My oil light is on and I don't know why!

[Jerry]

you gotta take the engine OUT.

Actually, you don't. Easiest way is to remove the oil pan and remove the 3 allen head bolts that hold the pump in place. Swap pumps, reinstall oil pan, fill with oil and go. Prime the replacment pump with oil before you put it in, and turn the bike over with the spark plugs out until you get oil pressure. 3 or 4 20 second cranks should do it.

I removed the oil pump when I did the 2nd gear fix on my XJ a few weeks ago. Should not be a difficult job if that is all you plan to do. Get a set of socket-mounted metric allen wrenches and a set of regular metric allen wrenches, either the "L" shaped ones or better yet the "T" handled ones, and the job will go fairly quickly.

Depending on your exhaust system, oil pan removeal may be easier if the exhaust system is off. If you go this route, buy the 4 exhaust gaskets and the oil pan gasket, those are all the parts you should need.

If you need a pump and/or replacement pan, let me know...I have one of each left over from a partzer '79 standard, you can have for cost of shipping. Pump has been in storage for 4 years, believe it is good.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there John,

Well, I just went out a double checked my bike, and although Clymer says to pull the engine, you don't have to!!!! You may have to pull the pipes, and you'll be laying on your back, but you should have no problem getting the bolts and pan off of the bottom to get access to the pump. Do you have your partzer's engine out of the frame?? If not, then you can practice on it first to see how it's gonna go, then once you get that one off, and pull the pump, you will feel more confident about doing the same on your main machine!!! They talk about priming the new pump before you put it in the engine, but mainly just pour some oil into it, and spin the sprocket a bit to get the parts well coated, then after it's in, you can turn the engine over with the spark plugs out to get it pumped up enough to let it prime the topend before you actually go to start it!! If you had the sensor out and it only trickled up, then yes, it's not pumping adequately!!! But, you can do this, and you can make your own gasket out of material you get from the auto store using the pan to trace it out, a single hole punch for the bolt holes, and an exacto knife or scissors to cut out the inner edge!! Don't take it to a shop, it's not that hard to do!!!

T.C.

[johnstewart]

Okay, I got the oil drained, filter off, and the oil pan allen bolts out. How in the heck do I pry the oil pan off? (Cylmer just says "remove")

I can't seem to find anything to pry against with a screwdriver, and so far I've only resorted to light tapping with a hammer.

Thing probably hasn't been off in 25 years, so it's pretty welded on. I don't want to hurt anything by resorting to anything stupid!

Thanks!!

[Ken Talbot]

Try giving it a few good whacks with a rubber mallet. If you don't have one of those, use any old hammer with a block of wood between the hammer face and the pan. You shouldn't have to beat it too severely, but don't be afraid to "hit it a little bit harder" if nothing happens at first......

[xssiveone]

In addition to Ken's suggestions, you could also try slipping a putty knife (thin scraper) in between the pan and the engine. DO NOT use a screwdriver or other large object for this as you will probably do damage to either the pan or engine mating surfaces.

[johnstewart]

Originally posted by Ken Talbot
If you don't have one of those, use any old hammer with a block of wood between the hammer face and the pan. You shouldn't have to beat it too severely, but don't be afraid to "hit it a little bit harder" if nothing happens at first......

It took some good whacking with a block, but it came off. Thanks, Ken!

After getting the oil pan off, this is what I see:





There was a little pile of grit right underneath the screen. It appeared to be mostly sand type material with some metal shavings in there. There was some clogged in the screen, but not enough to restrict oil flow significantly. I don't know how worried I should be about this, since this was likely, as I mentioned, the first time the oil pan has been off in 25 years, so this is probably just the buildup through all those years.

So, I guess that leaves the oil pump as the culprit, right?

Thing is, I submurged it in my bucket of used oil and it did seem to pump oil. However, when I held my thumb over the output spigot, it did seem that it would build pressure, then sometimes "slip" and lose some of the pressure. Would this be an expected failure mode? Is there a better way to know for sure if the pump is bad (or not)? I do have a spare bike, but if I don't have to tear into that one, it would be nice (though it doesn't look like there is much of a choice, I suppose - nothing else to try at this point, is there?)

Thanks so much for all your help. I would never have contemplated digging into this bike like this without the help of the triples list and xs11.com!!

johnS

P.S. Also, for removing the old gasket material, just use a screwdriver and be careful not to gouge the metal?

[beechfront]

don't know if this is much help, but i just got my bike apart friday night and that sounds and looks much like what i found. just a few metal shavings and some crap in the screen.

i used a razor blade to remove the old gasket.

[RiskyBusiness]

A razor is less likely to gouge. The problem with scraping with a screwdriver is the tendency to dip a corner and gouge a trench in the metal. As a kid I would often want to take short cuts and scrape gaskets with whatever I had handy. My father finally trained me that some things are worth taking one's time with. Be careful with the razor blade, however. You don't want to have to change your handle to "stumpy."

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there John,

There's an Oil Pressure Relief Valve built into the pump, and it's controlled by a spring, that spring may have gotten worn, so that it isn't keeping the valve closed at a high enough pressure value, and so when the pressure gets only moderately high(your finger over the hole) instead of building up enough pressure to push your finger away, it may be pushing out that valve and letting the pressure vent via that pathway?? You have to disassemble the oil pump to check it and the clearances on the internal pump parts as well, manual doesn't say anything about how to check that valve, just to check the cylinder that the valve slides in for wear/scratches and whether the spring is "distorted", does not give any value as to it's length/tension!?!?

Those three allen head nuts are what holds it in place, there's an O-ring between the mating surfaces, and a couple of locating / centering dowels, be sure not to loose them. I'd replace the O-ring....you can take the pump to the Hardware store and find one that fits and it a little thicker than the groove it sits in, that way it will get squished and make a proper seal when put back together.

You'll want to pour some oil down the throat of the replacement pump and turn the gear a bit to "Prime" the new pump before putting it in!! And I just used a pocket knife to scrape the pan, almost as sharp as a razor, and a little safer to hold and handle!! Congrats on the work so far, you're almost there!!!!

T.C.

[Pat Kelly]

Why not just take the indicator bulb out of the panel

Just kidding.

[johnstewart]

Aiight... the gasket finally came in so when the weather dries up (no room in garage to work on it) some I'm going to put this hunk o bolts back together.

I went to try and take the oil pump apart tonight to make sure nothing was stuck in the pressure relief valve or anything, and was stymied when I got to the following three Torx bolts:



These things are *huge* for Torx. Does anyone know what size they are? I guess it's time for another trip to buy new tools; I was unable to dislodge them with a flathead screwdriver.

[skids]

John Stewart's air filter

I'll bet you had either a 78 or a 79 xs11 with one of those funky Uni foam filters, right?

---------------------------

John said:

This past weekend, I finally got around to changing the gear oil. Also, I tried to change the air filter, but the dang thing got twisted up in the cotter pin which holds the wing bolt to the air box. Took me an hour to get it off (which included a LOT of swearing and banging). Also topped off the engine oil; it was a bit low.

[johnstewart]

Re: John Stewart's air filter

Originally posted by skids
I'll bet you had either a 78 or a 79 xs11 with one of those funky Uni foam filters, right?

Yep, nail on the head. 79 and Uni. I threw the damn thing away after I got it back off. Super annoying. I take it this has come up for you? =)

[TopCatGr58]

Originally posted by johnstewart
Aiight... the gasket finally came in so when the weather dries up (no room in garage to work on it) some I'm going to put this hunk o bolts back together.

I went to try and take the oil pump apart tonight to make sure nothing was stuck in the pressure relief valve or anything, and was stymied when I got to the following three Torx bolts:
image snipped!
These things are *huge* for Torx. Does anyone know what size they are? I guess it's time for another trip to buy new tools; I was unable to dislodge them with a flathead screwdriver.

Hey John,

Those aren't huge, they're the right size. You'll want to get a good mechanics set, not just an el-cheapo set, cause these are probably loctited in, and there's another set of torx nuts you'll encounter IF/WHEN you have to do your 2nd gear fix, to pull the bearing/oil cap from one of the gear shafts on the side of the tranny, and they ARE Loctited!! You may want to get an impact type wrench for your torx kit to assist in breaking them loose instead of just wrist power!?!?

T.C.

[johnstewart]

I did manage to get the torx bolts out.... definitely took some elbow grease.

There was no apparent problem with the pump or relief valve. All clean and seemed to be working properly. My biggest suspect on the low oil pressure at this point is the pile of grit I found when I dropped the oil pan - perhaps it was getting swept up and cloggin the screen once the oil started moving. Otherwise I've found nothing out of the ordinary.

Now that you mention locktite, I wonder if it is a problem that I didn't use any when I put the pump back together.... hmmm...