Oil feed tap.

[Worty]

Cheers Rob.  I reckon it must be stuck or bust as Bergs built the engine and it was as clean as it was ever going to get.  There were a lot of issues with the engine initially as it was built by an incompetent we now refer to as RM.  If you ever have a chance, go to Worty's A10 Engine Rebuild and look at what Bergs found - it was a complete horror story.

I won't be taking the motor apart just for this issue, it's just not worth it as I prefer to be on the road than have the bike in pieces again.  When this engine blows (if it does), there won't be any repairs or rebuilds as it'll be going for spares.  Bergs and MWAS (his brother) saved the motor from the scrap heap with much work and skill, so it's as good as it'll ever be.

I'm going to take a stab at the job with the item I've ordered, and see what happens.  My only concern, at present, is the ID bore on the ball valve itself.  I believe it's the same as the metal part of the oil line, but I'll check.  Not bothered about comments or remembering to turn it on, I have my methods one way or another.

[limeyrob]

Been thinking on this.  If you take the oil pump off the little ball will be facing you about 3/4" inside the upper front hole (I think).  You should be able to feel it with a gentle prod with a kebab stick or tooth pick.  As you say, perhaps its not been put in right.

[Worty]

Been thinking on this.  If you take the oil pump off the little ball will be facing you about 3/4" inside the upper front hole (I think).  You should be able to feel it with a gentle prod with a kebab stick or tooth pick.  As you say, perhaps its not been put in right.

Cheers Rob, but as Bergs built the motor, I've no doubt it's been put in correctly.  Whatever the issue, I don't believe it was present when it was rebuilt this time.  If I do have need to remove the pump, I'll have a check to see if the ball moves against the spring smoothly.  I'm guessing that it may be possible to remove the ball and spring with a strong magnet and replace in reverse.  This may sound like rubbish, but is a bit more tech than what I'm used to.  Is the 'upper front hole' obvious once the pump is removed?

[limeyrob]

Ooops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt0IrMgQumA

[berger]

worty the ball and spring that came out of the damaged and messed with crank case half on your engine went back in and a codged up oil pump went on  as well { the best i could do out of 4 and several days of misery if i remember correctly resulting in me nearly claiming for mental health issues and no finger prints left, mind you that could be an advantage  ] i spent days trying to make up a pump that would turn without the steam raised on the titanic needed to making it spin knowing i had to keep the price down....  the one thing i did bully you into was buying my brand new ATD that i really wanted to keep because there was no way i was putting that other piece of scrap on......NOW TAKE 50£s out of your moth eaten wallet and put a valve into the oil line that will prevent you from starting it without oil flow , you have my permission to leave it open after your ride and i think you may well do that....you saved over a grand by not letting it go to srm , mind you if they had seen the mess that i saw they would have scrapped it and tried to sell you another motor for 3 grand, they wouldn't have wanted to waste their time doing the bag of scrap , now be a good boy and order the fkn valve that will stop your problem. ps what oil have got in it and don't get mardy like some people do and take this badly, luv ya  pps just a few reminders of the mess. now be a good boy and put a proper valve in like roger did , job done!!!!!

[Worty]

Heh, it's ok Bergs, trust me

[berger]

worty i have a few spare washing machine water valves, red and blue take your pick , brass gate valves , brass up and over steam valves , modern day crappy household screw driver operated isolation valves that fail miserably when you need them to work, all these are free and all you have to do is pipe them up.....but best of all i have a pair of 50 year old mole grips that you can lock on to your oil pipe every time you leave the bike .. just like those cut corner mechanics do on flexi brake pipes, these come at a price though because they don't trap any skin like some of the newer ones do.

[Worty]

Cheers Bergs, but I have one of those submarine valves which is so large I won't be able to get on the seat - so no danger of seizing it up.

[Swarfcut]

    Jeez!!!  If bergs had a pressure gauge it would be off the scale by now......

 Worty.   That pesky valve  is in the top hole nearest the timing bush. It consists of a ball bearing pushed under light spring pressure onto a crude seating,( as detailed by Rob,) towards the pump. It cannot be accesses from outside, only by splitting the cases. Later A65 design overcomes this, and is an A10 modification detailed on the Forum. With the pump removed the ball can be pushed off its seat with a matchstick or similar, and be felt to return.

   For those folks in a similar situation, crude way of cleaning the oilway and seat is to remove the pump, hold the valve open and apply aerosol  solvent cleaner, eg carb, brake ,WD to the centre hole where the PRV Mounts. This should backflow any debris in the oilway. Follow with a a good dose of compressed air, valve still held open, finally pump oil down the oilway, observe exit from the PRV hole.  Pumping oil the other way from the PRV should result in no flow from that pump oilway if the ball and seat are good. A weak, broken or jammed spring means the valve won't seal well enough to prevent draindown.

 I'd stress this is not ideal, but can go some way to improving the sealing of the ball without major dismantling, if the problem is  muck and sediment sludge on the seat and ball. Simply pushing solvent down the oilway washes debris to the timing bush, BAD, at least this method keeps trash out of the motor.

 Those cases look simply stunning for attention to detail, so I doubt simply cleanliness is a factor. Ball in cam feed still an enigma. Fair play to MWAS and bergs for bringing it back from the brink. Give it a present, punt the switch, sleep easy.

 Swarfy.

[Worty]

Cheers Swarfy!  Bergs is a tough ol' bird though, and I have no illusions as to what comments he'd make if I forget to switch the oil on (won't happen though, trust me). 😱😱😱

I do appreciate people's concerns about forgetting but, let's face it, some things are far more dangerous to forget - like forgetting the wedding anniversary, for example. 😱😱😨😨

[RichardL]

Worty,

You are a lesson in sticking to your guns and believing in yourself against all well-meaning advice.

Richard L.

[Worty]

Worty,

You are a lesson in sticking to your guns and believing in yourself against all well-meaning advice.

Richard L.

Cheers Richard, you wouldn't believe the half of it, and I appreciate the compliment.  Having said that, I totally accept the intent of the well-meaning advice, and I appreciate people's concerns!  I've always taken a laissez-faire, slightly risky, approach to life - why do you reckon I got married

[Jules]

I have faith that you will not forget Worty (you cannot possibly after all this and even if you do I'm absolutely sure that you would not share it on here LoL)  .....
however, I am intrigued to see your solution and setup, if you would like to share it with some pics afterwards (if you dare Lol!!). After looking at Rogers pics with the Magneto Guys stuff, I'm interested to see how neatly this can be done, cheers...

[Worty]

I have faith that you will not forget Worty (you cannot possibly after all this and even if you do I'm absolutely sure that you would not share it on here LoL)  .....
however, I am intrigued to see your solution and setup, if you would like to share it with some pics afterwards (if you dare Lol!!). After looking at Rogers pics with the Magneto Guys stuff, I'm interested to see how neatly this can be done, cheers...

No probs Jules, would be happy to (and thanks for the vote of confidence!).  My goal is to make the setup work as unobtrusively as possible and in the simplest way.  I was trying to get a ball valve with a 'coned' end so it'd fit the existing pipe more easily, and then screw the tap directly onto the oil feed on the tank.  I may get stuck for space, especially if I need to use a coned adapter on the valve body, so I'll see how I get on.

Full updates on their way!

[Worty]

So, my goal to make the setup work as unobtrusively as possible and in the simplest way seems to have worked (see pics).

I was faffing for an hour trying different combinations from the oil tank end wondering where I'd get the space for the plumbing I was planning.  Then, with a moment's inspiration, I thought, "What about the crankcase end."  Bingo, I removed the gear lever (for better access), then the return pipe and speedo drive (again for access), removed the feed pipe at the adapter and screwed the tap straight on to the adapter and the oil line onto the tap.  I even managed to locate the tap out of sight so it doesn't look out of place.  No cutting of hoses, excessive plumbing, etc, etc, and no-one will notice it's there unless they really look.  Ok, so you have to get on your hands and knees to reach it, but it serves my purposes in it solving my issue, not spoiling the look of the bike, being discreet, and being inexpensive - very pleased!

Part used was as follows and takes about half an hour at a leisurely pace:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134968355064