Bike has been sitting for a year and now there is no oil in tank?

Oil coming out of the breather is natural and normal, with basically no way to stop it. There is about 1/2 qt of oil in the bottom end of an engine, as the pistons travel downwards, the air that is under them is being pressurized and is vented out of the engine by a rotary breather valve in the case. The air picks up a small amount of oil from the bottom end as it leaves, then the air/oil mist is vented either into the air cleaner (EPA Regulations) or best if vented to the atmosphere. NOTE: WORN RINGS ALLOWINGS EXCESSIVE COMBUSTION PRESSURE BLOW-BY WILL MAKE THIS SITUATION EVEN WORSE. When it\'s vented into the air cleaner, some if it recirculates into the engine and out the exhaust, the rest saturates the air filter and then eventually gets blown all over the side of the bike. The best way to vent it, is to route a hose from the breather system down to the frame between the engine and trans, run it under the bike on the right side, point the hose down to the GROUND and zip tie it in place.



To stop the leaking breather BOLTS...remove them, and use brake cleaner to completely remove all oil from them, the washers, brackets and threads in the head. Use liquid teflon thread sealant on the bolt threads, and a light film of black rtv on the faces of all the washers and brackets, install everything, let sit for 24 hours, then ride.......if done properly and rtv is CURED, it won\'t leak.

Also note that most HD\'s with the oil tank mounted under the seat and are left sitting for a couple months will PUKE oil from the breather, this is due to the gravity....the oil will slowly seep through the oil pump and collect in the bottom of the crankcase and get blown out the breather when the bike is started.



Also:

The HD engine design is a dry sump engine, but there is always a small amount of oil in the bottom end....THIS IS WHERE THE OIL MIST COMES FROM......it is "possible" for too much oil to give your symptoms, if you have too much oil in it, the oil tank is vented back into the cam compartment, causing excessive oil build up in the bottom end, if this were the case, the oil would be PUKING from the breather, because the oil pump does not have the ability to scavenge that much oil back to the tank that quickly, which in this event, the tank doesn\'t have the room to store any way.

But even so, this is an all too common question and the symptoms are seen on almost every HD on the road.....could it be possible that EVERY HD has too much oil??? In my answer, I tried to explain WHY this happens.....even with or without too much oil.....this will still happen.

I would suspect and look for any cracked or damaged rubber or other flexible type gas line/s from or to the tank, and where they connect to. That would be the 1st most probable location of leaks. Then the tank or carburetor/injectors.

This is a common problem with the older bikes. The reason is the position of the oil tank and the type of oil pump the engine is equipped with. With the tank being higher than the engine, oil will seep past the check ball in the oil pump and into the engine. When you fire the engine up, the oil pump cannot pump the excess oil back into the tank quickly enough and some gets blown out of the crankcase vent. If you allow the bike to sit for extended periods of time, this problem is worse. It's commonly called "oil sumping" around here. When you hear an old Shovelhead rider talking about his bike "puking", that's what he's talking about. I've seen those bikes puke nearly a quart of oil after sitting a few months. I've seen Ironhead Sportsters completely drain the oil tank into the engine. This is normal to a degree but if it gets too bad, you can "reseat" the check ball by removing the plug above the check ball on the oil pump and use a small hammer and punch to gently tap the ball into the seat in the pump. Then, remove the old ball and drop in a new one.

Good Luck
Steve

On your '93 model, the crankcase vent is down low on the engine behind the oil pump and it runs up to the air filter through a metal and rubber hose. I don't know how many miles you have on your engine but it you're getting any blow-by on the rings, this will increase the pressure in the crankcase. Most people simply re-route the crankcase breather underneath the bike and plug the hole on the backside of the air filter. Replace the metal line with a rubber hose and put a small filter in the end of the hose. Route the hose back behind the transmission and attach it to the transmission mounting plate just in front of the rear wheel.

This was the way the older Shovelheads were done from the factory for years until the EPA made them start running the crankcase vented air through the engine. In 1994, Harley went to the "head breather" system and moved the crankcase vents to the heads. Still, the oil mist in the vented air builds up in the air cleaner on these models as well.

Good Luck
Steve

Are you sure you're checking the engine oil. On your RK, the oil dipstick is a large knob about two inches in diameter located on the corner of the transmission. Now, the transmission dipstick is a small dipstick on a plug that you take out with a hex key or Allen wrench. I cannot understand how your engine oil could possibly turn that color in a short ten mile ride. I've seen this on transmissions that have not been serviced regularily. Moisture from condensation gets into the transmission and mixes with the oil. When the bike sits, the oil and water seperate and the water will cause rust to form on metal parts. When the bike is run again, the rusty water again mixes with the transmisson oil and makes it look like "choclate milk". I have never seen engine oil do this even though I've seen engines that have been overheated to the point of destruction. It sounds like water in the oil. If it is water, I have no idea how it's getting into the engine unless someone is putting it in there intentionally. I had one guy that kept getting water in his fuel tank. He blamed the gas station where he bought his fuel. Turned out it was his 5 year old son filling Daddy's gas tank up with the water hose. Check that oil again. Ask some of the parts houses around the area if they know someplace that will analyze the oil and tell you what the contaminate is. This is a new one on me. Let me know what you find at [email protected] , please.

Good Luck
Steve

On the softail model Harley Davidson's the oil tank is external and sits up higher than the engine crank case and oil pump. when these bikes sit for an amount of time the oil gravitates from the tank to the crank case. starting may seem sightly harder and seem like the battery is going dead. the bike should be started in knowing that you had oil in it to start with and no giant leak puddle underneath of it. warm up the engine and then drain the oil out of the tank. the reason why your filler cap popped off is because you had probably 2 1/2 to 3 quarts to much engine oil in the bike. so drain the oil from the tank at the drain pug at the bottom of the hose on the high (right side ) of the bike where the swing arm meets the frame (it is a 5/8 socket) put the drain plug back in run the bike for about 5 minutes inspecting with a flashlight continuously that oil is circulating back into the tank. then dran it again and replace with new oil.

No, look on the bottom of the oil tank for the right side of the bike. There's a large diameter hose that come off the bottom of the tank and down and back behind the transmission. It follows the frame downward and comes out at the bottom of the frame behind the exhaust pipes. There is a plug in the hose. Remove the plug to drain the oil. Harley moved the drain to the bottom of the crossmember of the frame underneath the bike but I'm not sure of what year they did it.

Good Luck
steve

The only thing I can think of is that either the banjo fittings are cracked, or maybe you put the fittings on wrong.
Where is it leaking, at the cooler, or at the motor? And is it the hose that is connected to the oil pump (right side while sitting on the bike), or is it the one that is connected to the engine (left side while sitting on the bike)?
You could also possibly have a pinhole in the hose or where the pipe goes into the hose.
How bad is it leaking?

a small amount of oil from the crankcase vent hose under hard acceleration is most likely normal.American bikes don't leak oil,they mark their spot!

the fuel filter is inside the tank, be sure your thorughly cleaned the tank of expired gasoline, clean the jettings again on the carb, those are so tiny particles you think cleaned already. Change the hoses too, they have a life span and the particles from the old hoses goes to the jettings. Your prob is definitely fuel based prob