| Author | Message | ||
     99x1 |
I parked my 99 X1 in November with 20W50 oil up to the full mark on the dipstick, and I wanted to start it up to try my new Odyessy battery. About -10C in the garage. The oil tank was almost empty, but I started it up - thinking the oil would return to the tank. I ran it for a couple of minutes, then noticed oil leaking out of the breadbox, and the oil level not coming up in the tank. I shut it down. So.... What do I do now? Is the oil in the rocker boxes? Primary case? 4th dimension? TIA; John | ||
| Rick_A |
Usually, if oil drains from the tank it means it's leaked past the check ball and drained into the crankcase. If it hasn't returned...I'd say check your primary. If that's not the case...I have no idea! | ||
| Pilk |
Not a Buell question. Shovel head keeps puking oil out crank vent, has just started this a couple of months ago, book is useless, I think it has to be a check valve in the pump allowing oil to drain to the case. any help/advise is good. Pilk | ||
| Stormfool |
Pilk did you recently start using a different oil filter than you normally use? Some seem to allow oil to leak back more. I just had that problem with a recently rebuilt topend. I was using the K&N filter for the first time (and Royal Purple for the first time) and get about a teaspoon of spew (still a real mess). My cure was to fit a catchcan for it and the breather of the heads (using seperate lines). If all else fails fit a catchcan--at least it keepes it off the machine (and road)... | ||
| Pilk |
Nope. Nothing new, and the catch can would have to be very large, as in about a quart every time I start it. I'm just draggin my feet fixin it because the Buell is flawless. Pilk | ||
| Toastertan |
Fellow Buellies: I just received the Spring 2003 Competition Accessories catalog. They have Fram OEM filter replacements for the chrome HD63813-90 (long) filter special of buy 3 - get one free @ 5.99 each. I bought 6, got 8. With shipping/handling it came out to $6 each. Not a bad deal if you like the long chrome ones. Stephen in Seattle 98 S3T | ||
| Caboose |
99x1, How did things work out with your missing oil problem? After reading your post I checked my oil level and it to has leaked passed the check ball. | ||
| Lornce |
Must be an X1 thing. Checked the S1 the other day, an it's jes faahn.  Eat'cher hearts out boys. See ya at Mosport! Or sooner.... Lornce | ||
| 99x1 |
"How did things work out with your missing oil problem? " I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit before I try starting it again. I'm going to check the primary level, and drain tank and oil filter and try a thinner oil.... John | ||
| 99x1 |
"How did things work out with your missing oil problem? " Wondering if it is the type of oil filter I'm using (Fram PH3614). Noticed the Bosch filter has "Spring loaded steel, nitrile seal" anti-drainback valve, while the Fram has a "Nitrile rubber diaphragm"? John | ||
| Rick_A |
The engine itself has it's own check ball (anti-drainback valve) inside the oil filter mount bolt. The valve in the oil filter shouldn't make a difference. | ||
| Slasher |
HI DOES ANYBODY KNOW IF AN OIL COOLER FOR A SPORTSTER CAN BE USED ON A BUELL 1998 MODEL I HAVE BEEN OFFERED A BRAND NEW COOLER AND THERMOSTAT TO FIT 1982 AND UP SPORTSTER MODELS AND WANT TO KNOW IF IT WILL WORK ON MY BUELL? | ||
| Blake |
Slasher, I see no reason why it would not work. | ||
| Rick_A |
If it's a horizontal mount it may take some creativity to mount it. If it's a vertical mount there should be little to no problems. I just bought a generic $20 Harley oil cooler and am using a Jagg manual bypass valve with it. Instead of buying a silly adapter I'm just splicing into the existing lines when I change my oil. $70 for a cooler "kit"...even if it isn't as effective as the $300 pretty billet coolers...it'll no doubt help. | ||
| Ptown |
Morning to you all. Its mid-day in Berlin and struggeling with a decision whether to put a horisontal or vertical oil cooler on my X1. The make of oil cooler I wanna use is the JAGG. Is there any disadvantages to the veritcal one that fits on the side of the bike next to the battery and rear cylinder to the one in front upright. I am also fitting a steering damper that by my guess will be very close to the oil cooler if I fit the vertical one. Has someone done this and willing to give me some advice. thanks Eugene | ||
| Polekat |
Has anyone used a FORCE MOTOR PRODUCTS oil cooler on their Buell? Does it hold up well? Does it work? Any downside to its design? | ||
| Paisan |
I just saw this trans cooler at jcwhitney.com. Would this work for an oil cooler? I can fab my own mounts and pipe the hoses. http://www.jcwhitney.com/productnoitem.jhtml?CATID=5221&BQ=jcw2 check it out!! | ||
| Djkaplan |
Hey Paisan, Bear in mind that transmission fluid is a much lighter viscosity than engine oil. I don't think trans coolers are designed for high oil pressures generated by automobile oil pumps either. Would a trans cooler work with the relatively low pressures generated by a Sportster engine? Probably. Would it be as effective and durable as a purpose built engine oil cooler? Probably not. Just my opinion, YMMV. | ||
| Blake |
DJ, Transmission fluid is lighter than engine oil? What if I use the new Screaming Eagle 20W50 synthetic in both engine and tranny?  Paisain, No worries, your oil pump is a positive displacement type, meaning that it is going to pump the quantity that it wants to pump, no matter the resisting pressure scenario. Your oil lines and filter will blow apart before that pump will give up forcing oil through the engine. The size of the cooler and the fact that it is designed for larger higher oil flow engines indicates that it should work fine. It is 11"x4", kinda large don't you think? Remember, too much cooling can be worse than not enough. If the oil doesn't heat up enough to boil off moisture, bad things can accumulate... not good. You could make a sock/boot to cover it on cool days. | ||
| Paisan |
Blake... thanks for the info. I will probably get some leather or vinyl piece and make a cover for cool days. I just thought that doing it this way would save a few bucks and also give my bike a personal touch. When I get it all done I will post a pic. Also, I have a fan that I plan to attach for times when I have to sit in traffic in 100 degrees. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"Transmission fluid is lighter than engine oil?" Yes, it is. The cooler Paisan is talking about is an automatic transmission cooler for automotive purposes. Auto transmission fluid is much lighter in viscosity than any weight/viscosity motor oil. The viscosity of the medium being cooled is a design constraint for the cooler/heat exchanger. Trans coolers are not designed to cool motor oil. Will it cool the oil? Sure, but not better than a real engine oil cooler. This question constantly comes up in automotive circles because trans-coolers are cheaper than engine oil coolers. | ||
| Blake |
Okay, gotcha. Thanks for pointing that out. I failed to see you and the product were talking about automatic transmission fluid. Paisan, you may want to reconsider using that cooler. There could be issues. | ||
| Rick_A |
I've been considering the idea myself. The order for my cooler never went out...so I cancelled it. The thing looked more like a tiny transmission cooler, anyway. I'd like to mount a Jag or Lockhart cooler but it looks like the steering damper would be in the way. All the other coolers are way too much $$ (for me, anyway). I have a Jagg bypass valve and lines waiting for a cooler... | ||
| Rick_A |
I was talking to a high powered Buell owner today about the cooling subject. A friend of his put an oil cooler on his bike and ended up taking it off after putting on an aluminum oil tank...the tank provided enough cooling to make the cooler useless. I told him I wanted the cooler primarily to deal with stop and go traffic. He said that since the air is pretty stagnant sitting in traffic that a cooler in his experience is not very effective in that scenario. His solution for the bike was also to put an aluminum oil tank on. What do you guys think on the subject? The only thing I really like about an oil cooler is that you can add a control to it for winter weather. | ||
| Blake |
I just installed an aluminum tank on my Cyclone. It does certainly help cool the oil. Not sure how effective it will be compared to an oil cooler. I'll take some measurements next stint at the track. | ||
| Rick_A |
It'd be greatly appreciated, Blake. I think ultimately I'd like to have both the aluminum oil tank and a small oil cooler. I'll see how the cooler does on it's own first. | ||
| Ara |
Interesting! Have you guys considered bonding finned aluminum heat sinks to your alloy oil reservoirs? | ||
| Djkaplan |
The concept of adding cooling fins to an oil sump or tank sounds compelling but really doesn't work as well as you would think. Oil creates an insulating layer on the surface of a sump that acts as a barrier to effective cooling, especially when the oil is stagnant. That's why oil-coolers have very thin passages. The oil is forced through the passages and has less of a chance of forming insulating boundary layers that stick to the inside surfaces. Wet sump engines in the old days had finned cases because designers thought they could get some cooling effect out of them. These fins gradually disappeared when engineers understood fluid dynamics better and realized they were not very effective. | ||
| Blake |
DJ, How do the cooling fins on our cylinder work? What you are really talking about is optimum exposed surfaces. The surface area inside a radiator is HUGE compared to a simple tank of the same volume. Convective heat transfer is all about increasing the amount of exposed surface area and the amount of flow to which those surfaces are exposed. An oil cooler with a 2 quart capacity would be the size of a car radiator. The oil in the tank is far from stagnant. The outside of the tank becomes very hot. I don't see a film of oil acting there as much of an insulator. The shortcoming of using the tank as an oil cooler is its lack of exposure to the airstream, and its lack of surface area. The boundary layer scenario you mention is more of a concern when comparing two comparably sized heat exchangers, both with the same effective exposed surface areas (interior and exterior), but one having slightly more volume and slower laminar flow instead of the more desirable higher rate turbulent flow. That is REALLY getting into the hard core analysis of heat exchangers. That kind of concern is most often seen in aerospace technology where weights and efficiencies MUST be absolutely optimum... least amount of coolant running through the smallest possible heat exchanger... really interesting stuff. | ||
| 99x1 |
Went for a ride today, with SportTrans oil in the trans/primary. Changed to Mobil 1 15W50 in trans, went for another ride - shifting seemed the same - but the transmission noise when I let out the clutch in neutral is different and louder. Anyone else notice this? John |
