the level read fine. Does anyone know what could cause this. I suspect it is somthing to do with my feuling super pump!

Cheers
Aussie

[RJ749]

Checked my oil this morning cold (after standing for a week) & found nothing on the stick. When I switched it off a week ago & checked it. the level was spot on.
So it appears after standing for a long time the oil has drained down in to the sump. After running the engine it filled the tank again & the level read fine. Does anyone know what could cause this. I suspect it is somthing to do with my feuling super pump!Cheers
Aussie

I thought that is why they recommend checking it warm as you noted in a previous post.

The warm method is the sure method.  I wouldn't be concerned about it if you checked it when you get in from a ride and you already confirmed it is correct once at normal temp.

We just need to get it out of our heads that cold has anything to do with normal anything IMHO.