Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Garrett
I'm confused. How does oil from the chain oiler get into the primary case? The drive chain sprocket is outside of the case.
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OK......there's 2 chain oilers on your Shovelhead, that come off the oil pump on the right side of the engine block.
One fed oil to the primary chain, (that rusty looking thing you posted pics of) dripping it onto it, and returning it to the engine, via a drain hose in the bottom of the primary housing.
The second is a total loss oiler for the drive (secondary) chain that runs to the rear wheel..... It dripped oil on the chain, keeping it lubricated. The excess oil would fling forward and drip on the groound when the bike stopped, hence HD getting the reputation for oil leaks, and "Marking their territory. Guys who lived and rode on dort roads ran them wide open to keep the chain from going bad and they left oil spots everywhere.
So....on your oil pump, there's one hose that goes to the drive chain, that is adjusted to drip oil on the chain and self-lubricate.
There's also a line that runs to the primary, that feeds that little nipple, to the rear of the stator, and drips oil onto the primary chain and that has an adjusting screw too.
For both of them, turning them in, slows oil flow. Screwing them out increases oil flow.
The other two hoses to your primary housing are a vent line shared with the oil talk (t-fitting in the hose. One line goes to the primary vent and the other to the engine block vent and both to the oil tank.) and a drain hose on the bottom, that returns to the oil pump and eventually, the oil tank.
....what it looks like is that someone shut off the primary oil feed (screw) , not knowing it, and possibly thought they were shutting the secondary chain oiler off that lubes the chain that goes to the rear wheel.......
You can do one of two things:
1.) turn the oiler back on and repair that hose that has a hole in it. You have a wet clutch....it's just dry now. You should be fine after you adjust the chain to the right tension. There should be 5/8"-7/8" play in the chain, at the top, after being adjusted correctly.....
The hard part is...you need to get the primary case sealed almost air-tight to make the system work correctly, as vacuum (sucking) from the oil pump is what returns the oil to the pump. Airleaks will cause issues....
2.) Seal up the oiling nipple, plug the return line fitting, drill a vent hole and place a fitting in the top rear of the primary housing and fill the primary with 3/4 qt of 20w50 and run it as a sealed, separated primary unit.
If I were you, I'd find a way to run it stock. It's a decent working system.
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