[TR] Triumphs Digest, Vol 2, Issue 116

[Ben Zwissler]

John,

Depending on how long you've run it in the garage, the small pool of oil is
normal.  Breather tubes drip oil.  High blowby from worn piston rings will
cause a higher rate of dripping, but a "very small" pool sounds normal.
Diesel trucks just began adding closed crankcase ventilation systems in
Model Year 2007.  People who didn't want drips put catch pails at the end of
their tube. The breather pipe drips are a major reason for the darker stripe
down the middle of interstates.  Millions of drips from engines....

Has your engine been rebuilt lately?  If not, its likely its "tired" and in
need of new main bearings.  Low oil pressure is the primary symptom of worn
bearings.  It could also be a pump or regulator problem, but that's less
likely.  Sometime running 20W50 oil will allow you to postpone a rebuild for
a while.

If you have had it rebuilt, was the oil pressure regulator disassembled?  If
so, you'll need to reset the regulator spring pressure.  When I did my
rebuild I had too high oil pressure which caused a healthy leak from the
rear main bearing seal.  I have a TR4A and I'm not sure how the TR2 was
configured but there should be an adjustment screw somewhere on the filter
housing.

If none of the above applies, another cause of low pressure is dilution of
the oil with gasoline.  Did you do some running with very rich mixtures
while adjusting the carbs?  Have the float bowls set too high so gas ran
down the intake into the cylinders?  If so, change the oil and see what you
get.

Good luck.

Ben Zwissler
bjzwissler at comcast.net
Columbus, IN
1966 TR-4A IRS
1980 TR-8
2003 Honda ST1300


Message: 7
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 15:26:14 +0000
From: John Gillis <jgillis at tcd.ie>
Subject: [TR] oil out breather?
To: Triumph List <triumphs at Autox.Team.Net>
Message-ID: <C9721EA5-5684-4210-BEB5-621EA7B4132E at tcd.ie>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hi all, got my carbs back from Burlen after full re-build, very
pleased BTW, fitted up and set up to run, I have noticed a drop in oil
pressure which was 50psi at tick over, now down to about 15 when fully
warm, looking around I noticed a very small pool of oil under the
engine breather pipe, does this suggest any particular condition, this
is an engine that has yet to go on the road, all running has been in
the garage to date.
1954 TR2
regards
John