Hitchcocks Forum

Ok I'm open to ideas on this one, it is obviously wet sumping badly, cases have been split several times, nothing obvious is wrong but it is pumping oil and smoke out of every possible oriface, oil dripping out of the exhaust joins, horendous smoke all indicative of a badly wet sumping motor. My only thoughts at the moment is to drill a small hole(5/16th) in the sump and tap it so we can prove that wet sumping is the problem.This we can turn into a propper drain plug once we have come up with some answer. This way we can ensure that no oil is in the sump when we start it and if it doesn't smoke we know this is the problem. Then we have to find how the oil is getting into the sump and my long shot guess is that it has to be getting through from the oil tank somehow because after half an hour of running the scavenge pump doesn't appear to have cleared the sump. Oil is returning to the tank because you can see it coming out the pipe in the filler neck. Anybody have any thoughts? Also does anybody know if Indian springs will fit the front forks because one is broken?

Hi Norm. I don't understand why you need to drill a hole as according to my 1949 parts list price 1/- or one shilling if you prefer there is already a drain plug in the crankcase. Surely you can remove this and let it drain off then perhaps leave it out for a day or so to see if it is wet sumping. this will give a clue to wether you are looking at drain down wet sumping or a scavenge fault.

Hi Norm, do you have the correct timing cover, or even timing cover gasket fitted, I have photos of an early 500 twin I worked on, which needed a 700 type timing cover gasket, according to our hosts when I sent them pictures of what I wanted. Also, the inner race of the timing side main bearing has to be flush with the end of the crank and not all the way 'home', to make as good a seal as possible against the big steel washer that fits behind the main bearing outer race in the timing side crankcase. Some crankcases I have seen have 3 radial holes drilled in them to aid removal of the outer race and if the outer race isn't hard against the face these break into, oil will pour in through these into the crankcase. I assume all is well with the oil pumps and they are of the correct size and type and fitted the right way round - sorry about this last one, but just to cover all bases and not to offend. I have some good pictures of these engines and their oilways, timing cover drillings etc, if they might help - let me know if you want to see them and i can send them to you if you want. Regards, Paul.

Hi Dennis and Paul,
My problem with this one is I haven't actually seen the bike, I'm being asked these questions and I'm trying to come up with some ideas for the owner to try. Yes it has the three holes around the bearing and the washer is in place, but wouldn't this only allow timing case oil to drain into the sump.Also there is no real seal on this washer, just a loose fit on the shaft so any oil in the timing chest should be able to get past this over a period of time and end up in the sump From a vid I have seen on his phone and what he tells me it has more oil in the sump than just timing case oil which should clear in 5 mins or so. Good call on the timing cover, I will go and have a look and see if I can spot anything that might not be right. One other thing that might be significant is that it is now only smoking really badly on one cylinder, the other seems to have improved for some reason

Hi Paul, about the timing side washer, A Meteor 700 I was working on had had a section of the case broken away in some previous life and the washer broke in 2 and came out through the missing piece of case and got tangled in the timing chain and busted that as well. I got a new washer from our hosts , cut it in half and fitted it back in through the missing case section, held it back against the bearing, just snug, and JB Welded it all back together and it is working perfectly without any problems at all and the last time I had the timing cover off it looked exactly as I had left it. Maybe if I JB Weld this washer and plug the 3 holes this might help, but that would only prevent the oil in the timing chest from draining into the sump? I think this must happen on the twins because I can't remember a lot of oil coming from the timing cover when it is removed compared to a Bullet one

Only time I've seen such severe symptoms it was caused by a blocked breather system. Oil from everywhere and smoke pumping from the exhaust. Lost or burned 1/4 litre in a few minutes. The smoke effectively blanked out the road.