I am pullin apart my 2003 softail cam chest - yes - I have a factory manual - but my knowledge and tooling is 84 back shovel and ironhead - heres my quesiton - do you folks drain the oil tank before pullin the cam plate? I would say yes based on the diargrams in the manual - sort of sucks cause I usually recommend that folks change oil after a motor repair - so it would seem I will be changin the oil twice - also - do most of te TC builders pull the cam plate with the oil pump or without the oil pump attached to the plate? I am not servicing the pump so I was goin to leave it attaced to the plate.

I will be doin the inner INA and outer plate cam bearings as well as cyco tensioners - the oriiginal tensioners are heavily pitted and very noisy.

Does anyone know why HD decided to align the timing marks on the cam ear and pinion gear on the TDC of the rear cylinder????

 

I would drain the oil from the oil bag. But keep in mind the cam galley runs with oil up to where the crank goes thru.

There is going to be a lot dump out when you first pull the cover which I assume you saw in your case.

So catch that. And allow that extra necessary for an oil refill when you get it back together. (about 1/2 qt as I recall)

It's probably not necessary to do, say an oil change at, say 1000 miles later. Just an opinion. Oil filter can handle that.

I personally would dimensional inspect oil pump. And at minimum, replace the o-ring in it.

 

If you have it on it's kickstand, normally it doesn't have a whole lot of oil that comes out of there when you take the cover off, but I would be ready though just in case.

 

Unlike the Shovel head and the EVO that have a check valve between the oil tank and cam chest/sump, the Twin Cam does NOT have a check valve between the oil tank and the cam chest/sump. The oil pump gerotors are what keep the oil tank from draining into the cam chest/sump. I always drain the oil tank first... I still get a little oil from the sump that will drain out.

There is a procedure in the manual where you align the oil pump during oil pump/cam plate installation. While if you don't remove it from the cam plate, technically it should maintain alignment when you bolt the cam plate back on... I don't trust that. I always remove the oil pump from the cam plate to inspect it for damage or excessive wear. You'd be surprised how debris through that pump can damage gerotors or the pump housing. I then always re-align the oil pump during the oil pump/cam plate install...

Note: I find it easier to ensure a good fit on the main oil pump o-ring by setting the oil pump in the cam chest first, before the cam plate. I can also see it better, and check that it's fitted well prior to adding the cam plate. While I have never tweaked, pinched, or otherwise messed up that o-ring during install, I have read of it happening to others... which means an immediate return trip back into the cam chest..

 

Just to add to Mr. H.
You will or certainly should, use a tapered alignment pin when reinstalling the pump. It keeps everything in the proper orientation when tightening down.
Yes, drain the "bag", otherwise it will slowly drain by itself when you remove the assy. Yes, I know that because I did not drain mine prior to removal. It just makes it a little more of a mess and drains reallllllly slow doing it that way. I think it was a couple of quarts or less if I recall.

 

Okay - fantastic replies - I have the Evo Shovel tappet block alignment pins - is this the same tool used for pump - I see in the manual to place the pins at te 1 and 3 positions (semi-tight) and then loosely tighten the 2 and 4 allens - then rotate the motor to center the pump - one has to assume the center is gonna change once the pump wears in - do most of you looslely tighten the set pins and the allens first and fiddle with it tryin to find the elusive center? I do a similar procedure with shovel pumps but it is much easier b/c I can rotate the shaft w/o rotatin the motor before I add te drive gear

Also - my clean out plug is popped up a bit - I know this is normal - but should I pull and replace the o-ring? Does it just pull out?

 

Put some cheap dino oil in, since you are going change it anyways in X miles.

 

I would also recommend disassembling and cleaning your lifters . It’s easy and this is where you will find a small amount of the orange plastic from the cam chain tensioners .

 

I've gone into the cam chest of Twin Cam engines about 7 or 8 times for various reasons. It's been a year or so, but....

IIRC, I put the alignment pins in so they center the pump. I think I rotate the rear wheel as I snug down the pins.

I also rotate the rear wheel, as I go back & forth between the 3/4 screws, tightening them until snug. I remove the pins and put the other two screws in until snug. I then torque them in the proper sequence...

If that is different than the manual, follow the manual. I do refer to the manual each time... that's just how I remember it at the moment...

 

So here is what I found inside - INA bearings - the rear cam is gouged/ground a bit - I may be able to polish it but maybe Ill put in an Andrews set - I assume the cam edge was gouged by the INA rollers or a piece of crap got in there - Ive seen this type of damage many times with shovel cams.

Any thoughts - do folks run TC88 cams like this and it is ok? I would not run this in a shovel but the load is higher