Oil in carb and breather - 1993 Harley Davidson XLH Sportster 883

All Harleys will get a little oil in the breather.

However, when mileage causes the rings to wear, combustion pressure can leak past the rings, causing higher pressure.

You didn't state your mileage, but at 11 years old, your engine might be ready for a top end rebuild.

First check manifold breather . when you take carb off theres a lil hose that connects to the breather on the side of the motor . Replace it. If it still doesnt work check level of oil if its overfilled that could be your problem. If that doesnt work pull the head off look for a blowed spot in your gasket . If it is it will pressurize your motor pushing oil out of your carb.

see if the oil smells like gas the needle valve in the carb doesn't seat the carb over flows into the crank case washing down the oil

Oil coming via the engine breather can mean a worn engine, it could be as simple as an over filled sump, or the breather valve itself is not working, the breather valve allows the crankcase pressure out of the engine.

Remove the Oil Breather from the side of the engine near the base of the valves and clean it with both engine degreaser and carb cleaner. If the reed assy sticks on the breather the crank case will over pressurize and port oil into the breather. Also if the engine was over-serviced with oil it will present the symptom you describe. Sometimes a carb problem will allow fuel to leak into the crank case after sitting for a long time and the oil will have gas in the oil. Sniff check the oil. If it smells like gas you may also have a sticking carb float or float needle.

If you need more assistance just repsond here and I will help you.

Thanks for choosing FixYa, Kelly

This is probably not a blown gasket issue. A bad head gasket can allow oil to enter the cylinder head/combustion chamber if it's not sealing off the valve area. A simple suggestion is to check on the engine opposite the carb side for the oil/crankcase breather. It will have 2 screws holding it onto the block. It has a type of filter media in it that traps excessive oil and oil vapors from the engine. It is also connected by a tube to the air filter housing. When you tipped, you probably put too much oil in the breather and it was inducted over to the air filter/carb intake side.
Clean or replace the breather after checking it and also make sure you haven't overfilled the Briggs with oil and only use SAE 30 in the engine. Muti-viscosity isn't recommended in summer unless you run synthetic, then it is OK.
Please vote on this solution.

Your oil breather (on the side of the engine opposite the carb) may be malfunctioning/defective allowing the carb to **** oil from it. There is a breather tube that crosses over the top of the cylinder connecting the crankcase( oil) breather to the air filter housing. Check the oil level and the condition of the air filter and esp. the oil breather. It serves the same function as a PCV on a car engine.

yea exactly as flstf93 says
and how about induction and the filter box? Does it match the increased air demand? but first start off with the breather kit really.

Start with making sure your oil lever is not over full. If it is it may be getting into the crankcase breather hose that goes to the carburetor hence the white smoke. Sometimes also you can blow a gasket in the breather system and it will do the same. Check for oil leaks in the breather system. Hope this helps. donnyb60

By "pulling oil through the carb breather" I assume you mean air breather? The solution to that is to buy an aftermarket "horseshoe" breather. Check Drag Specialties, V Twin Products, etc.