Gday Fellas. I've recently rebuilt a T160, only to find that once warmed up it blows a bit of smoke. My initial thoughts were that it was a problem with the rings. After a lot of trawling through the net, I looked towards it wet sumping. After a short ride and the engine up to temperature, the dip stick was low and I took the sump cover off and found 500ml of oil came out. Unless someone thinks otherwise, I was going to replace the oil relief valve, oil check ball valve and possibley the oil pump. However I don't want to do any of them for no reason. What is the best way of diagnosing exactly what is cause the wet-sumping, so I don't replace expensive parts or do work for no reason? Note that it doesn't seem to be losing much oil while stationary for a few days. Cheers
Hi mate and welcome Sure you'll get plenty of advice on here but might be later on in the day ! For once the sun is shining in Blighty on a Sunday I've got a few jobs to do around the house and then I'm off out on my bike I'm sure I won't be the only one
Unfortunately this problem could stem from a multitude of things. Depending on the rebuild standard, i.e. re-use or replacement of parts, you will have to be brutally honest with yourself. Start at the top and work down. 1) valves and seals ? 2) oilway blockages/restrictions ? 3) cracked cylinder or cylinder head ? 4) pistons / piston rings / bores 5) oil circulation and associated parts, pump etc. As you have mentioned. Good luck and keep us informed.
The engines run with a small amount of oil in the sump so as the pickup pipe has something to suck on, first you should top up the oil and go for another ride and test the level again. Then you will have to get some miles on your engine to bed it in. They do wet sump and many owners have fitted a sump plate that has a drain screw to make draining oil easier, oil check ball and pressure valve are cheep to buy and replace and its common for the ball to let the engine wet sump over time as both the ball and its seat can req attention.
The head was rebuilt with new valves and valve guides, so I'm assuming that's all good. Compression is 135 psi for the two left cylinders and 150 for the right, so they seem ok. I would like to go through the oiling circuit to see if there is a fault there. What order should I check the various components. And is there more to wet sumping than just a faulty oil pump or oil relief valve? You mentioned a cracked engine casting, for example, can this lead to wet sumping?
Just a thought mate have you got the flow return pipes the correct way round easy not to do after a rebuild
Excuse my ignorance. I'm still finding my way around the bike, i've had a look, but if the pipes were the wrong way around, there wouldn't be oil flow would there?
Bikes usually ie my BSA A10 only wet sumps when it's been not run for a while causing a smokey start up which clears, this is caused by the oil seeping through the pump under gravity but I don't why you get wet sumping (there should be some if the engine is stopped but half a litre sounds excessive) which sounds like your oil pump is not scavenging properly due to wear or a blockage or poor sealing of the pump to the engine surface
Science has proven that man flu is real, so I'm feelin your pain bro! But yeh, this must be the only t160 that doesn't wet sump when stationary, I put a pan under the motor with the sump plate off, and after 3 days maybe a teaspoon of oil. But after a run, about 500ml. Also it doesn't start to smoke until fully warmed up.
Don't forget that the sump breather pipe goes to the air filter and your bike is breathing sump fumes, i have seen plenty triples that smoke a little but have no big problems. On later triples the pickup pipe is shorter to allow for more oil in the sump, what oil are you running the motor on.
The original air cleaner has been removed and is running pod filters. The breather has been connected to a small gauze filter. It's a May 1975 build no 4548. The oil is high zinc 20W50.
Mus Must be the scavenger side of the pump badly worn or a blockage in the return line to the tank or blocked breather try those and put on a new pump
Did you get it sorted mate? I found this on another forum which you might find interesting; http://www.triumphrat.net/vintage-technical-tips-and-tricks/211295-oil-smoke-wet-sumping.html
Thanks Rocker. Yeah I did see that one, that's what led me to chase the probability that the cause was wet sumping, Originally I thought it was a ring or valve clearance issue (it might still be) but before I strip the bike down I want to make sure I have the oil pump, relief valve etc. sorted. I'm just waiting for the parts supplier to get back from overseas, so I can get the right pump for that model. Apparently they are very expensive, so I might do the relief valve first and check the impeller clearances on the pump. If the pump looks obviously worn, then I guess I'll have to replace the pump. The thread that you posted says that he paid $130.00 for the updated pump, but he has a bonneville, so I doubt that would fit a T160??
I know its been a while since I asked about excessive smoke, but I finally got around to working on the bike, Just to update, I ended up stripping down the motor and found it to have glazed bores, to the point that they were a mirror finish!! So Ive rehoned, reringed and am in the process of reassembly. I have a few more questions but will put them in another post. Cheers
