Crank case full of oil

I took the barrels off the top of the crank case and it was full of oil. This can't be normal.

The bike has sat for a number of years, is it possible that the oil just drained in over time or is there something else wrong?

If the oil tank was full at the time then it would have slowly drained down into the crank, its called wet sumping and most Nortons does it when left to sit, but if the bike is ridden often it doesn't happen, but some Nortons can wet sump just sitting for a few days.

Ashley

It's a 'featur'e, so when the bike sits for a long time the crank case won't rust. I'm sure you'll find a lot of reading if you search for 'wet sumping norton'.

A few more years and all that oil would have been on the floor. Gravity always wins. :?

As mentioned, VERY NORMAL for these bikes to "wet sump" (the act of a DRY SUMP design leaking down) in time. Some do it quickly, others (I'm very fortunate) can sit for months with most oil still in the tank. Good job choosing to do exploratory surgery before firing. Peace of mind.

DogT said:

It's a 'featur'e, so when the bike sits for a long time the crank case won't rust. I'm sure you'll find a lot of reading if you search for 'wet sumping norton'.

Click to expand...

Likewise, you will find as much reading for "anti-wet sumping valves"

cbacejr said:

I took the barrels off the top of the crank case and it was full of oil. This can't be normal.

The bike has sat for a number of years, is it possible that the oil just drained in over time or is there something else wrong?

Click to expand...

you must be new here, and new to Nortons. At least it didn't piss itself all over the floor.

As mentioned, it's just sumping. Just a Nortons way of telling you to get the hell out there and ride it at least once a week or it will make you pay for you sins by forcing you to drain the sump.

Damn attention whores they are.

Thanks for all the help!

I have had the bike since new, 1972, but haven't ridden it in 10 years.

Are there seals that should be replaced or is the only real option is to drain the sump first if it sits for awhile between rides.

The anti-wet-sump valves seem worst than the disease

If all the seals are from 1972 you might want to replace them anyway. But no, the only thing you can do is recondition the oil pump to reduce the clearances for oil to seep through. That and the valve thing...

Russ

Lazy thinking man's way is just add enough oil to tank to feed pump a few seconds running then sump pumps out faster than feed side then check oil tank and top off on low side of dip stix or leave a mess out side engine. Very rare to hear of a crank seal failing d/t wet sump starts but its been reported a hand full of times over last 4 decades. There's been way more than a handful of sad reports of anti wet sump valve let downs last 40 yrs. I think some wet sump is a good thing to splash oil on cam before head oil flow gets enough to drain on cam after 20 seconds or more, if not reving up to cam break in rpm each cold start up can take longer than 30 sec to get oil flow draining down lifters to matter. If over filling oil tank w/o checking wet sump it can pump tank full and out on the ground but no issues beyond clean up mess and drain off excess. I've never done that by my 1st Combat seller did - putting 2 qt' in to top off tank then grinning at me on nice start up after a winter set up till a min later had to step back from the expanding floor puddle. Servicing oil pump helps stifle speed of wet sump but don't stop it.