I was speaking with a buddy of mine who's a old-school harley biker. He says that they used to clean out their oil tanks with kerosene every couple of oil changes. They'd just dump a couple of quarts of kerosene in and flush out the "oil sludge" from the system.

I've never heard of this, but he says everybody used to do it (and still do).

Anyone else ever heard of this?

Yes, it works great. I never heard of "flushing the system", only the tank. Newer oil blends have less of a sludge problem, but if you need to, it works. I never heard of anyone having problems doing the tank.

BW
'05 1200C

I have used Marvel Mystery Oil before, that's what I used when changing the oil in my old diesel truck. Just put some in the oil tank & run the motor at an idle til it warms up and then change the oil.

Either the FM or the Clymer [i forget which] recommends using kerosene to rinse out the oil tank. I bought some from the paint dept at Home Depot and did mine as part of last years winter project.

yes, it is safe. Use compress air afterwards to get as much of the Kerosene out of the oil tank afterwards though.

[QUOTE=IronMick]Either the FM or the Clymer [i forget which] recommends using kerosene to rinse out the oil tank. QUOTE]

It's right there in the H/D factory service manual for ironheads ;)

I used to do it to my old cars every oil change, Pour in the kerosene and let it run a minute and you wouldnt believe the sludge that came out.

I used to do it to my old cars every oil change, Pour in the kerosene and let it run a minute and you wouldnt believe the sludge that came out.

Are you guys talking about adding the kerosende to the old oil, running it, and then draining it out?

Or, do you mean drain the oil, fill with kerosene, then run and drain....

Inquiring minds.....
:D

Are you guys talking about adding the kerosende to the old oil, running it, and then draining it out?

Or, do you mean drain the oil, fill with kerosene, then run and drain....

Inquiring minds.....
:D

The manual only says to flush the oil tank with kero,I would not recomend running it with kero in the oil at all.
On newer bikes it's not really nessary anyway as they run multi weight modern detergent oils that won't leave a bunch of sludge in your oil tank.
The old Ironheads ran straight weight 50 or 60 and had no oil filter.
Without having a filter cleaning the sludge out with a kero rinse was the only way to make sure all the dirt and carbon etc wouldn't go back in the engine .

The manual only says to flush the oil tank with kero,I would not recomend running it with kero in the oil at all.
On newer bikes it's not really nessary anyway as they run multi weight modern detergent oils that won't leave a bunch of sludge in your oil tank.
The old Ironheads ran straight weight 50 or 60 and had no oil filter.
Without having a filter cleaning the sludge out with a kero rinse was the only way to make sure all the dirt and carbon etc wouldn't go back in the engine .

Thanks Y2K! Just wondering....

I used to do it to my old cars every oil change, Pour in the kerosene and let it run a minute and you wouldnt believe the sludge that came out.

Same here except I'd do the kerosene step twice. Then I'd let it drain and drip for a while before I added the new oil.

JB

I am NOT a mechanic! and I would NEVER do this to my engine or anyone elses.
Engines need lubrication! PERIOD.
If ya wanna clean the parts? Thats fine.
Think about it, kerosene,diesel fuel,marver oil, is NOT an engine lubricant:frownthre
NOT for me. And I have heard all of these forever and disagree with all of this.
Think about it:banarasta
NOT FOR ME.:frownthre
Jim:)

When you drain the oil on a sporty..Its doesnt all come out, Some stays in the crankcase. Now if you put kerosene in the oil tank, wouldnt some of it go in the engine??.. Now when you drain the kerosene, wouldnt some of it stay in the crankcase?? Next you fill the oil tank with oil...and you have kerosene and oil mixed together in the engine. Doesnt sound like a good idea to me..Unless I'm missing something..Like taking the oil tank off the bike and cleaning it. Maybe someone more mechanical than me could explain..This is just my Theory...witch means I might now know what I'm talking about..

The FM does not say anything about using kerosene to clean the engine. It is just the oil tank. Add some, shake it around, drain. No running of the engine involved. I did it during my winter project as i was unaware of the service given the bike by POs. I have not done it since. Probably won't given the properties of modern oil, and the use of an oil filter on the bike.

yes, it is safe. Use compress air afterwards to get as much of the Kerosene out of the oil tank afterwards though.

... or, just rinse it a couple times with some oil.

Yea, what Mick said!

Runnin' Kerosene as a lubricant????? :headb

Perish the thought!

if you change your oil when you should and use modern oils especialy synthetics. You should not have sludge in you're oil. The problem with using cleaners and oil flushers in your motor is when you break anything free you have the potential of having a piece of debris blocking a oil passage. Which means disaster. Change your oil when you should and use a good oil and you won't have problems. Also keep the short trips to a minimum get out once a week and go for a long ride to burn condensation and unburnt fuel out of your oil.