Hi all,
I've just bought an 2006 Electra X. I'm new to bikes and bike mechanics so I thought I'd do the decent thing and change all the oils and generally show it I care, as part of the learning experience. In advance of doing this, I thought I'd see how much oil was in the sump and see if this machine is prone to wet sumping ( I'm getting an amount of oil coming out of the oil tank breather hose).
Prior to this I ran the engine and it was left for 24hrs before I remembered about leaving the engine TDC. Since then it's stood for 3-4 days at TDC (or rather where the kickstart goes hard).
Having taken the front plug out, 800ml ish came out, this is a bit more than the 30ml I was expecting. I think there are 2 sources; from the oil tank or from the timing chest. On the basis that if the timing chest was leaking it will be near empty by now, I'm checking for an oil tank leak. I've put it at TDC, filled up the oil tank to the high mark and will now leave it overnight and see what's in the sump tomorrow. Hopefully someone will tell me if this is the right way to find out.
Since starting the test I've read Adrian's post a page or two back (
viewtopic.php?p=88073#p88073). Can anyone explain to me how, in the Electra X, the oil gets from the timing chest into the crank pin without a quill bolt? I appreciate I could simply take the timing cover off and have a look but I don't have a spare gasket yet and the existing one is rock hard, so I'd be really grateful if someone could explain.
And then lastly, is this something I actually need to worry about? Will the scavenge pump do its job and put the oil back where it should be whilst the engine is running?
Cheers,
JB