Ironhead Help 1973 Iron Head Puking oil from Vent tube.

fyrsgt54 · #1 23rd October 2009

I have a 1973 sportster Bobber. The story begins like this. I was riding one night with a friend when we heard a noise like the chain hitting something. after further inspection we found that when the bike was strutted the clearance was to little. So I took it to a guy who cut and welded and chanelin the tank so the chain can ride in it. the other day I finnally got the tank back dieing to ride i got in a hurry. I hooked up the old lines put oil in her fired her up and went for a ride. Went to my friends house to show off the custom tank. All ok until I fired it up in his yard oil puked from the air vent by the alternator. I called a friend who said to hit the vent with a hammer the ball inside was stuck this seemed to work . I rode back home parked it for the night. The next morning in my yard same thing. I had some time and tools I thought maybe I will just pull off this side case a replace the check ball. OOOOOPS My major bad . Out came all my cam gears alot more oil And guess what YEA no freakin check ball. I paniced ran to a shop near by They laughed and said the check ball is in the oil pump. If I take the oil pump off they can fix it fast and cheap. Ok so after many more hours cut knuckels kicking a swearing It seems I have to pull the motor to get the pump out. HELP I have No manual and Not alot of cash well really Im broke. Can I do this myself ? Do I pull the motor? How do I get my baby back together and on the road. Thank you for reading .

Gone · #2 23rd October 2009

first off, welcome. second, GET A FACTORY MANUAL. you do have to remove the engine to get the oil pump off, but not to get the check valve off, its right behind the pressure switch. but first you have to do this, GET A FACTORY MANUAL!!!! and DO NOT take it to a shop that says you have to take the oil pump off to get to the check valve, you dont. and i want to add, check out the stickys on this forum, it will give you insite on what makes your bike tick. and i know i mentioned it before, but get a FSM and a factory parts catalog, they are worth much more then the cost when it comes time to wrench your bike. where are you located?

fyrsgt54 · #3 23rd October 2009

Yea I have stopped for now until I can find a manual. every time I do something it gets worse . Thanks for the reply.

skixx55 · #4 23rd October 2009

You don't have to remove the pump to get at the check valve (ball and spring) at the front end of the pump you will see a large hex fitting (not oil line) remove this and the ball and spring are easy to access, clean the ball and seat and that should do it. some times when replacing the ball it will help to tap it with a long punch to help reseat it (before installing spring) but it's usually not neccesary, check through the stickies on the ironhead page look for oil pump rebuild and there is a pic of a dissassembled pump laid ouy as it ccme apart and you will be able to see the ball and spring, Cheers

GA_Ironhead · #5 23rd October 2009

You don't need to pull the pump to replace/clean the check ball and spring. You can do it yourself. You do need the H-D Factory Service Manual and Parts Catalog though. It will save you $$ and aggravation.

Go here: http://www.sunnymeadcycles.com/HDtwins.html

You NEED items 19 and 20. Do not delay. Go now.

NAYYY

P.S. The archives are full of good information. The ball valve R/R procedure is probably detailed in one of these threads. http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&s...ch=XLFORUM.NET

IronMick · #6 23rd October 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyrsgt54

...
I hooked up the old lines put oil in her fired her up and went for a ride. Went to my friends house to show off the custom tank. All ok until I fired it up in his yard oil puked from the air vent by the alternator. I called a friend who said to hit the vent with a hammer the ball inside was stuck this seemed to work . I rode back home parked it for the night.

The next morning in my yard same thing. I had some time and tools I thought maybe I will just pull off this side case a replace the check ball. OOOOOPS My major bad . Out came all my cam gears alot more oil And guess what YEA no freakin check ball.

I paniced ran to a shop near by They laughed and said the check ball is in the oil pump. If I take the oil pump off they can fix it fast and cheap. Ok so after many more hours cut knuckels kicking a swearing It seems I have to pull the motor to get the pump out.

HELP I have No manual and Not alot of cash well really Im broke. Can I do this myself ? Do I pull the motor? How do I get my baby back together and on the road...

This is called "wet sumping". Do a search on the forum for wet sumping. It is a simple facct of life with ironheads and other HD bikes, and is not a problem that usually needs to be fixed.

To get the cam gears back in find the technical stickys [red posts at the top] and study any that have to do with cams; i think there are 3 of them. You will see good pics and learn techniques that you need to know.

What year is your bike? Are you sure you need to pull the engine to get the pump out? Older ones do, newer ones do not.

Hitting the vent with a hammer was so wrong. Your friends do not know the right stuff. There is no ball in the vent, as you now know.

Anyway, do not try to fix the oil puking problem. It is not important. First get the bike back together and running, changing as few things as possible. Then consider fixing the oil puke, but only if it really is a problem.

fyrsgt54 · #7 23rd October 2009

All great advice thanks for all your support . I need it Lol

fyrsgt54 · #8 24th October 2009

Ok now Im really confused the oil pump on my bike is like yall said but the front where the check ball would go has a metal plug in it like someone has bypassed this. I was looking at the pics I could find online and it appears to have an inlet in the back and the outlet on the front. But why would my outlet be plugged. I do have an oil cooler on it. Which at this point I can only assume would be after market .

fyrsgt54 · #9 24th October 2009

[QUOTE=fehd;2240815]first off, welcome. second, GET A FACTORY MANUAL. you do have to remove the engine to get the oil pump off, but not to get the check valve off, its right behind the pressure switch. but first you have to do this, GET A FACTORY MANUAL!!!! and DO NOT take it to a shop that says you have to take the oil pump off to get to the check valve, you dont. and i want to add, check out the stickys on this forum, it will give you insite on what makes your bike tick. and i know i mentioned it before, but get a FSM and a factory parts catalog, they are worth much more then the cost when it comes time to wrench your bike. where are you located?[/QU

Im from Ft Myers Florida . Thanks for the reply

IronMick · #10 24th October 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyrsgt54

... the oil pump on my bike is like yall said but the front where the check ball would go has a metal plug in it like someone has bypassed this...

Is the plug where the oil pressure switch should be?