Hi, i just bought my first Harley, an -57 ironhead with and -76 ironhead xlh1000 engine.
My oiltank is side mounted, i dont know if it is stock or not, there are 3 hoses connected.
1. at the bottom, goes to oilpump.
2. at the back of the tank, an inch below top of tank, the oil from the engine comes back to the tank here.

3. at the top of the tank, near the lid of the tank, the hose comes from top of crankcase (from somewhereunder starter-engine)
there is no oil coming from that hose, i guess it must be some kind of crankcase breather-hose.
If there was oil coming from that hose the oil would go to the center of the oil filter.
It seems to me hose 2 and 3 should be switched, like they are connected now the oil filter doesnt do much good.
I also have some kind of breather-hose from the generator, this one ends just underneath the engine.

(please excuse my not sogood english, i live in Norway)

 

Your english is 100 times better than my Norwegian (I cannot even spell that)

There are 3 oil line connections on the engine side of things:
1) At the bottom is the connection into the back side of the oil pump. This is the oil feed from the bottom of the tank, as you say.
2) There is a connection about midway up on the engine that is hidden from view behind the countershaft sprocket cover and the back end of the timing cover. This is the oil pump breather vent. This goes to the top of the oil tank.
3) The last line is located at the top of the crankcase, just rear of where the base of the rear cylinder meets the aluminum case and perhaps partially hidden by the starter motor. This is the oil return line and also goes to the top of the oil tank.

Lines 1 & 3 are the same size. Line 2 is one size smaller that the others and carries no oil because it is a vent. You can switch line 2 and 3 at the oil tank so return oil goes into the filter. That is the correct hook up.

The last line coming from under the generator is the crankcase vent. This should always have an open end. This is where the oil will sometimes puke out on the driveway if you have not cranked the bike in many months and some oil has leaked past the oil pump check valve and loaded up the crankcase. It stops puking rather quickly after the machine is fired off.......pg

 

Thx a lot for your answer, so my guess was right, i have to switch line 2 and 3.

 

The return line from the engine should go to the top of the tank, right under the cap. The filter drops in and seals right at the top of the tank. The oil from the engine dumps into the filter assembly this way. Those filter assemblies were solid body in design and there would be very little flow through unless the lines were connected this way. I would love to shoot a picture of the assembly from the manual but do not have the equipment to do so. Maybe Pinion will scan that page for you.

 

This is all there is Cal. Nothing in the book about the tank connections at all. Like I said, the factory has never given much info regarding the oil line connections, oil tank internals, etc. We are left to figure it out ourselves.
What you said about the return line dumping into the filter is 100% correct....pg


[IMG]local://upfiles/8331/16F33DB31F4645979E6A380E76C2FF75.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thank you Pinion, That is the shot I wanted to show him.