441 oil circulation & temp.

I fixed the starting troubles on my BSA 441 and now it's starting easy again. After starting I looked in the tank & see good oil return, road around 15 miles and when I pull the dip stick the oil isn't even warm. Seems like it should at least be warm if ridden that far, is it possible to have good oil return in the tank but not have it really going through the whole engine?? I guess I could start it & pull a valve cover to see if oil is going through the head but I find it hard to believe isn't.. Any thoughts?

I did this mod to send fresh oil to the top end at the expense of losing some flow to the big end, only do this on roller big end Unit Singles though and I also recommend diverting the top end oil drain route into the crank chamber for better piston oiling.

http://www.b50.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=2948

Never tested the oil temp on my B44, will report back when the rain stops falling.

gtsun said:

is it possible to have good oil return in the tank but not have it really going through the whole engine?? I guess I could start it & pull a valve cover to see if oil is going through the head but I find it hard to believe isn't.. Any thoughts?

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Sure, it is possible to have good oil flow return to the oil tank but not actually go through the engine. For instance the oil pressure relief valve could be stuck wide open, or its spring broken. The crankshaft has an infeed seal, I suppose it could completely disintegrate or pop out (it is held in with a snap ring). There is an oil inlet ball valve that I suppose its plug could pop out which would bring the oil pressure to zero however, that is very, very unlikely. If it did that, it would fill the cavity between the inner and outer timing cover and then squirt out through the points wire opening.

The oil pressure relief valve is easy to check, just unscrew it and look at it. The newer models however, like on my 1970 version have an pressure relief valve that is one unit and does not allow dismantling. Oil pressure is a good way of checking whether you have oil flow to your big end bearing. I don't know what year 441 you have however, on the 1970 there is an oil pressure port handy on the inner timing cover. On a 1969 it's down on the lower portion of the inner timing cover which may be hard to get to with the frame tube in close proximity. I don't think that the earlier models have any oil pressure pickup ports, so the only thing I can imagine doing in this case is to take the oil pressure relief valve off and kick the bike over a number of times to see if oil flows out of the oil pressure relief port. Checking the oil flow at the rocker box gives absolutely zero indication of oil pressure to the engine simply because the rocker box oil is fed from the return line to the oil tank.

I would think that running 15 miles without an engine seizure, engine noise and clanking (etc.) is a pretty good indication that your engine is getting lubrication.

PeterJoe has all the possibilities covered but one...the seal between the oil pump and timing cover may be lost or in failure.

Thanks guys, I think I was making much to do over nothing, I just hadn't ridden long enough to get it warm. Mines a 68 so no oil pressure take off but I will pull the relief valve just to clean & check it. I have since gone on some longer rides & all seems fine. Thanks again.

Maybe when your oil returns to the oil tank it is hot or at the right temp, but if you have good air flow around your oil tank its cooling down quickly it also depends how much your oil tank holds, it all plays on cooling down before it goes back through your hot engine again if your bike is running good, has no unusal rattles or noises, I wouldn't worry about it, just ride it and enjoy it when its running great.

Ashley

Yeah, needs more time to warm up that well ventilated engine and to warm up all that oil; those engines don't spin high enough or make enough power to make big heat.