Forum

[Norm]

Adrian, Simon says he has oil going to the rockers, I assume by cracking a banjo bolt, this doesn't prove oil is going through the rocker blocks, it just proves oil pressure is up to the blocks. Whitemetal caught in the rocker blocks prevents oil flowing through and creates pressure back on the pump spindle and is enough pressure the cause the spindle to strip. I have seen it many times. Even though Simon believes the floating bush is ok there is a good chance it is beginning to fail and therefor the whitemetal gets pumped up into the rockers and blocking them

[simon]

No well I'm totally flummoxed now. I wish I'd never touched the bloody pumps. They seem to be turning and pumping fine but the bike is still hosing oil out the breather like a total loss machine. There must be a blockage somewhere but I'm buggered if I can find it.

[Norm]

Simon only way it can pump oil out through the breather is if it has a sump full of oil that the scavenge pump isn't clearing

[papasmurf]

It isn't just a case of too much oil, is it?

[simon]

Pulled it all apart again. Blown through all the oil ways with the compressor and double checked with a welding wire. There is no discernible blockage. Still though it spews oil. I give up for now.

[Norm]

Simon I had a motor I had rebuilt for a bloke who was capable of upsetting people very easily, and this motor started smoking badly and pumping oil out the breather a short time after he picked it up. I had put a few hundred ks on it so the cause was a mystery. I ended up pulling the motor down twice before I found the cause, somebody had pushed a piece of plastic drink straw in through the breather and it had been sucked in through the scavenge oil way. What annoyed me was it was me who suffered not the person it was intended to suffer grief because I had to pull the motor down twice to find it. I know this is not the case here but the symptons are the same as yours and the cause is oil in the sump for some reason. I assume you changed the worm nut because the Hitchcocks pump spindle uses a different worm nut to the Indian spindle. Not sure what this result would be

[simon]

Considering it in the cool of the evening after a glass or two I'm much of your opinion Norm. I think I must have dropped something into the crankcase or introduced some foreign body somehow that is blocking the scavenge circuit. This will mean a total strip down but as I've had it apart three times in the last two days this is no biggie. Moreover I'm now coldly certain that it isn't the fault of the pumps as I've examined every single orifice in the cover and there is no fault or blockage. It's a double whammy because my other bike is still awaiting spokes that were supposed to arrive in November so other than cyclemotors I'm restricted to four wheel transport and the weather is faultless!

[Norm]

Simon, any consolation in the fact that I blew air through the scavenge side on the motor with the plastic in it and the air went through no problems, that was why I put it back together both times

[Gwilly]

Simon a real silly one this but possible.. That front drain plug for the sump scavenge, just check if you're still using a copper washer that it hasn't become too thin.

With the plug screwed in too far it COULD partially block the oilway drilling with the thread.. All depends on the original machining accuracy, so it must be worth trying an extra washer or better still a Dowty seal which is much thicker..

Is the oil leaving the timing chest overnight or just the sump filling? Or neither of these happens. Would rule out leaking tank gasket or timing seal, worm seal/cork.

Did the rockers get drilled out to 2.5mm? i think is recommended... Hope you find it soon..

[simon]

Thanks Chaps, I'll check that front strainer to see that it isn't obscuring anything but today is a day off. Down to the Waikato to the Bro's house in the country to ride ancient bicycles and pretend that motors don't exist. I am heartened by your experience Norm. What makes it particularly likely is that the oil only seems to pour out at higher speeds which suggests a partial blockage. Possibly one of the teeth of the spindle. Time will tell. S:)