Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Having cleaned out the oil tank and the oil lines and filled the tank I find that the oil flow at the pump end of the oil line is only about 2 drips a second. While i appreciate that the pump will try to suck oil from the tank two drips a second does seem to be low to me have other seen this rate of flow or is there a problem

It will flow a lot quicker when it’s been warmed up by the engine.

True the oil was at room temp, but I still expected a constant trickle rather than drops.

Hi

When I drained my 58 FH tank, (which I believe is the same as yours), of old oil at the start of my restoration I did it by removing the feed line from the engine - the flow was indeed steady and the oil was cold, about 4 degrees C. I would suspect your system has an obstruction somewhere, do you have an air line that you can use to blow through in the opposite direction to flow? Does the flow increase if you remove the filler cap?

Regards Mick

It's got a fair way to travel and the oil might be fairly thick. Anyhow you can take the Hex headed oil screen out of the back lower part of the tank and put wire down it or blow it out with compressed air.. The pipe end comes almost to the rear surface of the tank. IF you don't want to drain the tank just blow the line backwards with the tank cap off and observe the bubbles and flow of the air.. It would be pretty unusual to get a blockage but anything's possible. Have you recently CUT new rubber oil pipes? You can sometimes get a scarfed piece in it when you cut the rubber. Nev

Derek
My VH and WNG both have the same oil tank and oil feed set up as yours. On both of mine, even with SAE50 oil, it runs freely out of the oil feed pipe and also out of the feed port in the timing case when the oil pump is removed. As has been stated you must have a partial blockage somewhere. Also check you have the pipes connected the correct way round.

Cheers
Alan

I have finally resolved the problem, the oil had caused the rubber in the pipes to swell restricting the flow to a few drops a second. Replacing the pipes has resolved the problem.
thank you all !

derekmalcolm wrote:I have finally resolved the problem, the oil had caused the rubber in the pipes to swell restricting the flow to a few drops a second. Replacing the pipes has resolved the problem.
thank you all !

Based on this it is worth remembering that only 'rubber' pipe rated suitable for oil should be used.

Good quality fuel grade pipe won't swell. Some goes harder over time and may leak on a push fit. Replace about every 3 years to be sure to be sure. Good luck you found it. Nev