1959 AJS 650 oil problem

[rudolph]

I am working on a 1959 AJS 650 for a friend, I had the crank reground and the rods resized in the big end and them put the engine back together, its filling the intake rocker boxes to the TOP with oil witch is coming UP the push rod tubes,

I thought running the bike with the rocker covers off was causing the oil to be pushed up but I am now 100% sure its doing it with them on as I whipped one off and it was FULL to the top with oil,

I also started the bike and watched the oil rise up and fill them up.


This has got me stumped, I had everything apart and it had the restriction jets in the bottoms of the heads for the oil feeds, It has 1962 heads on a 1959 bottom end also.

[Grumph]

Scavenge pump not working ? Is oil going back to the tank ?

Swarfie on here is the AMC twin guru - worth a PM.

[FJRider]

Interesting reading re: changes made to AJS Models here ... http://www.jampot.com/article_print.asp?id=20

As to your problem ... crankcase pressure build-up .. ??? aren't the rockers oil supplied via external tubing and oil flow is supposed to be down the tubing... ?? or is my memory going (again) .. ???

[rudolph]

Return pump is working, and its not the oil feed to the rockers witch is the problem, I have run the bike with the sump plug out so that eliminates crankcase pressure and the scavenge pump.



The intake cam tunnel is not draining or having too much oil pumped in.


AJS 650 twins went through alot of changes to the oil system over a few years and this bike has mismatched parts, it did not have a pressure relieve valve, (not to be confused with the oil filter bypass valve or air bleed on the pump plate)

[Grumph]

If it is mismatched parts - and it's hard to avoid nowadays - I'd suggest there's an oil gallery plug missing.
It's pretty much the only way oil can get there in those quantities.

It's an engine out and strip IMO.

Many years back I saw a similar thing. Triumph TQ engine with a Rickman top end. The rocker boxes filled with high pressure oil to the point it lifted the cover and there was a sheet of oil spraying out....Bob Densem had put in one of his oil pumps and overestimated how much oil the top end needed....

[rudolph]

Its starting to look like an engine out and strip job, and like you say the more I study the parts books the mismatched crank case halves may be missing the brass oil metering jet thet the other half didnt use that year.


There is one small window of hope but there is a very slim chance the cam oil level drain hole has not been drilled in the 1962 case half, alot of fixes for the AJS twin is to drill extra holes to drain oil.

[rudolph]

Well, it took 3 people to work it out, It turns out because the RH crank case is a 1962 and the left is a 1959 the oil drains for the cam tunnels are in different sides.

Anyway the intake cam has no drain hole on this bike in the RH side so I am guessing thats the problem, I will remove the intake cam gear and drill the fucker in place.

[AllanB]

Well spotted. The joys of keeping something on the road. Post some pictures of the bike.

[slofox]

Well, it took 3 people to work it out, It turns out because the RH crank case is a 1962 and the left is a 1959 the oil drains for the cam tunnels are in different sides.

Anyway the intake cam has no drain hole on this bike in the RH side so I am guessing thats the problem, I will remove the intake cam gear and drill the fucker in place.

Nice piece of detective work there. And yeah, I'd like a few pics as well.

[rudolph]

This forum wont let me post pictures from photo bucket, they dont show up.


Yer I think the last guy gave up on the bike, I am not supersized as the work he had done was total shit, he had rebuilt the gearbox with a bent layshaft and he had jammed a set of A10 BSA bigend shells in the AJS rods and they had about 10 thou clearance, he had forgotten to put the gasket in the main oil gallery/filter compartment, and used liquid steal for case sealant witch took me 2 hours to clean off.


AJS did say they don't fix the mechanical/ engineering problems with the bikes as the owner likes to tinker, there are a lot of AJS books about where to drill holes in the engine to fix problems.

[rudolph]

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r401/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/18221683_10155095194078819_2061618063339243752_n_z psnpbjmrjc.jpg (http://s354.photobucket.com/user/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/media/18221683_10155095194078819_2061618063339243752_n_z psnpbjmrjc.jpg.html)
http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r401/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/18222212_10155095194148819_5384914865731521774_n_z psrrhina7z.jpg (http://s354.photobucket.com/user/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/media/18222212_10155095194148819_5384914865731521774_n_z psrrhina7z.jpg.html)
http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r401/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/18358543_10155106303918819_3683358735556163697_o_z psgphca67f.jpg (http://s354.photobucket.com/user/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/media/18358543_10155106303918819_3683358735556163697_o_z psgphca67f.jpg.html)
http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r401/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/18697846_10155160268178819_380445673_o_zps0tbghotn .jpg (http://s354.photobucket.com/user/castinbronze1rudolphtrc/media/18697846_10155160268178819_380445673_o_zps0tbghotn .jpg.html)

[pete376403]

Awwww. Looks a bit like my old Matchy G9 which I couldn't wait to sell in order to get a Kawasaki trail bike. Would love to have it now.

[AllanB]

That's a cool looking ride. I quite like the natural patina it has developed over the years.

[rudolph]

That's a cool looking ride. I quite like the natural patina it has developed over the years.


It was blue but wile the engine was out I sprayed it black with spray cans.

[Paul in NZ]

If you have the original papers I'll bet it was originally an MOT bike... A lot seemed to come in about that time

[HenryDorsetCase]

AJS did say they don't fix the mechanical/ engineering problems with the bikes as the owner likes to tinker, there are a lot of AJS books about where to drill holes in the engine to fix problems.

Now I understand what they mean by "the good old days"....

I would have burned the fucking thing with fire by now. Kudos for your patience and putting up with that bullshit.

[Voltaire]

Now I understand what they mean by "the good old days"....

I would have burned the fucking thing with fire by now. Kudos for your patience and putting up with that bullshit.

Ah....old British Bikes are not for you then.

The Norton Commando has a long list of faults keeping the aftermarket parts world going.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Ah....old British Bikes are not for you then.

The Norton Commando has a long list of faults keeping the aftermarket parts world going.

I love the look of them - TR6 Triumphs and Norton Commando etc but I grew up on jap bikes. They always went and didnt leak oil unless I had tried to fix them i.e. fuck about with things I didnt understand....

[sidecar bob]

The British were sure the CB750 concept wouldn't catch on.
They were convinced that motorcyclists actually enjoyed being parked up beside the motorway in the pouring rain "tinkering" and we're doing it by choice.:facepalm:

[Voltaire]

The British were sure the CB750 concept wouldn't catch on.
They were convinced that motorcyclists actually enjoyed being parked up beside the motorway in the pouring rain "tinkering" and we're doing it by choice.:facepalm:

Photos of Team Cox with the mighty Suzuki on Facebook are good, how is the Classic TT going?:niceone:

There is a good report written by Edward Turner in the very early 60's when he visited Japan to look at their motorcycle industry.

It was fairly obvious then what was going to happen but they did not really factor in the Japanese making bikes larger than 350.

[sidecar bob]

:
Photos of Team Cox with the mighty Suzuki on Facebook are good, how is the Classic TT going?:niceone:
.

All done & dusted.
I didn't put up a thread because it's not my own gig.
Here's a bit more info. The bike was brilliantly prepared apparently & not disappointing for me at all :niceone:
And the pit stop was incredible.:cool:
https://www.teamclassicsuzuki.media/disappointment-for-team-classic-suzuki-as-race-ends-with-retirement-101008/

[rudolph]

Now I have to fix my 1949 BSA B31, it has the triumph piston mod and compression is too high and valves a a bit recessed into the head, my Harley needs a top end rebuild and new fork seals,

There is a long list of other bikes I need to fix and more turned up yesterday

[Grumph]

On current petrol, about 8.5:1 is all an iron single will accept long term. Valves only a little recessed ? Wow.

Did filling the Ajay full of holes work ?

[rudolph]

On current petrol, about 8.5:1 is all an iron single will accept long term. Valves only a little recessed ? Wow.

Did filling the Ajay full of holes work ?


Someone has recessed the valves to stop them hitting the piston, it should of had a spacer under the cylinder, this would fix the compression problem to.

Drilling the hole in the AJS worked very well, it stopped smoking and the plugs are not fouling, there was so much oil going thrugh that the plugs wouldnt turn black because they got washed clean,

[rudolph]

Now I understand what they mean by "the good old days"....

I would have burned the fucking thing with fire by now. Kudos for your patience and putting up with that bullshit.


I was very close to setting it on fire, I hated going in the shed and seeing it when it had the problem.