Air cleaner blowing oil - 2005 Harley Davidson FLSTC - FLSTCI Heritage Softail Classic

Oil getting in the breather assembly is from blow by. Is the pcv valve working? If so I would suspect a high mileage engine and not much can be done other than rebuild

The most common reason is blow-by. The rings may be weak enough to allow compression to "blow by" the rings and get into the crankcase. The pressure pushes oil out the vent hose to the air cleaner.

Usually from blow-by which is compression "blowing" past the rings into the oil pan. The extra pressure forces oil thru the vent hose up to the air filter.

It sounds like a combination of too much oil AND moisture in the oil. Completely drain it and replace the oil. Run it for 5 minutes and replace the oil AGAIN.

To begin with, make sure you're putting too much oil in the tank. But, oil blow out into the breather is common on these bikes. Thanks to the EPA, all vented air from the engine must be cycled or run through the engine to be burned. This is why Harley moved the engine breather vents to top of the heads, to reduce the amount of oil in the air vented from the engine. However, it still builds up in the air cleaner and must be cleaned out occasionally. As the engine gets more and more mileage on it, the rings allow more compression to get by them resultling in more crankcase pressure blowing out more oil mist.

I think Custom Chrome and Kuryaykin, aftermarket accessory suppliers, has a kit to relocate the crankcase vent so that you air cleaner is not filled with oil. You can order the kits through any aftermarket dealer and sometimes even you Harley dealer.

Good Luck
Steve

It's time to replace the engine. The rings on the pistons have worn out. They are letting oil get in the cylinders thus causing it to smoke. And they are letting the compession of thecylinders blow into the crankcase, this is why you oil in the air cleaner. it's just tired.

All Harleys after the year 1992 will have some engine oil carry over visible in the air cleaner though there is a diffrence between excessive and normal although if you get on your bike and travel down the highway at a constant 80+ MPH you will find that you get more carry over to the air cleaner then you would normally riding at lower speeds and this is simply cause you are running the engine harder and therefore you will see more carry over at the air cleaner. Now to be sure, make sure your bike is sitting on level pavement and in the case of a Softtail model it should also be upright and level pull the dipstick from the oil tank and wipe it clean, reinsert fully into the oil tank and remove it again and look to see if your oil level is roughly halfway between the check marks on the dipstick. If so then yes your oil level is good. I would now remove the air cleaner cover and wash any excess oil out of it and if your running a stock air filter and you have had a oil carry over issue for awhile now, then replace the air filter, reinstall the air cleaner cover and go ride the bike for around 50 miles and by ride the bike I mean go ride it like in town and on the highway without being abusive to it or excessive speeds(70 mph). Then remove your air cleaner cover again after your test ride and look to see if you have any oil carry over in the air cleaner. if so let me know and we can go into further detail.

REPLACE THE CRANKCASE BREATHER ON THE SIDE OF THE BLOCK. IT IS A SMALL RECTANGULAR SHAPED BOX AT THE END OF THE HOSE THAT IS ATTACHED TO THE AIR CLEANER HOUSING WHERE THE OIL IS SPRAYING IN

Replace the Oil Blow-By Stopper

Often times there is a engine breather tube that has to do with emissions that runs from the engine to the air filter breather box. This tube can in some cases blow oil through it when the engine is run hard. Make sure you're not over filling the engine with oil when you change it because this will cause the oil to "blow off" the excess and the air box is where it often goes.
There is also another possibility, are you using too much oil in your air filter after you clean it? This too is a common cause for oil in the air box, if that's the case I would not worry about it.
The last case scenario is one you don't want, that would be washed out rings which cause blow by and that in turn causes the engine to blow oil out of the breather tube which I'm confident it venting into the air box.
Please let me know if these resolve your question and if not give me more details and I will be happy to assist you further.
Regards,
RSelvy