Thursday, May 8, 2014
How to Install a Jagg Oil Cooler XL

Since Harley-Davidson Sportster engines are air-cooled, their three quarts of oil can get very hot in the summertime, especially in desert conditions. Very hot oil is both less slippery and more easily saturated with carbon and other wastes than merely hot oil. Oil coolers increase the volume of oil circulating in the engine and improve the radiation of excess heat away from the engine. A Sportster XL requires a Jagg Slimline Oil Cooler kit. If your Sportster is a 2004 or later model you must also buy a Jagg 4400 Oil Filter Adapter.
Instructions
- 1
Ride the motorcycle for 30 miles until the oil gets as hot as possible. Park the bike and put on a pair of mechanics gloves.
2Loosen the hose clamp on the oil drain line with a flat-head screwdriver. Pull the plug out of the end of the drain line with a pair of pliers drain the hot oil from the tank into a drain pan.
3Re-plug, tighten and replace the oil drain line. Position the drain pan under the oil filter on the right front of the bike.
4Loosen the oil filter with an oil filter wrench. Remove the filter by hand and dump as much of the oil as possible into the drain pan. Mop the spilled oil off the front of the bike with rags. Remove the gloves.
5Cut two pieces of standard oil line, with an inside diameter of 3/8-inch and an outside diameter of 5/8-inch, approximately 18 inches long with a sharp knife. The lines must be long enough to extend from the oil filter to the middle of the left down tube.
6Slip one end of each of the two new oil lines onto the Jagg oil filter adapter nipples. Tighten the lines to the nipples with two of the hose clamps included with the adapter kit and a flat-head screwdriver.
7Position the O-ring included with the kit on the oil filter adapter. Slide the oil filter adapter and O-ring onto the oil filter mounting stud.
8Spin the adapter anchor nut onto the oil filter stud and tighten with a 1-inch hex socket, socket extension and socket wrench.
9Spin the banjo fitting included with the kit onto the oil filter stud. Spin a new oil filter onto the oil filter stud and hand tighten.
10Attach the 1/16-inch rubber shims and the 1-1/8-inch clamps included in the oil cooler kit to the left down tube. Attach the oil cooler to the clamps with its nipples down and the cooling fins facing forward, using the supplied nuts and bolts, hex socket and socket wrench.
11Attach the two oil lines from the oil filter adapter to the two nipples on the bottom of the oil cooler using the hose clamps included with the oil cooler kit and a flat-head screwdriver.
12Pour three quarts of oil into the oil tank. Start the engine in neutral and run for one minute.
13Check for oil leaks while the bike is running. Turn off the engine and check the oil level in the oil tank with the dipstick. It should be about one quart low.
14Add oil to the oil tank as needed. Restart the engine in neutral and run for at least five minutes. Check for leaks while the motorcycle is running. Make sure the oil cooler becomes warm.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
How to Install an Oil Cooler in a Sportster
Oil coolers are a practical addition for riders who put many miles on their Sportsters or who live in hot climates. Oil coolers for modern Sportsters bolt to one or both of the front down tubes of your motorcycle, and two hoses connect the cooler to your oil supply. An oil cooler supply line connects the oil pump to the cooler, and an oil cooler return line connects the cooler to the crankcase. At least a dozen companies sell these accessories. Harley-Davidson sells and recommends its own brand of Sportster oil cooler, the kit number for which is 62996-07.
Instructions
- 1
Free the drain hose from the boss on the frame below the battery box. Loosen the hose clamp on the drain hose. Remove the drain plug with pliers.
2Drain the motor oil into a drain pan. Reseal and replace the drain hose.
3Loosen the oil filter with an oil filter wrench. Carefully remove the filter by hand. Clean up spilled oil with paper towels.
4Remove the oil feed line and fitting from the oil pump with open-end wrenches. Remove the existing oil return line and fitting from the crankcase.
5Apply Hylomar Gasket and Thread Sealant (which Harley recommends) or the equivalent to the replacement oil pump and crankcase fittings included with your oil cooler kit. Attach the fittings to the oil pump and crankcase. Tighten the fittings to 60 inch-pounds with a torque wrench.
6Attach but do not tighten the oil cooler return hose to the crankcase fitting and the cooler supply hose to the oil pump fitting.
7Remove the clutch cable and wire harness clips from the frames left down tube behind the forks. Install the oil cooler clamps that came with your kit in the same spot.
8Attach but do not tighten the oil cooler to the cooler clamps, using the Allen bolts and hex nuts that came with your oil cooler.
9Attach the oil cooler hose from your oil pump to the rightmost fitting on the bottom of your new cooler. Secure the hose by tightening the hose clamp with a screwdriver.
10Attach the oil cooler hose already attached to your crankcase to the leftmost fitting on the bottom of your oil cooler. It also attaches with a hose clamp and screwdriver.
11Arrange the oil cooler so it faces forward. Check for hose kinks. Tighten the cooler clamp screws with a torque wrench to 30 inch-pounds.
12Tighten the hose fittings with a torque wrench to 20 foot-pounds. Reattach the clutch cable and wiring harness to the clips on the cooler clamps.
13Hand-tighten a new oil filter to the oil filter stud. Add four quarts of motorcycle motor oil to the oil tank.
14Start the motorcycle and allow it to run in neutral until the engine is warm. With the engine running, examine all fittings for leaks. Touch the oil cooler to ensure that it becomes warm.
15Turn off the engine. Allow the bike to cool, then retighten all fasteners.
16Check the oil level with the dipstick. Add oil as necessary.