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Oil change!

Veep

Veep

Member
I have a 2007 Electra Glide Classic. This is the first touring Harley I've owned.
I just finished changing the oil. I drained every ounce of oil I could out of the bike including standing the bike straight up with the drain plug out, changed the oil filter, and of course, had the dip stick cap off the whole time I was doing it. And yes, the engine was warm. Well, all I could put back in the engine was 2.5 quarts.(Amsoil 20w50 synthetic) I had to start the engine and run it to fill the oil filter before I could get that much in. The Service manual said 4 quarts of oil. When I drained the overfill out (from the drain plug) I noticed the oil I drained was dirty. Is there another plug I missed? I looked everwhere and could'nt find one. Is there something not covered in the service manual? :unsure
 
There is only one plug for draining the oil and it is at the front left corner of the oil pan. That bike should take about 3.5 qt to put the oil up to the centre of the dip stick including filling the filter. Standing the bike upright should not make any more oil drain out as the plug is at the lowest point when on the jiffy stand. Something to do during future oil changes... fill your new filter about half way before installing so you don't as much air working its way through the system.
 
Is it possible that you drained the transmission, and not the engine oil?? The plugs are not far from each other. Have you checked the trans. oil level since you did the drain? I've done several oil changes on my '07 Classic, and it takes a little less than 4 qts. to fill (I don't do the scavenge method).
 
Totally agree that the color of the trans fluid and engine oil will not look the same. I have done all of the oil changes on my 05FLTRI and have always managet to close to the 4qt back in. I do fill the oil filter almost full before installing and I have not used the total scavenge divice. Did you check the amount of oil that came out? It sounds like you did everything by the book, and that the amount you but back in is not enough to show 1/2 full on the dipstick when cold. Do you have an oil cooler on the bike? When you crank the bike up what oil pressure are you seeing? Have you tried letting the bike get up to operating temp and rechecking the oil level? I don't think I would take the bike on an extended ride untill I got another qt of oil in it.
 
Easiest way of eliminating this situation is to check the oil level before draining HOT then drain and measure how much comes out, refill with 3 1/2 quarts and check HOT again.

Much easier and eliminates the guess work.
 
A quart and a half discrepancy sounds very strange. The oil filter should have taken maybe 6 oz of oil and is recommended that it be prefilled and throughly soak the filter element before installing rapidly onto the bike per your service manual.

That still leaves an extra quart still in the bike...but as others stated, engine oil comes out dark brown due to combustion contaminants and oil breakdown and a fair amount of oil remains in the nooks and crannies internally within. Tranny oil would be clear looking gear oil, as very little particulate matter will be there after the initial break in drain, mostly on the magnetic drain plug done at 500 miles quite awhile ago.
 
Breeze3at said:
Is it possible that you drained the transmission, and not the engine oil?? The plugs are not far from each other. Have you checked the trans. oil level since you did the drain? I've done several oil changes on my '07 Classic, and it takes a little less than 4 qts. to fill (I don't do the scavenge method).
Click to expand...

Not if he drained out 2.5 quarts from whatever plug he removed. Tranny takes about a quart.

If you run your engine again (riding it around, not just idling in the garage) to operating temperature, is the oil level at least between the marks on the dipstick? If so, I suggest you drop the oil again while HOT and see how much you get out. Change the filter too, and dump what you can out of the filter into the pan before you measure the volume of oil drained. I suspect it will be close to 3.5 quarts. If not, after the engine cools down a bit, poke your little finger in the drain plug hole, and see if there is anything there.

Let us know what happens.

TQ
 
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