Indian four oil pump adjustment.

[Ivor]

Can anyone tell me how to set the oil pump pressure for a newly rebuilt 440 ?
Thanks in advance.

[L Burke]

Has the engine been fully assembled? Regulating the pump while in the engine is difficult, usually the pump is regulated out of the case using a variable speed drill. Make sure the spill valve on the pump is clean and operating correctly, look for pits in the seat or check ball. Make sure the spring is not broken or missing! I adjust the spill between 40 & 45 lbs at a high fast idle speed for my babbitted engine. Check with your builder and follow his directions on inserted engines. Use a modern "instrument" to regulate the spill pressure, compare to the oil gauge you are going to run on the bike. In this way you can determine the accuracy of your running gauge.

[Ivor]

Hi L,
Thanks for your interest and reply. No, I have not assembled the upper and lower casings yet. The motor came back from the engineers with a tag on the oil pump, reading " Spring seems to long and pump needs adjusting " So I can check the spring length against a new one, but I have no idea about the adjustment ?
Ivor.

[L Burke]

image.jpgWell, that is good news! Once you have setup the pump, cleaned, seat checked, paper shims in place, use as few as possible, gears must spin freely at low and high Rpms. Mount the pump on the wall in your shop. Attach a rubber hose to the intake side and drop into a bucket of oil, same weight that you will be running. Attach another section of hose on the discharge side and drop the end in the same bucket of oil. The smaller line that runs to the gauge block on the side of the engine is your discharge line. Attach your "pressure instrument" with a "T" here, chuck the pump drive in your drill and come to a fast idle speed, a hand held machinist rpm gauge will come in handy here. Top speed of your drill is about 1800 rpm which is about max rpm of your 4. Run the check valve screw in or out setting tension on the check ball until desired pressure is met, tighten the locking jam nut and install pump back in your bottome case. Notice in the photo, upper left front corner of the bottome case rim a circle indention, make sure you install the fiber washer gasket or O ring. If this is not installed you will force oil back into the sumo and loose oil pressure no matter how well your pump is setup.

[Ivor]

Wow !! Thank you so much L,
I know different people run different oil but what would you run ? And what pressure would you set it at ? I'm guessing that I should find an 'O' ring that sits slightly proud of the cork gasket that fits between the casings.
Ivor.

[L Burke]

Oil, there is a subject that will stir emotions.....run what Dad ran......or this is the best......it has been my experience to run an oil with a high content of metals, especially in old machines, and straight weight. This is my opinion........there are a lot of those out there, so run with what you are comfortable with. I like Penn products, Penn1....they have formulations for old vehicles. I run 50wt in my 4's. Valvoline Racing 50wt. I also have had good success with. When you setup your engine use a good grade of assembly lube. Pump your galley's full of oil before starting. After the crank and flywheel are properly bedded, break in using a 1/2 drill. My oil pump I set the spill at 40-45#......ask your engine builder what he recommends.

[Ivor]

Thanks again L,
I haven't got an engine builder as such, The engineers that did all the machining and white metal bearings, assembled the crankshaft and gearbox.
It sounds like a good quality classic straight 50 oil will be good.
I didn't understand what you meant about " Crank and flywheel properly bedded, break in using 1/2 drill" Are you telling me to make sure the oil-ways are full and flowing before starting the motor ? With bikes that have oil tanks, I normally kick them over 150-200 times with the spark plugs out until I see the oil coming out the return pipe, but of coarse, I can't do that with a four.
I will set the oil pressure check valve to 40-45 lbs.
Ivor.

[L Burke]

With the crank and flywheel bedded, attach your drill to the front end of the crank and spin the crank. ( engine is in the assembly stand upside down, no rods or Pistons or cylinders in place). All mains should be well oiled with assembly lubricant. The crank and flywheel should spin very easily. This to check for any tight spots in your setup. There are oil galley plugs for each main on the cam side of the upper case. Make sure these are free of all machine debris, pump full of oil and re insert the galley plugs before initial start. Again this is my opinion.....don't rely on me, talk to your builder (engineer). On late model 4s (plunger shock frames). Once cases are bolted together, I would install in bike and do final assembly in the frame. image.jpgimage.jpg

[L Burke]

Not sure I would double stack gasket at this location. This answer is a response to earlier statement concerning o ring cork gasket.

[Ivor]

Thankyou for all this help L, I intend to cut the gaskets myself. It looks to me that the 'O' ring fits within the cork gasket and retained by the circular groove. Maybe this is to avoid the oil pressure blowing the cork gasket out the side. So if I use a 1.5mm cork gasket that compresses down to 1mm and a 2mm thick 'O' ring and make sure that the cases compress the cork correctly around that area.

[L Burke]

Ivor, on the pump gaskets, cut a variety of onion skin thickness gaskets. Thinner the better, for consistent pressure and better flow. Usually these are sold in a kit with a wide variety of thicknesses.

[Ivor]

I just saw those gaskets on Jerry G's site 2, 4 and 6 thou, because I didn't know what you meant, but the pump has been rebuilt by the engineers, so I don't know if I should trust that they have assembled it correctly and leave it,,, or can I just check the end float ?

[L Burke]

Don't know your builder, so always check ......it is a long way inside that engine.

[Ivor]

Do you know what the end float should be ?

[Ivor]

Hi L,
With the oil pump drive gear on, the same way as your showing it, I found the gear protrudes in-front of the crankshaft and other gears, but if I turn it the other way, it lines up with them. Do you know the correct way around ? The oil pump shaft has a key but is not tapered.
Thank you, Ivor.