oil leak

[berger]

worty if i were you i would ask santa for one or just take the drain plug out every time you finish the ride, if you have a domineering wife i'm sure she would love to see you groveling about on your hands and knees

[Klaus]

Heh, 3 days and the oil tank's empty on mine mate.  Did you say it was a ball bearing on the oil pump not seating correctly and, if so, is this an easy fix??
[/quote]

So have a close  look  at the Oil returnpipe inside the Oiltank, if it is not brocken at bottonside.

Had a Goldstar Racer with a central ally oiltank and the same problem with an empty oiltank after 3 days.
The returnpipe was cut off at the botton, so the oil is flowed from the returnside into the crankcase.

cheers Klaus

[Worty]

  Spurious sized ball from a Rivet Man PRV conversion?  A convoluted oilway leads from the PRV blow off port up to the cam trough, but it defies logic how the proper size ball could make the trip from a functional PRV.  But a ball jammed in the hole effectively bypasses any PRV operation and give full oil pressure, so maybe another example of the bodgers' art.

 As an anti cam lube ball....yes, it's a winner.

 Swarfy.

Lookin' at the state of the engine, I sure did have FULL oil pressure.

[Worty]

Heh, 3 days and the oil tank's empty on mine mate.  Did you say it was a ball bearing on the oil pump not seating correctly and, if so, is this an easy fix??

So have a close  look  at the Oil returnpipe inside the Oiltank, if it is not brocken at bottonside.

Had a Goldstar Racer with a central ally oiltank and the same problem with an empty oiltank after 3 days.
The returnpipe was cut off at the botton, so the oil is flowed from the returnside into the crankcase.

cheers Klaus
[/quote]

Thanks Klaus, oil returns at the top of the return pipe, so I ruled that out - good suggestion though.

[Worty]

worty if i were you i would ask santa for one or just take the drain plug out every time you finish the ride, if you have a domineering wife i'm sure she would love to see you groveling about on your hands and knees

Domineering, you don't know the half of it mate.  Thing is, she gets you without warning, one minute nice and quiet, next minute it's Kato out of Pink Panther - full claws.      I tend to drain the oil off after my morning thrashing (she's on her 10th baseball bat - broken 4), after which I don't have much use of my legs anyway.

I have a plan that was suggested by an esteemed Forum member.  Watch this space for updates.

[berger]

Klaus i must have had the same central alloy oil tank years ago and i thought hang on this hot oil is going straight back to the engine as well as draining when it's stood the return pipe was cracked at the bottom inside the tank, worty what is life without a wife what bstd with one 

[Worty]

Klaus i must have had the same central alloy oil tank years ago and i thought hang on this hot oil is going straight back to the engine as well as draining when it's stood the return pipe was cracked at the bottom inside the tank, worty what is life without a wife what bstd with one 

If I'd wanted an easy life mate, I'd have done two things - not got married and not bought an old British bike

[berger]

worty wash your mouth out with phb soap you would have done two things , you would have got married BUT you wouldn't have bought a british bike off , well you know who

[groily]

Domineering, you don't know the half of it mate.

It's to create the illusion that I have any status in anything that I have my Dominator in the shed, worty.
It means that when I go in there well-domineered I can emerge all dominating, in my own mind at least.

[Worty]

Heh, see, I somehow knew I wasn't alone!

Like Marty McFly in BTTF Pt1, when he's on stage about to sing Johnny B Goode "This is a blues riff in B. Watch me for the changes, and try to keep up.".  To make great music, I have to watch for the changes and try to keep up.

There I go wandering off-topic again - soz Musky

[limeyrob]

Nothing wrong with wandering....
But what do we agree on is the oil path for wet sumping?
1 Down the feed pipe
2 Round the pump,gears or under them on the end plate?
 Hopefully not out the pump to case gasket!
3 Past the ball in the case.
4 Into the TS bush - out that into the sump
or
5 On through the crank into the big ends and out there?
Strikes me that wear in the pump, the ball not seating and wear in the TS bush all make it worse. A poor gasket on the pump feed side could also cause it.
Thinking out loud here, if the engine was stopped at TDC would there be less siphon or is this grasping at straws?

[Worty]

Nothing wrong with wandering....
But what do we agree on is the oil path for wet sumping?
1 Down the feed pipe
2 Round the pump,gears or under them on the end plate?
 Hopefully not out the pump to case gasket!
3 Past the ball in the case.
4 Into the TS bush - out that into the sump
or
5 On through the crank into the big ends and out there?
Strikes me that wear in the pump, the ball not seating and wear in the TS bush all make it worse. A poor gasket on the pump feed side could also cause it.
Thinking out loud here, if the engine was stopped at TDC would there be less siphon or is this grasping at straws?

Hmm, you may have a point, I don't know.  A very esteemed member of this Forum suggested a cap on the oil tank breather to help create vacuum to slow the rate of siphon.  I'm going to try this, as it seems an excellent idea.  If it works, one could attach a simple tap to a tube going to the breather, then it would be a simple task of switching to isolate and vice versa.  Of course, if one is prone to forgetting, a helpful neon sign on the handlebars may also be helpful.

Had a very vivid dream last night of blatting around on the GF then, when the engine started to complain, realised I'd not replaced the oil in the tank after draining it from the sump - woke up in a cold sweat 😱😱😨😨

[limeyrob]

Got me thinking now (not about you girlfriend, honest..) but about the oil.
On those bikes that hardly drain at all what actually stops the oil?  Obviously BSA would say the ball, but that may not be the whole story.
The ball is about 2ft lower than the oil level and oil is about 80% as dense so the ball / spring should need about 20" of water pressure to lift the ball.
My engine is apart at the moment so I'll have a look.
The other thing that strikes me is that the oil is much thinner hot so does most of the sumping happen in (say) the 30 mins after a run, then very little once the oil is cold?
How stiff could the spring be to hold the ball on its seat without causing any problems running? Its got to lift at tick-over or the engine will seize. 20" of water is 3/4 of a PSI and the oil light switch on the OIF A65 was 5 PSI and would be out at idle cold and just on at hot idle so 1 PSI to lift the ball looks sensible.
Off to the shed.....

[Worty]

Got me thinking now (not about you girlfriend, honest..) but about the oil.
On those bikes that hardly drain at all what actually stops the oil?  Obviously BSA would say the ball, but that may not be the whole story.
The ball is about 2ft lower than the oil level and oil is about 80% as dense so the ball / spring should need about 20" of water pressure to lift the ball.
My engine is apart at the moment so I'll have a look.
The other thing that strikes me is that the oil is much thinner hot so does most of the sumping happen in (say) the 30 mins after a run, then very little once the oil is cold?
How stiff could the spring be to hold the ball on its seat without causing any problems running? Its got to lift at tick-over or the engine will seize. 20" of water is 3/4 of a PSI and the oil light switch on the OIF A65 was 5 PSI and would be out at idle cold and just on at hot idle so 1 PSI to lift the ball looks sensible.
Off to the shed.....

Heh, even thinking by myself usually earns me a beating - don't know how she does it - mindreader - scary.

All I know LR, is that within three days of a run, the oil tank is empty to it's lowest point (just beyond the feed filter).  In fact, for those three days, I drain the sump off every day to keep the crankcase level down.  I don't know if I'm right about this, but last time I had the primary cover off, there seemed to be a bit of oil in the dynamo chain compartment.  Again, I don't know if this is down to accumulation of oil in the crancase or not.  As a matter of interest, assuming a tankful of oil up to about an inch short of the return hole, to what level would the oil be up to in the crankcases if it drained down to its lowest point?

[muskrat]

G'day Worty.
The full oil tank drained into the sump will reach about the center line of the crankshaft. I know with my plunger (no crank seal) it would then drain into the primary by about 250ml or so.
She doesn't wet sump at all now with the SRM pump and A65 anti siphon conversion.
I just noticed the A10 Cafe is doing it now but she has roller and end feed conversion. 
Cheers