After reading the overwhelming number of member's negative 1000 mile and 5K service experiences at various dealers, I've decided to tackle my first service myself. You can only read "next time I'll do it myself and know it's done right" or "no one is going to take care of your bike as good as you" so many times before you get the point.

The 07 Service manual is on the way and I'm gonna check on getting the Dyna adapters for my jack at the dealer this week. Considering picking up one of those "Build A Hog" videos for Softail/Dyna service just to have a visual reference besides the manual. The Wide Glide has seen plenty of short runs, so I'm also going to try out using the CORS tool to flush the oil.

Any tips or advice from other members who've been down this road before would be greatly appreciated. It's always nice to have a heads up for problems before I encounter them by myself and it sounds like more and more members will be doing this on their own.

 

What is "the CORS tool to flush the oil"?

 

Contaminated Oil Removal System

It connects in place of the oil filter and serves as an exit line for the remaining old still in the engine. With the case filled with fresh oil, the motor is run to flush the remaining oil out the CORS hose. After the flush, you disconnect the CORS system and complete the fluid/filter change.

 

When you use this product, is oil being pumped to your engine, or is it running dry?

 

Oil is replaced in the case after draining and used to flush the old oil out.

 

When your engine is running as normal, where does the oil go after the filter......does it get pumped to the engine or to the oil tank?

This is what I'm getting at:
If it gets pumped to the engine, then using the CORS tool, your engine would be running dry.
If it gets pumped to the oil tank, then using the CORS tool, your engine would be getting the fresh clean oil.

 

did the 1k service myself with the help of the service manual. very helpful on getting me ready on what to get at the dealership as for parts, oil, and other lubricants.

i would get a motorcycle jack to help out. the only problem that i ran into is that i have oil leaking from the filter. the manual states not to use a tool to tighten it. but i might have to do it to stop the leak.

 

This is a tool that is used to flush oil from your motor. After you remove the drain plug and drain the old oil, the plug is replaced and the tank is filled again. The oil will begin to flush when you start your engine. The oil will begin to leave the bike through the exit tube into a drain bucket. When you start to see clean oil exit the tube, the flush is complete. If you route the exit tube back into your oil tank your gonna be flushing oil all day.

A few different companies make them:

Rogue Choppers has a sturdy metal version called the Scavenger that costs more than a trip to the massage parlor or you can pick up a less expensive plastic/nylon version called the CORS (Contaminated Oil Removal System) for $10-20 bucks.

Don't know about you, but I'm planning on having a lot of tension after I'm done with the service and that massage isn't gonna take care of itself. So as you can see, it's not a tough decision.

Rogue Choppers has a video on how an oil flush works to the soundtrack of '80's soft-****.

 

I realize all the above, but I think you're missing my point. Let me explain my question one more time.

When your engine is running as normal, where does the oil go after the filter......does it get pumped to the engine or to the oil tank?

This is critical, because:
If the oil normally gets pumped to the engine straight from the oil filter, then when you use the CORS tool, your engine would be running dry, since the hose from the CORS is not connected to anything (dirty oil is exiting).
If the oil normally gets pumped to the oil tank straight from the oil filter, then when you use the CORS tool, your engine would be getting the fresh clean oil (oil tank just wouldn't refill).

Now, I'm asking which way the pump normally works, because if it functions the first way (pumping oil from the filter to the engine), then I won't be interested in using this device at all because my engine wouldn't be getting any oil while you are pumping out the dirty oil.

 

If I was a mechanic I wouldn't have just ordered the shop manual and asked everybody for tips on doing my first service. Now I don't have that manual yet, and I can't honestly answer your question, but speaking as a Harley owner who has just enough mechanical ability to figure out which end of the screwdriver to hit the nail with, I'll pull a guess out my tailpipe...

Designing a tool that would destroy your engine seems like a bad business move and the notion that two different companies would actually go into business competing against each other for lawsuits stretches the imagination. Somebody, somewhere in at least of of the two separate production cycles had to have pointed out that selling a product that neither does what it claims to do and actually destroys the thing its supposed to fix wouldn't exactly inspire consumer loyalty.

Watching the videos of people using these things, there seems to be a lot of old oil coming out of that tube before the fresh oil hits. If you'd already drained the oil tank and the device was only flushing from tank line to filter, where did all that oil come from? There's only 3 quarts in there to start with and those lines are neither long or large.

My guess is that the CORS/Scavenger cycles through every place oil moves within the engine by diverting the flow of oil to the filter or that the absence of a return route from the filter doesn't impair the flow of oil through the engine and out the exit tube. As far as the direction of oil from filter to engine... I'll let you know if the manual mentions it.