“J” oiling wicks

[gbclive]

The oiling wicks on our J2 have recently slowed down their rate of dispension.

Previously the reservoirs would more or less empty over a days use.

Now only about 15% - 20% used over 5 or 6 hours and 50% remain after 24 hours.

The wicks seem to have a metal core similar (or actually?) to pipe cleaners.

Any advise on improving the lubrication would be much appreciated - simple would be best as we are away from base until the autumn 

Thankyou.

Clive.

 

[BEngo]

The trimmings get clogged up with dust and coagulated oil if they stand for a while.

Many people use pipe cleaners. If yours have got clogged up I would just find a tobacconist and buy new ones. Swan Vesta used to do some nice yellow ones!

Alternatively you can make a two-strand worsted trimming.  You need a bit of copper wire   about 28 swg - some 1mm sq twin and earth might do and a couple of lengths of real wool as sold for darning socks. Bend the wire into a U and lay the wool in it.  Twist the wire over the wool and then the wool through the wire. Repeat until the trimming is long enough.  Do not twist too tightly. 

Cut the wire tails  off and poke the trimming into the hole in the oil pot. Bend it over.  Trim the wool so it fits in the oil pot.

Repeat for the other three holes.

Adjust the flow rate by slowly tightening the twist in the wire. You have to do one hole at a time.

N

[gbclive]

Thanks BEngo - I knew you would have an explanation and suggestions for what to do 

As we have just set off for an extended cruise, I think the pipe cleaner route will be best in the short term.

Are the ends simply pushed through holes in the bottom of the reservoirs and if so by how much?

And Is any dismantling of the oil pots required.

Also, is there anything I could do temporarily to improve the flow until we reach a Swan Vesta kiosk? 

I know.............questions, questions and more questions 

Thankyou,

Clive.

[MtB]

Thanks for that explanation Nigel. 

On a related note, should there be a wick in the dash pot on the top of the top bearing on the water pump con rod, under the little cast iron cover? 

One of my Kelvins has such a wick and the other doesn’t. One must be wrong!!

[gbclive]

OK, I don’t think the slow oiling is caused by the wicks, the pipe cleaners seem fine and descend perhaps an inch below the the reservoirs until they seem to hit a stop.

So my thoughts are that the issue is below somewhere.

I’m thinking I should remove both reservoirs by undoing the machine screw and nut that secure each reservoir flange to the head to see if I can clear any partial restriction.

Any thoughts? - are there small holes below the reservoirs directing oil the the rocker bearings?

And will I have to remove the air intake and carburettor deliver pipe?

I ask in order to judge time required as we are currently on a bit of a mission up the Grand Union 

Many thanks,

Clive.

[BEngo]

There are two parts to the top end oil system.  The oil pot and the rocker cover. The oil pots sit on a gasket on the rocker cover, but the holes in the rocker cover do not line up with the holes in the oil pot.   That is why the pipe cleaners are hitting bottom when you push them  into the hole.   Instead there is are two  slot in the gasket  which each  connect an  oil pot hole to the cotrresponding rocker cover hole.

You can remove the machine screws and then the oil pot and check that the rocker cover holes are clear without removing the air intake etc.  You will need to cut new gaskets I expect.   Thickness should not be important provided they are at least as thick as the originals.    Allow at least an hour!

One other thing before you dismantle - have you checked that the air-holes in the brass oil pot covers are clear?  They are small (1mm or so), right in the corner of the brass lid and easily bunged up with dust.   That slows/stop the oil flow 'cos the air can't get in easily.   Poke 'em out with fuse wire.  Two minute job, even whilst running!

For the short term, keep the oil pots full and occasionally put a squirt of oil down each of the oil pot holes.

N

MtB-  There is no wick on the water pump drive crank AFAIA.  None is mentioned in the Great Books and there is nothing in the parts list. I think some peeps think the oil will be flung out so put a 'wick' in to hold it.  IME the oil stays there well enough that there is no need and you can get more oil in with no stuffing in the way.  It's only going round at half engine speed anyway.

 

 

[gbclive]

42 minutes ago, BEngo said:

There are two parts to the top end oil system.  The oil pot and the rocker cover. The oil pots sit on a gasket on the rocker cover, but the holes in the rocker cover do not line up with the holes in the oil pot.   That is why the pipe cleaners are hitting bottom when you push them  into the hole.   Instead there is are two  slot in the gasket  which each  connect an  oil pot hole to the cotrresponding rocker cover hole.

You can remove the machine screws and then the oil pot and check that the rocker cover holes are clear without removing the air intake etc.  You will need to cut new gaskets I expect.   Thickness should not be important provided they are at least as thick as the originals.    Allow at least an hour!

One other thing before you dismantle - have you checked that the air-holes in the brass oil pot covers are clear?  They are small (1mm or so), right in the corner of the brass lid and easily bunged up with dust.   That slows/stop the oil flow 'cos the air can't get in easily.   Poke 'em out with fuse wire.  Two minute job, even whilst running!

For the short term, keep the oil pots full and occasionally put a squirt of oil down each of the oil pot holes.

N

MtB-  There is no wick on the water pump drive crank AFAIA.  None is mentioned in the Great Books and there is nothing in the parts list. I think some peeps think the oil will be flung out so put a 'wick' in to hold it.  IME the oil stays there well enough that there is no need and you can get more oil in with no stuffing in the way.  It's only going round at half engine speed anyway.

 

 

Thanks - great info 

By luck the mini breather holes were clear.

I’ve kept the pots full with occasional direct squirts for the last couple of days - good to have confirmation of this.

So far I’ve used a Stanley knife to remove paint from the machine screw heads etc, but the oil pot flanges are still firmly stuck down to the rocker covers with paint. I’m considering running a knife round the paint at the edge of the flanges.

Again, many thanks,

Clive.

[BEngo]

If you can get the time, before dismantling the oil pots, remove the whole rocker cover assembly and the pipe cleaners. Then, holding the rocker cover so you can see the inside,  squirt oil down the holes the pipe cleaners go into.  Do each pipe cleaner hole.  Alternatively put the rocker covers on newspaper and squirt the oil holes.  You should get two similar sized puddles on the paper.

If the passage is clear and oil emerges in a goodly squirt there is no need to dismantle as all is OK.

I don't think your oil passages are blocked, I think the pipe cleaners are just knackered.

N

[gbclive]

4 hours ago, BEngo said:

If you can get the time, before dismantling the oil pots, remove the whole rocker cover assembly and the pipe cleaners. Then, holding the rocker cover so you can see the inside,  squirt oil down the holes the pipe cleaners go into.  Do each pipe cleaner hole.  Alternatively put the rocker covers on newspaper and squirt the oil holes.  You should get two similar sized puddles on the paper.

If the passage is clear and oil emerges in a goodly squirt there is no need to dismantle as all is OK.

I don't think your oil passages are blocked, I think the pipe cleaners are just knackered.

N

Thanks for your further advice Nigel.

In the mean time, both oil pots and the top of the rocker casing have been removed and cleaned of slightly gummy old oil then reassembled. All was as you described and the job was straightforward once the overpainting issue was solved.

As the original gaskets came away easily and were in good nick, I re-used them, but I made a pattern “just in case”. They were about 0.9mm thick and I now understand better how cut outs in the gaskets provide channels for the oil to flow about an inch from the bottom of the trimmings to the small holes in the top of the rocker casing.

Flow rates through the oil pot holes and also the rocker cover holes are now even and the overal rate of oiling has improved a bit.

I hunted along the banks of the Grand Union for some pipe cleaners, but just got blank stares. The ones generally sold online are like hairy caterpillars - either 4 or 6 mm diameter - so probably too big? So I’ve ordered a pack of 50 Falcon Extra Thin Pipe Cleaners from smoke-king.co.uk, which I’ll pick up from home next week. So if anyone needs some I’ll have 48 spares  Just a 2 min job to then replace them.

I’ll post this now so I don’t lose it, but then see if I can post a couple of pics.

Thanks again,

Clive.

[gbclive]

Pics of an oiling pot gasket with it’s channels and alignment to small oil holes in the rocker cover.

[MtB]

On 27/03/2018 at 16:28, BEngo said:

MtB-  There is no wick on the water pump drive crank AFAIA.  None is mentioned in the Great Books and there is nothing in the parts list. I think some peeps think the oil will be flung out so put a 'wick' in to hold it.  IME the oil stays there well enough that there is no need and you can get more oil in with no stuffing in the way.  It's only going round at half engine speed anyway.

 

Thanks Nigel.

So the one with the wick doesn't need it. I'll just leave well alone I think. I expect you can guess the reason I wondered if the one without the wick was supposed to have one. When I fill the oil reservoir the oil disappears in about ten seconds flat. I now surmise from this the bearing is shot. Does this need dealing with urgently do you think? Or is it not that big a deal? Or might there be another explanation?

[gbclive]

11 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Thanks Nigel.

So the one with the wick doesn't need it. I'll just leave well alone I think. I expect you can guess the reason I wondered if the one without the wick was supposed to have one. When I fill the oil reservoir the oil disappears in about ten seconds flat. I now surmise from this the bearing is shot. Does this need dealing with urgently do you think? Or is it not that big a deal? Or might there be another explanation?

Mike - we could start a competition on whose thimble empties the quickest 

[BEngo]

Is there a lot ( more than 20 thou) of up/down play on the bearing?

Do you run for hours at full speed?

Does the bearing get really hot ( over boiling hot so water spits when it hits the bearing?)

If answer 1 is yes and either or both of the others are yes then it is time to renew the bearing. I think Dick Goble may have some.

If answer 1 is no then "doan worry, be happy" and oil it every day.

If you really want to check it is easy to undo the two bolts and take the cap off.  A tube spanner is needed.  You will then be able to see the  state of the top half bearing. Push the conrod down and sideways to see the bottom half, which does slightly more work on the single acting pumps.

Mainly though, if it showing no sign of distress, it ain't broke.  So don't fix it:-).

 

N

[gbclive]

On 29/03/2018 at 21:30, gbclive said:

I hunted along the banks of the Grand Union for some pipe cleaners, but just got blank stares. The ones generally sold online are like hairy caterpillars - either 4 or 6 mm diameter - so probably too big? So I’ve ordered a pack of 50 Falcon Extra Thin Pipe Cleaners from smoke-king.co.uk, which I’ll pick up from home next week. 

Just realised I did not report back on these.

They were £3.19 for 50 inc postage and worked a treat for me in conjunction with cleaning out the channels in the oiling pot gaskets.

They’re about 6.5” long and about 5/32” diameter in their dry and fluffy state.

I used half of one in each hole.

The oil pots now empty fairly evenly in about 8 - 10 hours.

So..... me thinks the job’s a good’n ?

Thanks for your advice Nigel.

 

BTW, Dick Goble liked the look of them and snaffled a few ?