oil pump ?

[scalded dog]

Can we prime the oil pump without removing the engine? Has anyone ever ran an XS 11 without the valve cover in place to see if it is oiling. Thanks 'Dog

[trbig]

No need to "Prime" these pumps if they've ever been run in oil. An easier.. and a little bit less messy way... you could loosen the oil line a bit going from the case to the head in the back of the motor and see if it starts oozing.

Taking off the valve cover and doing it.. which I'm pretty sure it is.. is going to be REALLY messy.. but yeah, it can be done. I just hope it only cranks and doesn't fire when you do this.


Tod

[scalded dog]

Thanks TRBIG, a little backgrond; this is an 81 special, bought it about 2 yrs. ago, it had been sitting in a basement, without forks, triple tree, clutch or oil, according to the po, it had about 18,000 miles on it. it sat in my shop about a year, the same way, bought a parts bike and made one out of two, it runs smooth at idle but gets extremely hot after about 3-4 mins, pipes glowing, I've posted a thread on here before, and had some suggestions, and tried them all, no sucess. timing, carbs etc. the oil is still very clean as if it has not circulated thru the motor, no gas in oil. fuel lines routed as suggested here, have not cleaned petcocks yet, which could be causing the lean suggetions, going to try that today,though it gas seems to run freely on prime. Will also try your suggestion about the oil line. Later 'Dog

[trbig]

If you've already posted the problem.. not sure what to tell you besides the obvious. It's running lean for some reason to get the pipes glowing like that. It takes very little fuel flow to keep carbs full, so I doubt it's petcocks.. but I guess it's possible. If it was starving for fuel though, it would be popping and running like crap. My guess is either float heights wrong, dirty/clogged jets, or mixture screws needing adjusted.

We've also heard lots of P.O. horror stories.. so just assuming you have the proper pilot and air jets? Only other thing I can think of is the carb slide springs.

Wanna tear into your carbs again for OUR curiosity?

Good luck with it. There's certainly much more qualified people for the carbs than me.

Tod

[John]

You could always locate the oil tube that runs from the engine to the head, on the back of the engine, and then just crack the nut on the upper end, to see if you have any oil flow.

[thewiz]

It is also possible ...

if you prefer, to crank the engine (without running it) with the cam cover off and learn what you need to know about the top end oiling too ... in fact, it might not be a bad idea to check up there for damage in light of the overheading issue anyway ... I hear what you're saying about the oil not looking "circulated" too .... that would concern me as well.

I disconnect the four prong plug at the TCI and take the spark plugs out, watch and crank on.