i have a peculiar problem i'm hoping someone can give me some insight to - i posted here before regarding what i thought was an oil pressure switch problem, replaced the switch and still have the issue. what happens is when i turn on the ignition, oil light lights up like normal. when i start engine, oil light goes out like normal. after idling a few second i shut off ignition and oil light doesn't come on as it should. bulb is ok, wiring is ok. after a few minutes, when i turn on the ignition, oil light comes on as normal.

what is peculiar is that after idling and shutting off the engine, i removed the oil filter and noticed that as the rubber seal broke contact, i heard a little ssssst sound, as though there was pressure built up inside the engine. i am wondering if this pressure is keeping my oil pressure switch closed for awhile after i shut off the engine, thereby explaining why oil light stays off when shutting engine down. i don't believe it is normal to have pressure built up inside the engine, at least that is what i have heard. one other thing that could be part of the issue is that this bike has an oil cooler mounted vertically on the left side frame above the shifter. i don't know anything about oil coolers and wonder if this could have something to do with it.

other than this, bike seems to work fine, i'm just a little concerned that if i lost my oil pump or oil leaked out, would i be notified by light?
any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
tim

 

I don't think the oil cooler would have anything to do with it but you are right that you should not have air pressure in the crankcase. It is normal for some compression to leak by the rings but there must have been some venting of the crankcase when it was new, could the vent hose(s) have been plugged up when doing an upgrade such as air cleaner?
I would consult a service manual for your year and determine how the crankcase venting was originally done and trace it from there to see if a hose is ruptured, kinked or has been removed/caped off.

 

I have a 1998 1200 custom 12,00miles. Got it new. Here's how mine has always worked. Turn on the ignition switch the oil light comes on. Start the motor the light goes out. Let it run a bit turn the motor off and in about 3 seconds the oil light comes on. I would say if yours doesn't come
back on when you turn it off ..get it checked out.

 

My friend has a 2003 883 and when he shut the motor off it took a long time like 4or 5 min. for the oil light to come on. This was when the bike was new and still under warranty. The dealer said they called H-D and they said there is a ball bearing in the switch that makes contact to turn the oil light on. And they were having a problem with some of the switches. So H-D sent the dealer a new switch with a different ball bearing in it...Problem solved........

 

MY QUESTION WOULD BE "WHY ARE YOU SHUTTING IT DOWN AFTER A FEW SECONDS"??? YOU SHOULD BE RIDDING ITAND NOT WONDERING WHY YOUR OIL LIGHT DOESN'T COME BACK ON. IF YOU WERE HAVEING OIL PRESSURE ISSUES THETOP ENDWOULD BE SCREAMING FOR LUBE.