I won't mention who the dealer is for the moment, I am waiting to see if they make it right first... but here is the story...
I took my 2014 Ultra Limited in for service about a month ago. I had the 15K service done, new front and rear tires, new cush drive, new shifter, new rear brakes. Total bill was $1,400.
Rode the bike the weekend after that and put about 400 miles on it. Noticed some oil here and there, no biggie, as the HD dealer said that is normal to have some residual oil from the change burn off and blow back that had dripped down. Also noticed this weird clattering noise coming from right side of bike.
The bike sat for 3 weeks, as I ride some other bikes I have for tooling around town, and didn't want to ride it as I had a major trip planned to Maggie Valley coming up and it was ready to go...
On the night before and morning of the planned departure for my trip as I was readying the bike for the journey, I noticed again that when I started it I would hear a very loud ticking or clanking noise coming from the right side of the bike, like valve noise only louder... but once the motor warmed up it would disappear.
The morning of our trip to MV with full tank of gas we ride 2.5/hrs, stop around Indy area and I notice an oil burning smell, and I see some oil, a little bit, around the 2nd cylinder tappet area, I think nothing of it as I again think it just must be some oil from the A/C and from the service. We then get just south of Cincinnati and our 2nd fuel stop, wife gets off the bike and notices a whole bunch of oil all over the right side of the bike and now a very large puddle behind cylinder #2 and the tranny, all down the side of the bike, and of course oil burn smell and smoke. I definitely get concerned at this point and check my oil and there is none in the tank, no oil on stick, and when I peek inside the oil stick hole I see no oil in the reservoir either. So now I am a tad "freaked" - call my local HD dealer and explain what I am seeing and what is going on, and he tells me it could be a bad tappet oil ring, or some other odds and ends but either way I will need some top end work done... and I need to find a local HD dealer where I am and have them take a look.
Call local HD dealer in Cinci, explain my situation, he asked it the bike is still running and if the oil light has come on - let him know no oil light and the bikes runs - so he had me ride to them, they were like 10 mins from where I was. So I rode it there - nice place BTW - Thoroughbred HD, good dudes. I walk in let him know we are there, he knows we are under the gun for our trip, as we have to get to MV before sunset - I won't drive through mountains when it is dark out...
He grabs his HD tech of 15 years, he comes out looks at the bike, sees the oil, then asks me if I had the bike serviced recently, I said yes I did, then he asks me if "I" did the service (me) or did I have a dealer do it. Let him know the dealer did it... he immediately states that he thinks it was a newbs mistake when they put the A/C back on that they either pinched the breather tubes or did not put them in correctly, which will cause the motor to spit out oil or cause it to "sump" the oil out of it.
He hops on the bike, takes it back into the shop, comes out about 20 mins later and said that my tubes were pinched. He put 3.5 quarts of oil in the bike, and then went for a ride - no more oil leaking, and no more weird loud clapping noise either. They do a complete oil and filter change because if the bike was only running on a small qty of oil for a long period what was in there was probably pretty well used and be safe than sorry.
So we road the remaining 8 hours to MV. Rode all over smokies, and of course back home. No more noise, and no more oil leakage.
The Cinci dealer said I should go back to my dealer and have them make it right by me...
So I did this week, and my local dealer Service tech 1st denied any wrong doing. Then I called the owner, he said on the phone he would take care of me and make it right. Brought bike in today, and now they are giving me the ...weelllll it couldn't have been what we did, there is no way this could happen, blah blah blah... now it is there now, they are going to detail my bike, and he said he would reimburse me for the $175 I spent at the Cinci dealer, but he is also not really convincing me that he will make good on my costs....
So - anyone ever heard of the issue I experienced in regards to the oil leaking and pinched breather tubes? What are your thoughts? My dealer also made a comment that other HD dealers like to blame other dealers - now I could see that with local rivalries, but not dealers from two diff states. And also the 2nd dealer resolved the issues I was experiencing and told me to have my dealer call them and they will share what they saw and fixed... so somehow my dealer did something wrong... but won't admit it.
Still the problem exists of a service manager that doesn't do quality assurance and then tries to blame problems on someone else.
Yeah, he is still learning I guess. I did just get a call from my local HD dealer..
They called the dealer that fixed me up on the trip in Cinci, they got to speak mechanic geek talk and realized that they did screw up, and he had a better understanding of what caused the issue and what the Cinci dealer did to fix it.
So my local dealer apologized, they are going through the bike to fix a potential problem that this might have caused, they will reimburse me for the Cinci bill I paid, and they are doing showroom detail on my bike.
I am satisfied with this. They came through and did right by me, and they admitted to the screw up.
So word of advice - make sure you do NOT pinch the breather tubes when changing out your A/C on a 2014 or newer bike, it can create a mess.
Brother, when I hear stories like this it really pisses me off. Especially when it happens to a cool guy like you!
If it were me, I think I would like to hedge any future engine wear-related issues due to this dealer-caused issue. What I mean, specifically, is that I would ask the dealer to provide an ESP plan for a couple/few years duration for my bike. On his dime. If he were reluctant to do so, I would involve H-D.
These bikes are oil cooled and oil lubed. Riding a bike on 1 quart of a 4.5 quart system is a real problem. Harley wouldn't cover engine damage due to this type of abuse if you did it, why should you bear the future repair cost of an engine that expires early due to excess wear - from their mistake?!
I say, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Paying for your cost to stop additional damage and cleaning up the mess is the bare minimum they should do for you.
Please, my friend, put some foot to ***. They are not bad people for making a mistake. But they should own their mistake. Not you. You paid for expert repair. You got the exact opposite. If there is anything I can do to help, just ask.
Brother, when I hear stories like this it really pisses me off. Especially when it happens to a cool guy like you!
If it were me, I think I would like to hedge any future engine wear-related issues due to this dealer-caused issue. What I mean, specifically, is that I would ask the dealer to provide an ESP plan for a couple/few years duration for my bike. On his dime. If he were reluctant to do so, I would involve H-D.
These bikes are oil cooled and oil lubed. Riding a bike on 1 quart of a 4.5 quart system is a real problem. Harley wouldn't cover engine damage due to this type of abuse if you did it, why should you bear the future repair cost of an engine that expires early due to excess wear - from their mistake?!
I say, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Paying for your cost to stop additional damage and cleaning up the mess is the bare minimum they should do for you.
Please, my friend, put some foot to ***. They are not bad people for making a mistake. But they should own their mistake. Not you. You paid for expert repair. You got the exact opposite. If there is anything I can do to help, just ask.
Ride Safe!
Aww shucks... Thanks Dave!
Good points Dave, and I will bring that up when I go to pick up the bike.
I won't mention who the dealer is for the moment, I am waiting to see if they make it right first... but here is the story...
I took my 2014 Ultra Limited in for service about a month ago. I had the 15K service done, new front and rear tires, new cush drive, new shifter, new rear brakes. Total bill was $1,400.
Rode the bike the weekend after that and put about 400 miles on it. Noticed some oil here and there, no biggie, as the HD dealer said that is normal to have some residual oil from the change burn off and blow back that had dripped down. Also noticed this weird clattering noise coming from right side of bike.
The bike sat for 3 weeks, as I ride some other bikes I have for tooling around town, and didn't want to ride it as I had a major trip planned to Maggie Valley coming up and it was ready to go...
On the night before and morning of the planned departure for my trip as I was readying the bike for the journey, I noticed again that when I started it I would hear a very loud ticking or clanking noise coming from the right side of the bike, like valve noise only louder... but once the motor warmed up it would disappear.
The morning of our trip to MV with full tank of gas we ride 2.5/hrs, stop around Indy area and I notice an oil burning smell, and I see some oil, a little bit, around the 2nd cylinder tappet area, I think nothing of it as I again think it just must be some oil from the A/C and from the service. We then get just south of Cincinnati and our 2nd fuel stop, wife gets off the bike and notices a whole bunch of oil all over the right side of the bike and now a very large puddle behind cylinder #2 and the tranny, all down the side of the bike, and of course oil burn smell and smoke. I definitely get concerned at this point and check my oil and there is none in the tank, no oil on stick, and when I peek inside the oil stick hole I see no oil in the reservoir either. So now I am a tad "freaked" - call my local HD dealer and explain what I am seeing and what is going on, and he tells me it could be a bad tappet oil ring, or some other odds and ends but either way I will need some top end work done... and I need to find a local HD dealer where I am and have them take a look.
Call local HD dealer in Cinci, explain my situation, he asked it the bike is still running and if the oil light has come on - let him know no oil light and the bikes runs - so he had me ride to them, they were like 10 mins from where I was. So I rode it there - nice place BTW - Thoroughbred HD, good dudes. I walk in let him know we are there, he knows we are under the gun for our trip, as we have to get to MV before sunset - I won't drive through mountains when it is dark out...
He grabs his HD tech of 15 years, he comes out looks at the bike, sees the oil, then asks me if I had the bike serviced recently, I said yes I did, then he asks me if "I" did the service (me) or did I have a dealer do it. Let him know the dealer did it... he immediately states that he thinks it was a newbs mistake when they put the A/C back on that they either pinched the breather tubes or did not put them in correctly, which will cause the motor to spit out oil or cause it to "sump" the oil out of it.
He hops on the bike, takes it back into the shop, comes out about 20 mins later and said that my tubes were pinched. He put 3.5 quarts of oil in the bike, and then went for a ride - no more oil leaking, and no more weird loud clapping noise either. They do a complete oil and filter change because if the bike was only running on a small qty of oil for a long period what was in there was probably pretty well used and be safe than sorry.
So we road the remaining 8 hours to MV. Rode all over smokies, and of course back home. No more noise, and no more oil leakage.
The Cinci dealer said I should go back to my dealer and have them make it right by me...
So I did this week, and my local dealer Service tech 1st denied any wrong doing. Then I called the owner, he said on the phone he would take care of me and make it right. Brought bike in today, and now they are giving me the ...weelllll it couldn't have been what we did, there is no way this could happen, blah blah blah... now it is there now, they are going to detail my bike, and he said he would reimburse me for the $175 I spent at the Cinci dealer, but he is also not really convincing me that he will make good on my costs....
So - anyone ever heard of the issue I experienced in regards to the oil leaking and pinched breather tubes? What are your thoughts? My dealer also made a comment that other HD dealers like to blame other dealers - now I could see that with local rivalries, but not dealers from two diff states. And also the 2nd dealer resolved the issues I was experiencing and told me to have my dealer call them and they will share what they saw and fixed... so somehow my dealer did something wrong... but won't admit it.
Thoughts?
So, did your dealer explain how the other mech. fixed the leaks if the original tech didn't screw up? I doubt it.
This is reason #739,294,581,376 to NEVER, under any circumstance, let a brain-dead dealer "tech" touch your bike for ANY reason!!
Lesson learned and no real harm done - this time! My advice would be to get the factory manuals and do it right yourself the first time, every time, from here on out.
That's what I've always done, even with warranty issues. I'd rather buy the part and install it myself than to have one of those witless clowns try to do it and screw something else up in the process.
08-31-2017, 01:08 PM
Oil, Oil, Everywhere, Pinched Tubes?
Thanks Dave! 
