My car was sitting for about a month and because of some slight noises I wanted to check out the condition of the cam belt. So I took off the cam belt cover and tried to start the engine. This resulted in a cup or two of oil barfing out of the air intake. I also noticed that the oil reservoir under the hood was almost completely empty.
My guess is that the reed / check valve has failed and all the oil has drained in to the engine casing.
Something similar happened to me but I was queuing in traffic on way to the dealer when the engine cut out. On trying to restart after several attempts huge clouds of white smoke. I crept off the road & phoned the dealer. I decided to carry on & the smoke gradually cleared. They found the air cleaner dripping oil & diagnosed a sticking check valve which dumped oil into the air intake. Its been fine ever since, I don't think the valve was replaced but they may have cleaned it if this is possible. They charged for the filter.
I recently started a thread on this under ''Wet Sumping''
Since then, MMC have been in contact with S&S on my behalf. I am told that, yes this happens, and the engine should start without problems even if the tank has nearly all its contents in the crankcase. Maybe?
I'm still not sure whether there is a non-return valve of any sort in the scavenge line to prevent this. Most recent advice to me says there isn't. If this is the case, whether the oil level drops rapidly or not could just depend upon the position in which the gerotor pump comes to a halt when the engine is shut down: sometimes it will seal better than others.
If its any consolation, three speeders can have the same problem. All sorts of things have been done in the past, including fitting a tap in the oil line. And yes, folk have driven off and forgotten to turn the oil feed back on.
Old engines though tend to survive, ball and roller races don't need that much oil, it's white metal bearings in modern engines that quickly suffer (don't know the technical details of the S&S engine).
Me, I'll stick with my total loss engine - the roads need a bit of lubrication...
Actually, most folk use catch tanks these days, oily roads are not terribly popular with motorbike riders.
With my Darmont a couple of times I forgot to turn off the oil and it all dripped into the engine. Certainly provides quite a smoke screen on start up though neighbours not that impressed.
I think this is an important issue. As a fully oil overflowed engine can cause bigger engine damage. What will be the best if you don't drive the car for longer period for example over the winter time? 1. Drain the oil out of the reservoir over the winter time .... or 2. Start the engine once a month until the engine reaches operating temperature.
I am curious to hear your views ;-) ________________________ Player
