bsa b44 smoke problem HELP

[big mac]

Have rebuilt a b44 victor gp motor new bearings, big end, con-rod, pioston, rebore, valves ground & reseated, new liner to replace stuffed chrome bore but it still smokes real bad not just a little enough to bring next door running with a hose.
Have pulled the motor down 3 times checked ring gap, gaskets, ran motor with the rocker feed off to check the oil was not get in from the rocker box.
So please help what have I missed. Thanks Rory

[LWC82PE]

Hey hey, I had this problem too! Would not fricken stop smoking! I will tell you what it was. These BSA’s have a crappy ball valve set up at the bottom of the case under the sump plate.  After 40 years of use these are no longer as they were when brand new, which means the engines will always wet sump. That means the oil runs out of the tank and into the crank case and you will have excess oil in the motor. You really should drain the cases before starting, depending on how badly it has wet sumped, but if you do start it, the excess oil in the motor will cause the bore/rings to glaze up. Once that happens your new piston/bore/rings will not bed in no matter what you do. This happened on the one I built. After numerous attempts at cleaning the ball valve the wet sumping would not stop and the smoking continuned. No option left but to strip the motor. Once I had done that, sure enough the bore was really glazed up. So I removed the glazing. Then the ball valve under the sump plate really needed a decent look at. It not easily serviceable. There is a tiny pin that needs to be knocked out. This was hard to get out. Then the ball could come out. I cant remember exactly but I think there could have been a metal seat or the part that the ball was in could be removed?? Any way the ball had slit pits and needed re-replacing and then I had to re-seat the ball in the seat. Then to check it is seated properly sprayed some brake cleaner in it. That is thinner than oil so if brake cleaner doesn’t leak past the ball you know oil wont. The brake cleaner did leak so that was good news. Put the motor back together. No smoking and no wet sumping.

PS - I bet you loved wrestling that motor in and out the frame 3 times.

[big mac]

Thanks for that sounds like another engine strip. might take the sump plate off & see how much oil drains out over night. When I was checking the NZ British spares site there was an add for an inline anti-wet sumping valve. What do you think of these. Thanks again Rory

[LWC82PE]

Yeah i have used those occasionally on bikes but i dont really like to use them as the oil pumps on these old bikes are not really good and the inline valves can restrict oil flow a bit too much especially on 40's/50's AJS/matchy, nortons BSA M21's etc that have weak pumps to start with. I had probs with an army BSA one time and could not work out why it kept seizing. Eventually found out the oil pump was absolutly junk (whole bike was a lemon really) and although you could see oil pumping into the tank for 5/10 miniutes or what ever and you thought all was good, after a short ride the oil pump would tighten up and seize up and stop pumping oil hence overheating and nipping up  That was a heck of a problem to find/sort out. Anyway i really think you dont want to put too many restrictions in the oiling system if they cant cope with it as reduced oil circulation could cause problems. What i did was put a drain screw in the sump plate on the B44 so you dont have to remove the plate all the time and tear up your gaskets each time and yeah, put a container under neath and took notes on how much it was leaking overnight/after a few days etc. You really got to make sure your oil is very clean and theres no particles of anything in the motor on assembly. It only takes one little particle of grit to lift the ball bearing off the seat and allow the oil to leak through.

[Marc.com]

yeah often over looked, the ball and spring on the oil pump relief valve should be replaced and the oil gallery cleaned, you may have some gunge in there from your overhaul.

new oil pump , springs and balls.

[huskibul]

  Is it worth investing in aftermarket (better?)oil pumps on these old girls or is the oem bsa one up to the job?

[huskibul]

  By the sound of that i Think i'll invest in a aftermarket pump with the anti wet sump valve and a better filter system,cheap insurance compared to rebuilds

[Marc.com]

  By the sound of that i Think i'll invest in a aftermarket pump with the anti wet sump valve and a better filter system,cheap insurance compared to rebuilds

pumps get worn and the pressure relief valve is pretty rudimentary, if you are wet sumping in such a short time then something is pretty flogged. Valve on the oil tank also works until the day you forget to turn it on. My AJS has one with a long cord to the twist grip to remind me.

[big mac]

Thanks every one, next stop is the oil pressure release spring & ball in the timing case as Mark pointed out as if this is not seating it will fill the crank case in no time when the motor is started.

[Marc.com]

Yeah i would doubt the oil pump would actually fail, but if the oil pump circuit is by passing excessively it will be the same end result. Hope that fixes it.

[BultacoMacca]

To solve the wet sumping of my brothers Norton Commando he put a large brass shutoff tap in the oil line near to his kickstarter and footpeg. When the tap handle is OFF, it is in the way so that he cant start the bike without turning it into the ON position. Simple and effective, even if it is a tiny bit agricultural, I'll be putting one on my Matchless G80 roadie when it is finished.

[matcho mick]

 

[jimg1au]

found this while looking for ariel parts in uk


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ARIEL-ANTI-WET-SUMPING-VALVE-STAINLESS-/400122272589?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item5d29255b4d

[Marc.com]

To solve the wet sumping of my brothers Norton Commando he put a large brass shutoff tap in the oil line

My AJS has same modification, but in the case of the B44 it should be no problem to cure wet sumping by conventional methods.

[Marc.com]

there you go, not too much wrong with a NOS one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-NOS-BSA-B25-B44-OIL-PUMP-PART-41-608-CAST-/380231578725?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5887917465