Thanks so much HotRod, I really appreciate it!!

 

Gents, I will be offline for a couple of weeks as one of you formidable forum members is helping me with some replacement parts - a type of "pass it forward" offer for which i am supremely grateful and inspired.
Once I have this i'll move forward with the lifters and pushrods and, for those who are still curious about this saga, I will revert, hopefully with good news...so that I can close this extended thread!

 

Good luck with it and thumbs up for the one helping you with the parts. Great group over here in the evo section 👍😁😎

 

Again thanks to the outstanding member for the lifters and lifter guides (plus a few other things!).
Briefly, a couple of weeks ago I took her out for the first time and she was making serious clacking noise and had a supposed leak in the manifold/carb set upo, the plugs were black and dry with soot. So took it all apart, and found definite witness marks on the bottom end of the PR on the front exhaust PR. So figured this is what the main issue was.

I received the donated lifters etc and very carefully put it all together again, and carefully adjusted. Started her up and still some clacking/lifter/tappet/engine noise. Rather than take her out I checked the oil - didn't do this last time as did a complete oil change with filter a couple of weeks ago so figured shed be fine. I found the oil tank absolutely full, so i panicked and sucked out a load to get it down to the proper level BUT I thought this was odd so I checked the Tappet Oil Screen and as you can see form the photo, bone dry! So gentlemen, I now (or perhaps from 2 weeks ago) have an oil issue. Clearly the oil is not flowing. ****.

For information I did change the compression nut on the pump to filter pipe....so this may have gone wrong.
I put a new breather valve in the cam chest but that should be ok.
Perhaps one of the oil feeds in the tappet guide area is blocked...I did squirt air through these before putting the new guides on.
Maybe if I fix the oil issue the rest will also be fixed, maybe that was the root of the noise problem haha!

Any input on where to start checking or testing would be great....should i open the cam chest again?

Sorry guys, if you're still here, I thought this would be over by now or perhaps I should start a new thread?

 

Sounds like you will need to pull the oil pump apart.. Take the outer cover off carefully and lets have a look at the pump gears.. If you can turn the motor over by hand to see if gears turn freely. I suspect with the earlier metal you found in the motor it's possible metal went through the motor and broke the oil pump from the scavenger side.. Take a pic when you get the cover off, then one with the first 2 gears pulled then pull the rest of the pump and take a pick of the scavenge side of the pump and another of the pump shafts...

 

Thanks HotRod....silly question but should i empty the oil before going into the oil pump, these are all firsts for me and I dont want to assume anything. Thanks.

 

Did you prime the oil pump after reassembly?

 

Hi Dan, no i did not. I touched as little as possible but yes she was empty for a good 4-5 months without oil...I'm not asure how much is left in the pump etc. when she's empty. I only put some oil in the cam chest before.
How do i prime the oil pump...I'll try this before starting down more disassembly.
Thanks

 

Sitting that long it's quite possible the pump needs to be primed. This usually isn't an issue when the oil tank is above the pump, but yours is under the transmission (if I remember correctly) Remove the check ball plug. You may need to remove the oil tank vent hose for easy assess. With the plug out, remove the light spring and check ball with a magnet.

If you have a flexible spout oil can, place the tip against the opening where the ball was sitting. Slowly pump about 2 ounces of oil into it. Remember, you're pushing oil past the gears into the hose, so it will go slowly.

If you can't get the oil can nozzle to the check ball seat, you'll have to drip it in. Be patient. Fill the hole with oil and wait until it has gone down. Refill and wait again. Continue that until you have used at least about1 ounce of oil and it no longer lowers in the hole. (May take an hour to do it with cold oil) Replace the ball, spring and plug. You should get oil pressure (oil light off) within 5 seconds of starting the engine.




Oil tank vent hose, Usually in the way too much to remove the check ball plug.

 

Thanks for this and the details t150vej and Dan. Let's see if I can do this in the next couple of days....there may be some light at the end of this tunnel!! I've waited 6 months for this so patience is one thing I've learned along the way!
If this doesn't work then I'll head down HotRods idea.