Severe Oil Leak

sturrubiarte said:
I sincerely appreciate the help but if the motorcycle I bought is that delicate then it's my fault for making a poor choice to purchase and should have stayed with my bullet proof xs11 and just been happy. Guess time will tell the mistake this will amount to.
Click to expand...

Its not really 'fair' to criticise an engine for being "delicate" if it suffers damage due to having its oil feed starved / lost!

Even Mr Honda's finest require oil...!
 
Fast Eddie +1 , the DPO (dumb previous owner) used the wrong hose, no doubt a recent rebuild with only a few miles on it and not enough to debug it. Even though the oil pressure was compromised as long as oil was entering the crank at the centre the big ends being spun around draw the oil towards themselves and create some pressure inside the shell bearings. The pressure fed rockers is a potential weak point but only if the proper hose is not used or the routing takes the pipe close to a hot point.
 
The photo of the head shown NO oil weepage all around, as would have been the case when the rocker feed lines blew off under pressure. That means it has likely never had top end oil pressure. That means, it only ever had crank pressure for a little while after the rocker feeds first popped off (if that is indeed what happened).

My guess is the top end feed pipe was never installed. Can we see a photo of what the connection at the back side of the timing cover looks like? I wonder if he simply plugged the lower feed connection and the plug finally popped off?

I'll bet the rocker spindles are knackered. Hopefully the con rod big end shells did their job and saved the crank.

No two ways about it, that engine has to come apart.
 
grandpaul said:
My guess is the top end feed pipe was never installed.
Click to expand...

The remains of the broken pipe can be seen resting against the head in the photo. :?
sturrubiarte said:
Severe Oil Leak
Click to expand...
 
I have owned my 850 Norton Commando for 30 years, in that time the layshaft bearing has gone but I still got home in 4th only, the rings have needed replacing and I gave the head a freshen up while it was off, one electrical failure where the earth routing in the harness went so new harness and twice had the oil tank spring a leak. These are good reliable bikes but if the previous owner has neglected the maintenance or not done a rebuild correctly then you will have issues tracking the faults down and correcting them, this is the same regardless of what 40 year old bike it is.

You best start giving us the previous owners history of the bike and what he says he did, then we can suggest what needs checking. The cosmetics look fine but that is the easy bit to get right for a quick sale.
 
Severe Oil Leak


Come on now..... that main feed line just didn't pop off.
Look at the Pic: there is no crossover feed pipe attached.
The line wouldn't have enough pressure to blow it off of the nipple.
That engine should have been puking oil since start up, it should be thoroughly oiled up.

If something as simple as this was missed, I really have to wonder what other problems you are going to find.
caveat emptor
 
Thanks for all the faith, positive bunch yall are haha. And Mark I'll be moving to Colorado in January guess I'll be knocking on your door for help :lol:
 
after a little more thinking about this, my thoughts........

I think that you are going to have more to fix than just replacing the oil lines.
Like grandpaul said, I don't believe that the top end was receiving any oil and that ain't a good thing, gotta fix that!

Maybe you need an oil pump, maybe the PO plugged up the top end oiling to mask a smoking problem (yeah, I've seen it done).

I would not be one bit surprised that when you do get oil pumping to the head, your bike is gonna smoke like smoldering leaf pile.
Then maybe it's head work... guides, seals possibly rocker spindles.

The thing that I keep seeing (or not seeing) in your pic is oil. If everything was working correctly and you rode it like you did,
I sure would have expected to see a whole lot more on the engine and on the ground under the bike.
 
Its worth mention I wiped off oil that was around the head. Although I assumed it came from there because under the bike, after having ridden around hours before, there was little to no blow by underneath the case, maybe two drops. However, when I got off and noticed I was drenched it was around the carb and the pod filter which is understandable from the wind blowing it back at high speeds. If there was rocker problems wouldn't there be a noticeable knocking sound?
 
I can't / won't even attempt to diagnose your bikes issues from just a couple of pics,
so... giving my opinion and a little speculation is the best I got.

I've blown off oil lines before and know that when it happens, everything gets oily.
battery box, rear tire, pant leg, etc..

Not having the crossover feed line is a HUGE red flag!
 
As I rolled it off the trailer to look over it I never saw a line connecting the two sides of the head. There was only the melted/broken plastic one that is visible from the picture with the oil all over the ground. I did smell smoke from the time it started up and quickly shut off to see if it was just excess being burned off or if there was a leak. No leak identified, until the bad one.
 
A simple oil pressure gauge like this for $15 will tell you whether the bottom end of your engine and oil pump is healthy or not. You don't need to permanently attach it. But do make sure the engine is warmed up well when you test it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-PSI-OIL-PRE ... 63&vxp=mtr
You need a double banjo bolt like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Banjo-Bolt-Doub ... a4&vxp=mtr
You also need a short piece of hose with a 5/16 banjo on it and a 3an to !/4npt adapter
20 bucks for these pieces, tops.
Replace the single banjo bolt on left hand rocker feed with the new double banjo bolt to attach the line for the oil pressure gauge.
It's good practice to always check the oil pressure on a newly purchased bike.
I see your address is Denton TX. I would highly recommend you get in touch with Keith Martin at Big D Cycle in Dallas if you need help. He's an acknowleged expert on all things Brit bike.
 
I see damage to the top of the valve shown by the metal shavings. The valves also ran without lube so the guides may be damaged. Not to mention damage to the rockers and shafts. If it was my bike there is no question I would tear the motor apart. I would split the cases also so that I could have a look at the big end rod bearings and see if low oil pressure damaged them .
You can't blame this on it being an old Brit Bike. This is engine damage do to lack of lubrication pure and simple. Not even a 2015 model can withstand that. This engine is damaged and until what is damage is assessed and fixed only a fool would try to ride this bike as it is by just putting some oil in it.
I would have a long talk with the guy I bought the bike from. He installed the wrong type of hose and didn't do it properly. It's his fault the damage occurred. I'd either try to get my money back or have him pay for a significant portion of the rebuild.
Again if you don't feel you can handle a rebuild, I highly recommend Big D Cycle in Dallas.
 

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