ES2 oil consumption

Mine smokes a bit too, and was wondering about fitting some seals, perhaps just an o ring to reduce the oil running down the valve stem? I saw that an old bike/car of mine but can't remember which. Trouble is the shape of the valve guide doesn't really lend itself to fitting a seal?

mine used half a tank of oil in 50 miles of running. James bond would have been proud of me with the smoke screen i was making. anyway i found out mine was oval bore so i had liner and piston done to make standard. that was after having the head completely done convinced that was it but it proved to be the bore out of shape.

before i had it done i stripped it down and bolted the barrel down without the head fitted and kicked the engine over for about 20 kicks and observed oil being left at the top of the bore so something to observe . Baz

Interesting Barry, Mine has been rebored so should be ok, but hasn't been run in yet and I was also running 20/50 and am going to try straight 50 first.n

It begs the question, why is there an unusual amount of oil to the top end. Is the return back to the tank partially blocked?

I seem to remember the use of a length of carburettor needle or similar diameter wire down the centre of the banjo bolt to restrict flow.

What volume of oil do you drain off Andy? I have a tap on the feed line, so nothing should get by the pump, and when cold checked how much was in the crankcase. whilst I can not remember the exact amount it was enough to dip the flywheels which, to me, explains some smoke on start up from cold. John

Previously Andy Marks wrote:

My 1951 ES2 used a huge amount of oil on the trip to Rimini for the International Rally. It smokes a lot at start up and tick over and there's a cloud of smoke as I pull away up the road but it quickly clears and there isn't much at all once I'm on the go. I've taken the barrel and head off and there is no evidence of it blowing past the rings, but the rocker box is swimming in oil and there is a noticeable amount sitting in the inlet port. The valve and guide where both new earlier this year and are in good condition but there are no seals in there and I wonder if there is just too much oil being pumped up there. Given that the earlier engines relied on mist past the pushrod tubes is there any reason why I couldn't restrict the flow going up there slightly. Has anyone tried this before?Or fitted valve stem seals?

I've been reading lots of the other posts on this forum about engine oil consumption and especially crankcase breathing, I think I can also improve quite a lot on that, hopefully lower crankcase pressure will allow the oil that is in the rocker box to drain back down easier and therefor there might not be as much siting up the top.

What have people found in the past? And what solutions did you find?

Any and all suggestions welcome

Andy.

check that the two oil holes in the barrel are not blocked.

the oil holes in the head have to line up with the holes i the barrel.

i once had a barrel that was able to slightly move on the crankcases so the holes didn,t line up.spopping oil returning to crankcases.

check its all lined up before tightening head down.

tony

Hello Andy. just a thought if your is the same of course. on the rocker box if the inner sealing washer is not a tight fit in the Centre on the securing bolt it would bypass oil into the rockers

Baz

i know mine are copper ones i never seem to have much success with fibre washers i have used aluminum ones before now quite good at sealing just got to get the right ones not to thick you want some with a bit of squashability. Baz

Hi Barry. With respect I am struggling to see where the problem is with your drawing. Irrespective of the size of the washers, if the banjo bolt is tight the oil must go to the rockers. John

Yes your right. I went into the garage and took mine off to have a look. There is certainly plenty of oil in my rocker box and I have the correct size fibre washers on the banjo bolt. Those two oil drain holes in the barrel are easily blocked if 'gasket goo' is used on the head gasket. John

Hello Andy - John. spot on you have got what i was on about. sorry i didn't explained it better all my effort went into trying to upload the right size photo . Baz