Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Wet Sumping

Yeah, if you've ever owned an old (dry sump system) motorcycle (I currently have a '66 Triumph) you get a lot more sanguine about this wet sumping business.

Yes, I have both main front pinion seal leaking and camchest puke and this is the reason I am asking the questions. Making the oil tank breathe helped but not totally stopped it.

I'm not sure I've ever been called sanguine before!

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Yes, I have both main front pinion seal leaking and camchest puke and this is the reason I am asking the questions. Making the oil tank breathe helped but not totally stopped it.
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Stephen,

From reading your posts over the last couple of years, I believe you are conflating a couple of topics: wet sumping and crankcase breathing. They are not intrinsically related, though a sump full of oil can cause short term (as in seconds, not minutes) breathing issues. But once the engine has been running for a few seconds, the sump is scavenged of oil, the excess pressure caused by a crankcase full of oil is gone and the (excess oil in the crankcase related) leaks will cease.

Let your machine set for a few weeks, then using the drain plug on the bottom of the engine, drain and measure the amount of oil that was in the crankcase. If it's a couple of quarts or less, you do not have a wet sumping issue worth worrying about. I.e. that would be reasonably normal for a dry sump engine design with a remote oil reservoir that sits much higher than the oil pump through which oil eventually leaks into the sump.

If your engine leaks (not weeps, but leaks) from the crank seals and camchest breather while running then it is not a wet sump issue, but is rather a crankcase breathing issue.

If it's weeping only from the crank seals, then it's either bad seals or worn/poorly machined sealing surfaces on the crank.

As I have written much about the x-wedge breather system previously on this forum I will not repeat all of that, but will summarize by saying there is nothing inherently wrong with the factory breathing system, and venting the crankcase to atmosphere is not an improvement nor is it in any way necessary.

But if your leaks were diminished somewhat by the change to your elaborate vented to atmosphere breather system, that would indicate to me your engine may be suffering from excessive combustion blow-by, typically due to worn piston rings, or rings which glazed before being fully seated. I would suggest you perform a leak down test on your engine to see if that's the case.

Thanks Steve.

Ditto, thanks Steve. Very helpful.

I recently replaced my oil tank with one of Emil's. He installed it but I afterward changed the oil/filter myself. The new system requires 4-quarts, "probably less, maybe 3.5". I had to estimate and slightly overfilled. Pretty sure the system was first drained completely but who knows. Still, it was disconcerting to see the oil level (in the tubular site gauge) disappear into a dry sump. I was afraid to even start the engine. Sure enough, within seconds the oil returned to the tank. But there was a bit of an oil leak and blow out from the new tanks' vent. Oil had drained from an overflow tube that Emil presumably installed for this purpose but connected to wear? A couple starts and short runs later and everything seems sorted and happy again. Oil still drains into the sump after a week or two and I guess always has.

Between the oil cooler and the new tank and fuel pressure system installed together, I think I'm done. Although coincidentally, after installing the fuel pressure system, my OE fuel pump died (2600 mile). I replaced it with the Warbro unit and all is good!

Thanks again for the expertise and insights offered here.

To dredge up the wet sumping issue again I spoke with the Tech Dept at S&S and discovered that the Reed Valve leaking is the cause.

There might be two pieces to the reed valve , the reed and the stop as it appears to be labeled in the parts manual. How many of you have removed the reed and checked to see if you have a STOP or not? I don’t remember mine having one and the only thing I noticed was a bright spot on the case where the reed had been rubbing. In other words a high spot keeping the valve open a bit and not completely sealing.