I'll try to keep this short. Had a 98 Road King Evo engine rebuilt. Rode 500 miles for the break in. Took it back to the rebuild shop for the first oil change but they were closed for the holiday. Took the bike to another shop for the oil change due to a planed trip out of town. They replaced the oil filter with a twin cam filter instead of the correct Evo filter. Rode 40+ miles and started hearing an engine ping similar to incorrect octane fuel. Simultaneously noticed that the oil light was on. Stopped the bike and had a wrecker take it to the closest HD dealer. From my story they assumed oil pump had failed.

Took the bike to the engine rebuild shop yesterday and they discovered the incorrect oil filter and a ton of what appears to be brass/bronze in the engine oil. When I say a ton I mean a massive amount. Oil change dudes insist that the wrong filter wouldn't cause a catastrophic failure. Engine rebuild dude insists the oil filter was the culprit. Opinions? I have a photo of the metal in the oil but it is way too big to attach here.

 

Not 100% sure about your EVO but I bet it's not far from A TC as far as what Harley built into the system for the oil filter. If the wrong filter was on there it still would have bypassed. After a rebuild you are going to have some metal in the oil. Most ends up in the oil sump or bottom of motor. (there is a difference here) If the oil pump failed it's oil is just the screen from the oil bag since it send it on thru filter and then to lube engine. (there is a bypass just in case filter stops or you have incorrect filter. (not sure what different design is) Harleys oil pump require a manual alignment before being bolted down due to there silly lack of tolerance in runout. Someone probably failed to do that and it was in a bind. That's the builder. Just were did the builder say the brass was from? I suspect the bushing in the cam plate and that was from a builder misalignment. Little brass is not going to hurt anything. Fix the oil pump and go on. Sure it would be nice for someone to own up and pay for it but I would take the money and run. Who ever owns up don't make them work on it. From what I understand you can actually get to the oil pump screen on an evo. Is this how you come up with the brass?

 

I run a TC filter in my evo with no problems. I think the rebuild is to blame

 

Metal shavings came from dropping the oil filter and draining the oil reservoir. The engine has not been opened up yet due to the arguments between the two shops. The amount of metal was phenomenal, close to 1/16th of an inch covering the entire drain pan. Rebuilder did an oil pressure test before dropping the oil and it was producing 60lbs of pressure. Obviously obstructed somewhere to produce that high a reading. The oil change guys want me to bring them the bike so they can do the repair work. Don’t want them to touch it if they don’t even know the difference between an Evo filter and the TC filter with the by-pass spring etc. Rebuilder is convinced the damage is due to the incorrect oil filter so he isn’t going to eat the repairs. I asked the oil change shop to send a warm body to the rebuilders shop to observe disassembly of the engine but they refuse to do that. Kinda stuck between a rock and hard place. The rebuilder is a well know and reputable custom wrench with major commercial accounts. The oil change dude is telling me his wrench is awesome because he owns three Harleys. Really? Leno owns a bunch of Harley’s too but I wouldn’t let him crack my motor open. What would you guys do?

 

Big differences between the two filters; less restriction, lower filtration, and lack of Anti Drain Back Valve (ADBV) in the Evo. In use, the Evo filters oil between the engine and the tank and the TC filters between the tank and the engine. A filter with higher restriction, like a TC filter, on an Evo often causes some problems, i.e., too much oil in the crank (sumping) and oil out the breather, sluggish engine, smoking may result but not a catastrophic failure resulting in metal in the oil. I would be loooking at the original engine builder to address engine failure in less than 1000 miles. The MoCo actually used to list the SP 5 filter (a TC filter) as an “upgrade” to the Evo (maybe still do?) but experience says otherwise. Some automotive filters work fine and some are actually app’d for use on Evos by the manufacturer (3614 Champ Ecores and 51215 Wix for example).

Evo filter on a twin cam just means less filtration. Which is not great but better than way too much oil or way too little oil. The TC is less susceptible to restrictive filters but some have seen pooling in the oil tank using some car filters which would mean there is less oil in the important places than there is supposed to be.


JMHO but I don't believe the wrong filter caused the meltdown. Like I said, I would be looking at the original engine builder to remedy the problem. I would also start changing my own oil.

 

Wait a while and then torch the place;-)

 

Contact the MoCo, they can give you a definitive answer that you can take back to the builder(who is probably at fault)

dewky

 

I agree, especially in as little as 40 miles. The problem most likely is in the build.

Is there a local cunsumer advice bureau or something like that to get advice from?

 

Many have run the TC filter on EVO's. And I also remember the TC filter recommended as an 'upgrade' by Harley directly.

It wasn't the filter....

 

Bronze in the oil?
Rocker bushings, cam cover bushing(s), or flywheel thrust washers if so equipped.
I'd have a calm, level-headed talk, with your guy that did the be-build.
Scott