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1938 ES2 oil level

Submitted by simon_amos on Friday, 19 October, 2012 - 01:00
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G'day All,

Quick question, Can someone explain to me why if my oil level is a couple of centimetres lower than the spout in oil tank all is ok but when I filled it slightly over this it seemed to blow it out the top round the rockerbox somewhere ? Not sure where because it made such a mess. Wiped it all off and continued to ride and no more came out. So I guess I found the high level mark but I can't really understand why the extra centimetre makes a difference in a dry sump machine.

Thanks Glenn

Submitted by adam_davis on Sunday, 21 October, 2012 - 01:00

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Hi Glenn, it could be that your dry sump isn't that dry when you check the level in the oil tank. Oil drains down from the tank via the pump etc etc, you must have read about this, so as soon as you run the bike the leaked oil from the sump is returned to the tank and the critical amount is exceeded and sprayed out all over the place.

If this seems like the cause, the answer is an oil tap. But that's a whole new debate, see earlier posts.

Adam

Submitted by michael_sullivan on Sunday, 21 October, 2012 - 01:01

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I do not believe that Norton ever designed the oil tank and return pipe such that with a proper fill amount, the return pipe was covered.

Question: How much oil are you putting in your tank in the first place? How much oil does the owner's manual say that the oil tank should carry?

Here's what I did. My manual for my 1961 Model 50 calls for 4.5 pints. After warming up the engine to ensure that all the oil in the sump was returned to the tank, I drained it, even tipping the bike slightly to the right to get all the oil out of the tank. I then made a "dipstick" out of a 15" piece of 1/2" dowell. I then added a quart to the tank and dipped the stick. I marked the stick at the 1 quart level and repeated this with the second quart. And then did the same with the last 1/2 pint.

Now when the oil level drops I can see how much oil I need to add to the tank to bring the level up to the full mark.

Before I made the dipstick to be sure that the oil level was not too high, I would "eyeball" the level. I believe that most of the time I was carrying the level too high and making a mess on the bike. Now the tank stays mostly clean.

Submitted by simon_amos on Sunday, 21 October, 2012 - 01:02

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My bike does indeed wet sump over a longish period but I had drained it out before this episode. This was only the third time the bike has been ridden since rebuild so still ironing out a few issues although the motor has been run in the shed a few times. Anyway the previous oil level I had was about 2cm below below where the bottom of spout enters tank which is where the oil has returned to this time. The return pipe comes in from the top and cannot be seen, only the oil dripping back down can be. In the 'Book of the Norton 32 onwards' it says the oil tank must be kept at or above half full. No specific volume is given which seems fair enough for a dry sump engine. It seems as though I have found the natural level though. The oil pump system is designed to supply the correct amount of lubrication to the engine and the rocker box area on my model is only supplied by oil mist up the pushrod tubes. Hence I still can't understand why so much came out up there ? I have made a mental note of it's 'Happy Level' but will also make a dipstick and mark it's current level which Mike has done.

 



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