Just had my '09 FXDFSE in for 1000 mile service. The only issue to date is a slight pooling of oil at the bottom of the jugs. Tech figures it's from the heavy breather and is caused by 1) not letting the bike warm up long enough or 2) riding above 135 kms\hr ( 75 mph ) or 3) not letting the bike cool down long enough.
Not sure if the or\or\or thing is the problem. Any comments ?? Could it be the "O" rings in the caps covers for the bolts that secure the breather ?
Thanks in advance.
TonyV
It is highly unlikely that motor oil would make it all the way to the actual filter and leak out, like it can do with the old SE air cleaners, and the rest of the HB air cleaner is supposed to be air and oil tight. So your tech is basically blowing smoke as opposed to what he should be doing, which is to trace the source of the oil and then fix the leak. Is there any oil at the joint between the backing plate and the heads? How about at the caps for the breather bolts? How about where the intake tube attaches to the backing plate? If yes, then the affected parts need to be removed and resealed with new O-rings and/or gaskets. If there is no sign of any oil leakage from the air cleaner, then your tech needs to investigate the other possibilities such as pushrod tubes, cylinder base gaskets, etc. Don't buy his BS, insist he fix it.
The suggestions about not running the oil level too high are valid as far as helping to reduce the amount of carryover into the intake, and it is often a good idea to actually run the oil a little below full, but in the case of an HB air cleaner that's leaking at one of the joints it isn't going to stop the leak. Furthermore, if one or more of the joints are able to leak oil, it is also leaking air. You don't want air leaks any more than you want oil leaks.
Jerry
Author
Topic: Heavy breather oil leak (Read 3764 times)