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Starting the WLA after the winter


pete41

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Hallo to everybody!

 

Now the snow is going away (here in Austria) & the temperatures are rising -now it is time to start my WLA after a long winter!

Every year I have the same problem, all the oil is in the crankcase and it is a lot of work to start the engine - when the engine runs all the oil is burning through the exaustpipe and the oil drips down from the crankcase to the bottom. It is all a mess!!

 

I wan´t to ask if anybody can give me an advice to make the starting of the WLA after a long time more comftable!

 

Greetings from Austria

Peter

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It seems to me you need a fix for the initial problem. I'm not familiar specifically with the oil circulation system on a WLA so could be right off the mark. But is there any kind of (often a ball bearing type) valve arrangement in the oil pump? Some old bikes I've owned previously had these and often the 'valve' didn't seat properly and allowed the oil to trickle down through the system in to the crankcase. Often all that was needed was to (dismantle first) give the ball bearing a firm, but not overheavy, tap on to its seat and the problem was cured. Dont go fitting an in line tap from your oil tank feed line to your engine. invariably you will at some point forget it is 'off' and seize your engine. My mate knows, he's done it. On a Goldstar - very expensive. Curing your full crankcase is a different matter, but taking the crankcase plug out, draining it then pouring it back in to the oil tank has got to be the most direct fix. Another way might be to take the plugs out so that it doesnt fire up (and is easiler to turn over) and then keep pumping the engine over with the kickstart until you have manually pumped all the oil back in to the tank. Sounds like good exercise to me. Post us a video of this if you go down this route, should be entertaining :)

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Basically Peter what Nigel has said (Hi Nige), also Peter, just before you wrap the WLA up for the Winter you could drain the oil completely, this does`nt solve the wet sumping but it seems its not too much of a problem when you are using it through the summer. You could put an oil tap inline if you have a seperate oil tank but BEWARE!!! a friend of mine is just rebuilding his Norton after forgeting to turn the tap on. :embarrassed: Not sure what type of valve is used in the WLA but obviously this is where the problem is, not stopping the oil running back down into the sump. Regards, Ian.:)

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Basically Peter what Nigel has said (Hi Nige), also Peter, just before you wrap the WLA up for the Winter you could drain the oil completely, this does`nt solve the wet sumping but it seems its not too much of a problem when you are using it through the summer. You could put an oil tap inline if you have a seperate oil tank but BEWARE!!! a friend of mine is just rebuilding his Norton after forgeting to turn the tap on. :embarrassed: Not sure what type of valve is used in the WLA but obviously this is where the problem is, not stopping the oil running back down into the sump. Regards, Ian.:)

 

Hi mate ,how you doing?

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Hi Nigel, have`nt advertised anything as yet but must get around to doing it, the ticket is out in 12 months but will soon come around. Will pop to Malvern as its only about 25mins for me, but its a bit of a jaunt for yourself, keep in touch, regards, Ian.

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  • 5 months later...

My neighbour bought a WLA from Fred Warr, we went to see Fred to pick it up at his home, what a great guy!

He had fitted a tap into the oil line to get over the problem but as others have said don't forget to turn it on:blush:

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  • 4 weeks later...

When i rode my WLA some 20years back i had the same problem.

The fix was quite easy,you need to get 2 new ballbearing balls open the oilpump ,take out the old ball ,take one of the new ones drop it on the seat have fitting piece of rod and hit it with a hammer so that you resurface the seat.

Take out the ball put in the second one and put the rest of the pump back together.

That should fix the oil from going to the sump.

 

The other thing i did was fitting a "sahara crankcase breather" ,the standard one is just a plate with a small piece of pipe in the sidecover.The sahara one runs up to just under the tank (along the front frametube) and down again to the height of the footrests.This prevents the oil spilling over your exhaust and skidplate,if the first part didn't work.:red:

Hope this is of some help.

 

cheers, Tom

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  • 3 months later...

Hiya, read all the imput on your common problem with a 45, the last thing you ought to be doing is fitting a stop tap on the oil feed line,you need to replace the ball and spring in the oil pump. To cure the same problem on my 45 , I blazed the old ball on to a a length of steel rod , then with the finest of valve lapping compound, I used the old ball with a touch of compound on it to "lap in "the seat for the ball. End of problem, change your oil regularly also, I don't believe you can be stuck for the cost of an oil change each year ,This is to protect your investment in your valuable bike.

 

.The suggestion that you should fit a stop tap on the the feed line is laughable at best and would be like playing Russian Roulette with your engine, I would also suggest you read and digest the relevant manual on your bike, all available online now, so you have some understanding on how your oil pump and system works.Hope you have resolved your problem and this imput has been usefull to you. Cheers Paul

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