Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all,
My 1965 500cc G2 has recently started to leak heavily from the breather tube when the engine is running. When idling it is leaking so much oil that it pools under the bike within minutes.
Any ideas what might be causing this? It runs fine despite this when I top it up. My suspicion is that the some how there is pressure escaping into the oil sump causing this problem.
I am no mechanic however I live in an isolated rural area in Australia and my mechanic does not have experience with enfields. Any advise would be welcome!
Cheers,
Tim

Welcome! I'm sorry to tell you there is no such bike as a Redditch built 1965 500cc G2. I suspect you have a bike you bought from India as a 500 Bullet, knowing it was converted from a 350? Or maybe you didn't know until now, if so sorry. Have you had it long? How did you get it? Anyway, it probably means it was built from parts in India and sadly, bikes like this one are usually not built very well. All of which means we'll need more info, pictures if possible too, to see what you have. There's a good chance we can help, especially our Aussie expert Norm who has seen a good few of these "ringers" but beware, he doesn't mince his words! Finally, you won't be the first to have turned up here with such a machine, don't despair, it may well turn into a decent bike!
REgards, Mark

Hi. Remove your oil filler cap and with the engine running check that the scavenger pump is returning oil from the crankcase back into the tank. You should see oil spurting out into the oil tank.

Roy, this isn't a BSA or Triumph, the scavenge pump takes oil from the engine sump and pumps it to the rockers, then it drains into the timing cover, and overflows through a hole back into the "tank". I believe you are thinking of the return pipes in the seperate oil tanks of other Brit bikes, where the scavenged oil is pumped back to the tank, with a restriction to provide a take off to feed the top end.

That is how the Indian Bullet engines return their scavenge oil. The Redditch ones use their idler gears on the timing side to properly pump the oil back through a smaller, higher hole, back into the oil tank and it is directed so thet it can be seen to be returning into the 'tank'.

My mistake, sorry, I guess I was confused by the 1965 G2 id, and the feeling of the other contributors that it may be a "ringer". Like the others I think some pics or more info would help give more accurate diagnosis.

Hi Mark thanks for that, I try to spit it how it is, and that might upset some, but one of the problems is that many people buy an Enfield just because it looks good and they do not either have the money for an engine rebuild they had no idea was going to happen a week after they bought it, they have very limited mechanical skills,they have no tools, they have nowhere to work on the thing apart from the footpath, all these things cause some people so much grief that in some cases it is best to suggest people cut their losses and run. Now that I have explained that, I will not work on these "ringers" anymore, they are not worth the problems and our ebay these days seems to have a steady stream of them, 1965 500's

Norm, I know from your posts that you've had the task of fixing dodgy Indian bikes many times so you speak from the heart! I think what is probably less well understood is that when owners buy machines like this they aren't always happy about the bad news when something goes wrong and can take it out on the poor guy who has to try and fix it, so your refusal to do any more is understandable. I hope this chap (Axel Foley is his handle, that's the name of the character Eddie Murphy plays in the Beverley Hills Cop films by the way,) can recover the situation but as those of us who've been here a while know, the signs aren't good. I think I'll start a log of "one posters" to this site who've bought an Indian ringer and turn up here to do their research retrospectively! Anyway, best wishes to all,
REgards, Mark

Hi all,
Thanks for the info everyone. Yes unfortunately I fit into the category Norm describes. It's my first bike and I've had a year's worth of grief from it. I was told it was a 500cc when I bought it but the paperwork said it was 350 when I went to register it. I got it from a guy in cairns who bought it back from India 10y ears ago and fixed it up. It's had it's moments but this oil thing looks pretty bad. If I can fix it and get it reregistered I might have to say goodbye. Not a good bike with limited experience and unforgiving when it comes to trial and error!!
How would I get photos up?
Cheers,
Tim

Axel, the most likely reason for the oil pumping is the scavenge pump isn't clearing the sump for some reason. This could be because the big end is starting to fail and whitemetal has blocked the rocker blocks. First up I would pull the top off the rocker blocks and see if any whitemetal has blocked the oil ways. If not then you have to pull the timing cover to make sure the pump spindle is not damaged, then let us know what you find. Where are you in Aus