Hi all,

I ride a 1993 Wide Glide and have a problem which occurs only when the engine (1340 Evo stock engine) is in operation temperatur. Thailand is a very hot country but I am sure it should not be different to Florida or California. The oil indicator warning light is flickering when in idle, and as soon as I accelerate it is gone. I changed the oil 20w50 as well as the oil filter but nothing changes on the indicator. The Oil pump seems to work but I don't know how good - here in Thailand the tech's are not like back in europe. Could it be that the oil pump is simply old and worn out, and would a change make the difference? Is there anything alse which could cause this problem? Please help...

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Have you checked the actual oil pressure at idle with a gauge? It could be a bad oil pressure switch too. The evo's have very low pressure at idle.What speed are you idling at? Are you using the proper oil filter for the evo, that would make a difference too. After you check the above out, then it's time to look into the pump itself.

 

Hi,

I replaced the oil pressure switch with one from a friends harley (also an EVO) but still the same issue. Here where I live I can not check the actual oil pressure. The oil filter was changed a view months ago but after that I had the cam shaft and the inner bearing replaced and after that a broken key which secures the oil pump (which resulted in a non working oil pump). I order a new oil filter and original harley oil yesterday but this will takes a view days to come. Eventually there the former new oil filter has dirt from the broken bearing and camshaft left inside?

My mechanic opened and cleaned the oil pump, replaced the little key and at least the oil pump is working (but how good I don't know).

 

did the Hydraulic valve units became noisy at that high oil temperature ,.....because when one ( or more ) of them is leaking at maximum operating temperature due to the low viscosity of the engine oil at that time ,....the oil pump can build up poor pressure.
I had the same problem with my '93 FLSTC
My dealer took out the hydraulic valve adjusters , and cleaned them ,re-installedthem back again,...........problem solved !

 

I'm guessing the oil filter may be too restrictive

 

Hi all,
my idel rpm was as low as 500!!! we changed it to 950 which helped a little bit but still the light comes up. I will order W60 oil as I believe it should give me more pressure in a hot country like Thailand, plus a new oil filter as well.

 

An idle speed of 500 will definately do it plus tear up the bearings and also cause a low charge rate too in the battery. I would check to find the cause of the low pressure and not try to mask it with a heavier oil myself. Another cause may be fuel diluting the oil from a bad carb.

 

problem is in the hydraulic units ( for clearence free valve operation ) ,....ride the bike till it's hot ,....and check if there's a loud clicking noise coming out of the under-block ,...it could be even a loud knocking sound .
This is due to a leakage in one of these units ,...at the time this occures , oil pressure will be poor at that time.
This is also the high-pressure part of the oil system !
Low pressure circuit is for the crank-shaft-bearings .
Filter is only connented in the return part.
The pre-filter is mounted after the oil-pressure/ check valve ,...it's localized on top of the cranck-case just behind the oil-pump ,....it's only a simple small grid-screen.
Oil of any brand will do ,..as long it is 20W50 ,.....maybe you can check the "viscosity-index" ,....it's normally never on the package to find ,...you can get that information only from the internet-sites of the huge oil companies or by telephone , ...
ask if they want to put you through with the laboratory then .
The higher the viscosity-index , the better the engine oil for use in a HD,...that's what I understood.
And of course the API notation ,.....SG / CF should be perfect ,.... but an old fashioned SF/CC works also,....the changing interfalls must be shorter then ,....f.i. 2000km or so.
What can it cost after all ? Quaker State has an 20W50 mineral oil with an high visc. index number,....but it's not so well available here in Holland ,...don't know if it's soin your country.....

 

Yeah but if he is using the new HD oil filter it has a higher filtration rate which does cause this type of issue in some of the EVO motors. I know the new filters are 5 micron filtration media and I believe the old EVO filters were 10 micron. For $10 I would find a 10 micron filter first and see if this is causing the issue.

 

it does'nt make sense to me ,...correct me if I'm wrong ,...but :
The oil-filter can is connected in the return circuit,....and the problem also occures when engine is hot ,...this means that the viscosity of the oil is very low at that time,....so when the filter flow was a little blocked ,problem should occure when the oil was cold ,....just the ohther way round ....
But ,...nothing is impossible ,....if he makes a by-pass-connection between the 2 hozes of the filter ( just for testing ),...he can find out right away ,....but I doubt it.
Forgive me if my language-spelling is not quite correct ,...but I'm from Holland. hahaha.