JMJ
Greetings! Welcome back to the shop. The motorcycle is secured in a stand with externals removed, namely, the lower fairings, saddlebags, seat, and battery. We’re starting the engine removal process by draining and straining the engine oil, mostly to satisfy my curiosity.
As expected, the oil plug has a magnetic tip. If the first clue was noise in the crankcase, the second clue was the metal shavings covering the magnet (see photo below). Syn3 oil drains really slowly when cold, so I gave it an hour to drain before re-installing the plug. The photo below shows some of the debris I found in the drain pan. After straining the oil into a jug for disposal, I pulled out the larger pieces (0.5 – 1.0 mm). Some of them appeared to be sealant or tape that was used to seal the drain plug. Other pieces are of unknown origin at this point (cam chain tensioner?). I removed and drained the oil filter as well, but found nothing new. At some point, we’ll open the filter and examine the media. We will also examine the residue in the oil pan when that is removed.
The work flow from the service manual (2004 Harley – Davidson Service Manual – Touring Models – P/N99483-04A (2004 Touring 1450-Cc 5-Speed Models), 2003) lists the following main steps.
- Removing Engine from Chassis
- Top End Overhaul, Disassembly
- Bottom End Overhaul, Disassembly
- Subassembly Service and Repair, Top End
- Subassembly Service and Repair, Bottom End
- Bottom End Overhaul, Assembly
- Top End Overhaul, Assembly
- Installing Engine in Chassis
No surprises here. The first procedure in removing the engine is the complete removal of the fuel tank. While the procedure call for purging the fuel supply line to relieve pressure, I won’t be starting the engine to do this. I have not been able to find any alternative procedure for relieving fuel system pressure, but several sources have convinced me that the pressure will have already bled off by now. We will see.
Also of note, while searching for alternative procedures, I ran across a YouTube video (Blue Collar Bike Werks [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFxn1rCE3rM_BLyvHz7yrtA], 2017) showing a common failure mode for the fuel pump. The theory is that the ethanol in today’s fuel accelerates the breakdown of the material used in the regulator housing at the bottom of the fuel pump. The regulator housing is held in place by two ears that can break allowing the housing to shift out of position and disrupt the fuel pressure regulation. We’ll take a look at this while the fuel tank is empty and removed.
Cheers!