Revtech 20W50 Conventional

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Gents,

What can you tell me about Revtech 20W50 conventional oil? I recently sent my HD TC88 to repair shop to get cam chain tensioners replaced. To my chagrin they changed the engine oil and re-filled it with revtech oil.

I usually run Amsoil 20W50 and am unfamiliar with revtech. Please let me know if this is a high quality oil.

Thank you
 
I'm sure it's not bad oil but for the money, I'd use a M1, Amsoil, Redline type oil.

I hope you didn't pay for an oil change if you sent the bike in for JUST a chain tensioner replacement. That's the kind of [censored] from dealerships that doesn't sit well with me. I'll do my own work, thank you.
 
When doing tensioner shoes an oil change is SOP if there are any signs of shoe material shedding off the old ones. Believe me, with some of the tolerances with oil jets, oil pump and bearings in a TC engine you don't want plastic bits floating around in there. I would question them NOT changing the oil and filter.
 
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Doesn't sit well with me either. So, I ended up speaking with a manager and didn't pay for oil change.

But yes, they tried to charge me.
 
When you remove the cam cover, you're going to have oil dripping out of there... you will lose about a pint or so of oil when you take the cover off.

Did they change your oil filter also? If so, I really don't think they're out of line at least charging for the oil and filter.

Just run the Revtech 2500 miles and change it back to whatever oil you like.

Dan
 
They also changed and charged me for the filter. I wasn't quite as angry about the filter.

It made me very mad that they charged me $7 a quart for conventional motor oil, irregardless of the brand name.
 
In a Harley, anything including WD-40 would work, no worries with RevTech. My preference would be Rotella Synth 5w-40
 
Originally Posted By: ZGRider
In a Harley, anything including WD-40 would work, no worries with RevTech. My preference would be Rotella Synth 5w-40


5w40 would be a very poor choice in a TC88 IMO. The 15w40 would be better.
 
I think the danger of choosing a 40 weight oil in the Harley engine is that it may shear to a 30.

My bike shears 50 weight oils to 40's all the live long day. It even sheared a mixture of two quarts of 20W50 VR1 and one quart of straight SIXTY weight VR1 down to a tidy little 40 weight in less than 3000 miles.

The UOA's always come back looking great, so that would tend to bolster the notion that these engines can get along on a 40 weight oil just fine...

...but on a 30 weight... I wouldn't want to press my luck. :)

I'm running Havoline 20W50 in my bike now (a 1994 Low Rider with the Evolution engine), and I've subbed in 10 ounces of good old blue bottle STP to hopefully help this oil stay closer to a 50 weight than a light 40 next time. :D

I'll probably UOA this run to see if the STP lives up to its claim or not. Ten ounces in a 3 quart total is a pretty stiff dose of the stuff...

Dan
 
ftm,
if you turned that 3qt mix into soup......welcome to my world!!! :D

would love to see the uoa on your new brew, but i bet its no thicker.

i turned havo10w40 into water - susvis of 58.3 in just 4.5 hours
another test of it showed 60.7 for 3.2 hours use. a whopping 54 ground miles.
30wt is 56.7954 and 40wt is 68.2863
 
Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: ZGRider
In a Harley, anything including WD-40 would work, no worries with RevTech. My preference would be Rotella Synth 5w-40


5w40 would be a very poor choice in a TC88 IMO. The 15w40 would be better.


Inquiring minds want to know why? What is your opinion?

TC88 (and all other Harley air-cooled) engines have an all roller bearing crank which needs little lubrication and Rotella contains lots of ZDDP and is synthetic to counter heat breakdown. What is not to like? These are not 15,000 RPM engines, they are super low-tech, low-revving engines with a massive dry-sump oil capacity, and no shared tranny -- they don't shear oil easily. Only the excessive heat from air-cooling and parade rides is a worry.

I reject your rejection.
 
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I agree with ZGRider... Did I just say that?

Although my first choice would be a 20W-50 as recommended by HD, the 5W-40 would be acceptable at times. Even HD says it OK to use 15W-40 in a pinch, and since the 5W-40's are synthetics, I don't think shearing would be much of an issue.
 
To the OP...

Revtech should be fine. I have a 90 Heritage that has about 40K on the clock. It was ran with HD 20w50 until 15K. Since then I've used Revtech 20w50. The only time the jugs have been pulled off was to do the base gaskets.

Nothing wrong with using it IMHO.
 
I think the Harley Engine is fine on lighter oil until you consider the cam lobes and the roller lifters. If the oil is too thin, the film may not hold up well enough to prevent excessive cam lobe wear. A lighter oil with plenty of ZDDP might prevent metal to metal on the lobes, but I'd rather have an oil with a thick enough film so as I'm not falling back on the zinc/phos/moly barrier.

On the other hand, if the oil is too thick it may not pump quickly enough to all the places it needs to go in order to prevent wear in those areas. So it's a balancing act, of sorts.

I think the Evolution engines shear oil because of the cam gears. The Twin Cam engines run cam chains, but the older engines (Evolution all the way back to 1903) use gears, not cam chains.

Dan
 
Dealers tend to service and recommend the highest profit margin oil. In this case rev tech was probably it. The service oil probably came out of a drum, but was priced at retail qt's. Some dealership even make the service dept buy the oil from the parts dept, so you may have one mechanic walk out and grab one brand, then the next another, or pick one that's overstocked.
 
Originally Posted By: fuel tanker man
I think the Harley Engine is fine on lighter oil until you consider the cam lobes and the roller lifters. If the oil is too thin, the film may not hold up well enough to prevent excessive cam lobe wear. A lighter oil with plenty of ZDDP might prevent metal to metal on the lobes, but I'd rather have an oil with a thick enough film so as I'm not falling back on the zinc/phos/moly barrier.

On the other hand, if the oil is too thick it may not pump quickly enough to all the places it needs to go in order to prevent wear in those areas. So it's a balancing act, of sorts.

I think the Evolution engines shear oil because of the cam gears. The Twin Cam engines run cam chains, but the older engines (Evolution all the way back to 1903) use gears, not cam chains.

Dan


Roller lifters and rocker arms have little wear. Do the research -- that is why they use them. Only flat tappet lifters are prone to excessive cam wear. I'll give Harley this much, they did their best to make a trouble-free engine. Everything in the TC engines runs on high-quality bearings. You Harley guys are going to have to realize these new TC engines are not your grandad's Harley, these may be an old design, but they are thoroughly modern inside, thus modern oils apply. You don't need those "thick" oils anymore.

If you want to qoute the service manual, why even come to BITOG? This forum is about using oil OTHER than the recommended.
 
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Roller lifters can gall the cam lobes when the oil traction is too low to allow the roller to roll... it rather locks and skates.

I thought this was Harley Davidson folklore until this article by Cummins diesel technicians proved it:

http://www.valvoline-technology.com/upload/dynamic/Diesel Engine Cam Galling.pdf

I think the Evolution engine has a better track record for longevity than the Twin Cams, owing to the cam chain tensioners breaking and wearing out.

Anyway, I like thicker oil film on my cam lobes. Just a preference I guess. :)

Dan
 
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