Oil (lots) leaking from oiler pipe into airbox

britintheusa · Jun 18, 2015

Hi - I'm new to this forum , and just completed restoring a 1974 Mk III commando. It runs great but there is a pretty major oil leak from the oiler pipe. which had been plugged previously with a rubber hose/ hose clip and now leaks. I replaced the
hose and hose clip routing a longer tube above the oil level, expecting that this would stop the drip.
However oil now gushes from the rubber hose where it meets the metal stub that comes from the oil tank. I would have thought the oil flow for an oiler would be low ( a drip) rather than a constant flow ?

My next step is to remove the oil tank and solder the stub pipe shut. - I'd welcome any comments as whether this is a good move , and to why there is such a strong flow here ( in case that's a symptom of something else amiss )

Thanks

Richard

concours · Jun 18, 2015

britintheusa said:
Hi - I'm new to this forum , and just completed restoring a 1974 Mk III commando. It runs great but there is a pretty major oil leak from the oiler pipe. which had been plugged previously with a rubber hose/ hose clip and now leaks. I replaced the
hose and hose clip routing a longer tube above the oil level, expecting that this would stop the drip.
However oil now gushes from the rubber hose where it meets the metal stub that comes from the oil tank. I would have thought the oil flow for an oiler would be low ( a drip) rather than a constant flow ?

My next step is to remove the oil tank and solder the stub pipe shut. - I'd welcome any comments as whether this is a good move , and to why there is such a strong flow here ( in case that's a symptom of something else amiss )

Thanks

Richard

Hi, welcome. Tell us more, have you changed (accidentally) the hose routing at all? The (assume) CHAIN oiler is an offshoot from the return line from the scavenge pump (via the filter). Tank plugged where it enters?

L.A.B. · Jun 18, 2015

Welcome, Richard.

britintheusa said:
just completed restoring a 1974 Mk III commando. It runs great but there is a pretty major oil leak from the oiler pipe. which had been plugged previously with a rubber hose/ hose clip and now leaks. I replaced the hose and hose clip routing a longer tube above the oil level, expecting that this would stop the drip.
However oil now gushes from the rubber hose where it meets the metal stub that comes from the oil tank. I would have thought the oil flow for an oiler would be low ( a drip) rather than a constant flow ?

The standard 850 MkIII oil tank does not have the chain oiler-or the oil tank stub to fit it to (even though the stub is still there on the the 1975 parts diagram)?

http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... &Plate=020

It sounds as if your MkIII may have an earlier model oil tank and no oil regulator [24] which would account for the excess flow.

http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... 16&Part=24

The MkIII is generally considered to be a 1975 model-so is yours an early one built in late 1974?

http://www.classicbike.biz/Norton/Broch ... LineUp.pdf

There should be a breather pipe running from the top of the oil tank that originally connected to the MkIII oil separator (often removed) which has a pipe connection into the black airbox however this is not an 'oiler'.
https://www.oldbritts.com/oillines.html

Oil (lots) leaking from oiler pipe into airbox

lazyeye6 · Jun 18, 2015

Over filled the oil tank due to wet sumping?

britintheusa · Jun 18, 2015

lazyeye6 said:
Over filled the oil tank due to wet sumping?

Thanks for quick replies - the diagram is very useful - it's definitely the oiler ( as per the diagram) which was ineffectively blocked off ( and even less so with my mod to this.) Any idea what diameter oil tubing fits over the oiler stub ? - I think the problem was trying to fit a too small diameter tube which did not overlap the end of the stub by enough so oil leaked around.
What surprised me was the extent of the flow - and I wondered if that is normal or not? on idle there was a regular flowing leak , not drips.

This is a MkII ( sorry about the wrong description) 1974 bike ( although there are some older parts -it's a "bitsa")
I'm pretty sure all this oil stuff is original MkII

L.A.B. · Jun 18, 2015

britintheusa said:
What surprised me was the extent of the flow - and I wondered if that is normal or not? on idle there was a regular flowing leak , not drips.

The oiler 'tees' off the oil return, so a regular flow of oil is to be expected if left unrestricted (hence the need for the oil regulator).

ewgoforth · Jun 18, 2015

L.A.B. said:
britintheusa said:

What surprised me was the extent of the flow - and I wondered if that is normal or not? on idle there was a regular flowing leak , not drips.

Click to expand...

The oiler 'tees' off the oil return, so a regular flow of oil is to be expected if left unrestricted (hence the need for the oil regulator).

I had mine crimped and soldered shut by a radiator shop.

Bob Z. · Jun 18, 2015

For clarity here is a photo of the oiler connection tapped onto the return pipe.
Looking inside the oiler pipe I see that there is an approximate 1/8" hole drilled into the return pipe so the diameter of the oiler pipe is much larger than the flow hole.
I would say that perhaps the pipe weld has cracked?

britintheusa · Jun 19, 2015

Thanks! - VERY helpful!
from the diagram I was finding it hard to understand how the return flow was related to the oiler.
I can see now how it "Tee's" off of the return, so crimping this shut should be the answer ,plus it answers my question regarding the volume of flow.

Thanks VERY much awesome quick response. I'm going to have to vivit the site more often

Best
Richard

Anonymous · Jun 19, 2015

Hi Richard.
I found a rivet with a rubber sleeve easier to achieve than "...crimping this shut..." in situ.
Ta.

Oil (lots) leaking from oiler pipe into airbox

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