Ok, first apologies for not posting sooner. Work has been a bear.
So I take the bike to the dealership to get it checked for excessive oil consumption. After they have it less than 30 minutes, they ask me when was the oil last changed. I said back in January when you (under warranty) replaced lifters, push rods, cam and installed the new compensator lubrication modification. Well, how many miles do you have on this oil? I said about 5000 miles. Well, your oil is black and is like water so we suggest an oil change. I decline saying I change my own oil. So what kind of oil do you use? I use Amsoil (normally 20/50w, but trying the 60w per a friend's suggestion). So the service writer goes back.
He comes back later and says, well the compression and leak down tests were good. There are no deposits on the valves. So you don't know why I'm using so much oil? Well, there is no indication of where/how its using oil. So he says, lets check the primary to make sure the oil is not migrating from the engine to the primary. The primary was at normal level.
I tell him, well I'm at square one. You can't find a problem and I have a bike using about 1 quart/1000 miles. He says well Harley says that's "normal" oil consumption. I tell him that's BS. My '02 Roadking never used oil like that in the 60K miles I put on it. And the guy that bought it from me put another 60k on it.
The service manager steps in and says ESP will not pay for us to look for a problem. So you will have to pay for us to crack open the engine. I told him I suspect the valve guides are the issue. How much time would you charge for that? 3 hours service at $100/hr. I already paid $100 for this visit.
But what really burnt me up is he said Harley will not pay for warranty work if you don't use Harley oil. That's BS too. Amsoil is as good but really better than Harley oil, based on many wear tests. And I know they can't deny warranty work just because I don't use Harley oil. That's against Federal law. But he even went as far as saying it's in the ESP contract. (I looked over the ESP info this evening and I don't see anything about requiring Harley oil use)
So frustrated, I called ESP this afternoon. Explained the situation with them but they stood by the 1 quart/1000 mile is normal BS (cuz all major car companies, Harley, etc say that is "acceptable"). And she said I would bear the expense to "find" the problem, which on the one hand I guess I understand but on the other hand, it the principal of the thing that I have this problem, but I have to pay for them to find it.
So I have changed the oil this evening and I plan to go to the dealership to get the oil level documented. 1000 miles later, I will return and the dealer and I will check again. Frankly, I don't expect much to come from this. Because even if I consume around a quart of oil, the dealership, Harley and ESP is going to say that's "normal". Damn it!
One last related item... I talked to my friend that I get my Amsoil from. Smart guy and he agreed with my thinking. He offered and called a local Indy motorcycle shop owner in town that is renowned in their engine work (they have been on the bike build shows, etc). They know their chit about building and maintaining engines. My friend told the owner about my situation. He said I think his valve guides are bad and he is burning the oil. And from all indications, I think he's right.
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Topic: Oil consumption 110 Engine - 2010 FLHXSE (Read 9827 times)