milkshake from left side breather tube Cali 1100

[guzzista]

In the quest to find out why I had ferrous  tiny chunks on the oil drain plug magnet on my Cali, I took off both valve covers. The right side looks good with no deposits. The left, however shows some milk shake like emulsification, just about where the  vent rubber tube starts and the goes to the frame breather. Also found another ferrous chip while wiping down the milk shake. What gives? and how do the ferrous bits ( assuming they are  chunks from the frame engine breathing system) find their way back into the crank case? Puzzling to say the least.   Any comments from square head bike  owners who may have noticed something similar?

[Sasquatch Jim]

  The milkshake is from water mixing with non dinosaur oil. The chips are from wear caused by insufficient
 lubrication due to milkshake in the oil.  Sorry but those are the facts.

[rodekyll]

Depending on the ferocity of the chips they could be simply be crap caught in the frame tubes from fabrication, sloshing their way through to the sump like they're in a pachinko ride in a water park full of stinky milkshake.  Glue a magnet to the vent area and see if you can catch the buggers.

There aren't a lot of friction points in the valve cover area and they're all easy to check.  You won't be pumping "chunks" upward.  You'll be raining them down.  So if you can't find a rocker pin grinding itself down or a valve stem end shattering, the stuff almost has to be coming from the vent.

The problem with the mayo in that vent system design is that once it builds up into the frame you can't ride it hot enough to clear it out.  It's like arterial plaque in there, trapping more as it builds up.  And it keeps oozing down the vent tubes, plugging them and holding moisture in the valve cover.  So the mayo recurs, and the oozing milkshake carries chunks with it.  I think it happens more on the left than the right because the vent is on the low side when the bike is at rest, so the stuff wants to trickle down that hose.


I don't know how to clear it in situ.  I do it when the frame is bare.


Alternatively, what Jim said -- you're screwed.  I'll bid the carcass by the pound.

[guzzista]

Thanks for the sobering news, Jim. Milkshake has been on my diet for 30+ years, and save a couple personal incidents( mostly on my MG's as in MGB) they have been customer vehicles in need of head gaskets or worse, engines. This time I have to go with RK, as no evidence of engine wear has been found (top end clean, cam lobes and tappets good, rod bearings fine  , etc).  As this bike sat for a long time  as a low mileage unit ( less than 7k when I got it a  few years ago), the fact that the ferrous bits are all black , all lead to the conclusion that moisture inside the frame is the generous benefactor of the crusty rusty bits going back into the crank case.  As I have been contemplating the  use of my de-rusted and finished  T tank for a bit more gas capacity, removing the frame breather system  and going back to older Tonti crank case ventilation is on the agenda .

[Sasquatch Jim]

  The problem is the milkshake blocks oil passages and slows the flow, sometimes stopping it in return passages where there is no pressure.

[Idontwantapickle]

Thanks for the sobering news, Jim. Milkshake has been on my diet for 30+ years, and save a couple personal incidents( mostly on my MG's as in MGB) they have been customer vehicles in need of head gaskets or worse, engines. This time I have to go with RK, as no evidence of engine wear has been found (top end clean, cam lobes and tappets good, rod bearings fine  , etc).  As this bike sat for a long time  as a low mileage unit ( less than 7k when I got it a  few years ago), the fact that the ferrous bits are all black , all lead to the conclusion that moisture inside the frame is the generous benefactor of the crusty rusty bits going back into the crank case.  As I have been contemplating the  use of my de-rusted and finished  T tank for a bit more gas capacity, removing the frame breather system  and going back to older Tonti crank case ventilation is on the agenda .

The problem is solvable without too much heartache. Disconnect the breather from the engine and flush it with solvent both forwards and backwards. And check the check valve for operation as well.
Once you get the funk out of it it will behave itself pretty well. Some oils are better than others for this problem but let's not start an oil thread! 
Synthetic would be good I'd bet.
Hunter

[guzzista]

As I had the oil pan off to change the OF, and the Valve covers off to check adjustment,  I ran some brake cleaner down the vent rubber lines , followed by a bit of air pressure. covering the opposite side  vent at the top of each cylinder head with a rag, managed to blow  out  quite a bit of mayo as well as catch a few more bits of rusty shrapnel by placing magnets by the vent outlets. Next , IDWAP's suggestion is the next step ( thanks, Hunter) and hopefully by next month the milkshake/mayo, should subside. As per the earlier Breather system, its still on the to do list. Cheers

[Wayne Orwig]

The chips are from wear caused by insufficient lubrication due to milkshake in the oil.  Sorry but those are the facts.

It is rust from the frame, not wear.

Engine blowby has a lot of moisture. It ends up being blown into the frame where all of the motor vent lines go. The rust chunks end up in the oil.

Same thing happens no matter what oil you use, corn oil, yak fat, whatever. You are still generating moisture from the combustion process. Getting everything hot is the best way to prevent the condensation.

[guzzista]

Finally the battle of the mayo may have  been won. Removing the large breather  hose from the top of the engine revealed a rusty stuck check ball valve as well as the hose itself jam packed with mayo. After undoing the heads  breather hoses I sprayed ZEP Blitz degreaser in all the hoses and drained all into a plastic bottle while using compressed air  to blast through.. After several attempts the degreaser came out clean as well as  a bunch of rusty bits got  flushed into the bottle. A new check ball valve went back into place and every got fastened back up.Moral of the story: If you have a bike with a check ball valve in your engine breather that sat unused , it may be a good idea to check if it rusted / stuck closed. Thanks all for the suggestions  and answers

[rodekyll]