This is in regards to my '91 FXRP, 40,000 miles. I heard a knocking at low rpm coming off an exit and lost power in the rear cylinder. When I brought the rpms back up over 2000 the knocking became less intense and I regained power in the cylinder I drove it from Wall SD to the Rapid City Harley shop where the diagnosed it as a failed tappet. So I loaded it on a U-Haul and brought it home to further inspect the damage. The dealer gave me the broken pieces in a zip lock bag to make sure I find all the pieces.

When I got it home I managed to find a total of 10 of the 20 needle bearings and all of the lifter block pieces but I have no idea where the other 10 needle bearings went. I presently have the engine disassembled in my garage (cases are split). The entire engine looks just like it should for 40,000 miles none of the internals were affected with the exception of the lifter, lifter block and 1 cam lobe. I blew out all the oil lines, rinsed the oil bag with kerosene, tore down the oil pump (perfect condition). Does anybody have any idea where they could have gone? Could the dealer have inadvertently thrown them out and not said any thing?

 

Uhhh....

I'm interested to read some of the responses you get from the smart guys. I'd like to Welcome you to the Forum in the meantime...

Mac

 

If you can't find 'em and have the engine down that far, I'd say they disintegrated into little pieces. Have you cut the oil filter apart and inspected it? If everything is as clean as you say, slap 'er back together, and get back on the road.

 

I agree, I think they got busted up and went thru the oil system. The larger peices are likely in the filter.

 

Yes I disected the filter with a die grinder. I had a couple of people tell me they might have dissintigrated but I found it hard to believe something that hard would get chewed up small enough to pass through the oil pump withouut leaving a trace it was ever even there. Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to poke around the forums for a couple weeks and see if I'll like it here. If anyone else has a reply I'd surely like to hear from you.

Nice site Mac!

 

What? You think you might have doubts. WTF

 

RudeDog,

Welcome hope you enjoy the site.

Hardened metal can get chewed up, especially when gotten too hot and it looses it's temper, or introduced into a thrashing enviroment. Most likely when they dismantled it you did'nt back get all the pieces that came out (might have been a floor drain nearby) if you can't find any more of the needles. If you're satisfied with what you're seeing and have checked the pump and everything else as you said, you should be alright. I would double check again and make sure you left no stone unturned.

Good Luck

John TN

 

sounds like you did the right thing.....by tearing it down! hope your rollin real soon!

 

How does the breather bore look? most of the broken small stuff ends up there

 

I would pull your oil pump off and tear it apart. My 83 Wide Glide did the same thing as you are describing. I installed Jims Big Axis lifters and blocks. After starting the bike up, oil was still blowing out the breather. Some of the needles went into the oil pump gears and sheared the 1/2 moon key. I ended up having to install a new oil pump because it sheared the bigger key on the pinion gear instead of the smaller key on the gear. I had to cut the long shaft going to the pinion gear in order to get the oil pump off. Not a good deal.