Oil pressure on my Pan

[1949pan]

Description: Whats good and what is considered time to shut down

I have a question about oil pressure for my pan. Whats good and what is considered time to shut down. I get about 45 LBS when I first start up. As the motor warms up it slowly gets lower until it settles in at about 8 LBS going down the highway and 0 LBS at idle. I am running Harley 60W . The motor does not seem to get hot and it runs fine idles fine no smoke etc. Any thoughts??
1949pan

[59pan]

the pressure drop that you describe is a common problem among us. after the motor warms up there are lots of places that can bleed down the pressure. mine turned out to be in the pump itself. the worn cast iron pump body was bleeding off pressure through the drive shaft boss. an s&s pump fixed the problem. My advice is that if the oil light is not coming on then you are ok. there have been lots of posts here with guys that have ridden for long periods with flickering warning lights with no adverse effects. in retrospect, i probably wouldn't bother replaceing the pump and would take off the gauge! good luck.

[panomania]

sounds normal. mine with an s&s pump didnt raise pressure much. now instead of 0 pressure with a guage it idles with about 2 pounds. and i agree put a light on it. it your pump goes bad, the light will stay on at any rpm.

good luck and welcome to the board, pano

[Jack_Hester]

Good discussion in just a brief few posts. I forget the ratio of the pump drive for the Pans. Maybe this will inspire me to document them. My point is: I've recommended over the years for people to go to a little extra trouble, rather than expense. Pick two new gears, along with a new snap ring for the oil pump drive shaft. These are the oil pump drive gears, one on the pinion shaft, and the other on the pump drive shaft. There are ratios of these gears available, to increase the speed of your oil pump, for a normal engine speed. The stock Pan pump is capable of more volume. Just bump it's speed up. The common mistake is to stretch the regulator valve spring. Does not fix the drop in pressure at idle speeds. So, just pick up a set (don't forget the snap ring) and install them when opportunity or desire presents itself. Far cheaper than a new S&S pump. And, it will take care of the void that wear has created. It doesn't hurt to prolong that overhaul, if the engine has been well maintained during the long miles. Set the regulator back to it's normal setting, if you have to install a new spring. Chuck the stretched one. The Harley engineers knew what they were doing when they designed it to run at that pressure. With the increased volume, it will dump the excess pressure/oil as it should.

Jack

[VintageTwin]

Iron pump. Yep. Worn shaft body bore. Changing the feed and return gears is a new twist to me. Sounds good. 2 psi of oil when hot is normal. Top end (rockers) would be the starving Marvins, but if you blew Coca-Cola at 2 psi out of your mouth, you'd see that it's sufficient pressure. Snapping the throttle off at speed like the manual says, would pull oil to the top end. Not necessary with the S&S pump that pumps plenty oil alla' time. Where I see righteous and courageous-ness as yet untapped.....is in V-Twins Replica cast iron pump (VT 12-9931). Anything that V-Twin says is "Replica" is. I don't need a pump. I would like one, but I'm S&S-ed, and can't afford to buy one just to wear test like I would like to do...so....if someone wants to buy an oil pump from them, I will order one and sell it to you at cost. Send me 300 bucks. That will get one to you with two rule conditions...you have to install the pump and free-spin it. If you don't know how to free-spin the pump, you have to have your shop email me or call me and recite to me the free-spin procedure. Once I know the pumps is going to a qualified mechanic, I will order one for you. And, you have to report back to us on the gear "finish" and the oil pumps'performance. My printed price on the pump is under 300 bucks. I will charge you more if they charge me more on ordering day. Agreed?

[visitor]

Yeah, V-Twin replicas are a poor attempt to copy the real deal. Fact is they don't fit right, lots of these ill-fitting parts have to be sent back. If you're lucky they may take it back.
Save your self some headaches & avoid the V-twin nightmare.

[VintageTwin]

Sad to hear. Would you please construct a laundry list of exact problems with the '50-67 Replica oil pump (12-9931)? We need to know every single thing. Please do not leave anything out. We thank you.

[OldHippie]

So I've had my oil pressure woes, as well. That damn dash light was glaring at me, and I was sore afraid. Between this board and the local Harley shop, I figured out what questions to ask and asked them. In true Seattle metaphor, the local shop asked: "When you look in your oil tank, does it look like a mocha?" (Translation: is it dark and foamy?) All good.
I finally ordered a pressure gauge from J&P, and it shows that I do actually have oil pressure. ;D Also, as most have reported, it drops a lot after the bike warms up, but it never really goes to zero. I'm feeling better about life.
Numbers: it's about 40PSI on cold start-up. It drops to around 8PSI at idle after the bike is warm. However, yesterday I was on a relatively straight, empty stretch of road and looked down at the gauge: I had about 20PSI. I'll take it.
Oh, and the damn dash light never did go out, even after I disconnected the pressure switch and taped up the end of the wire. Next job: pull the bulb.

[VintageTwin]

I said 2 psi earlier. What I meant was zero oil pressure. Go ahead and drive it like it is. "Visitor" dropped a lug about V-Twins oil pump, but with no specific reasons as to what exactly was wrong with the pump......so I guess I'll have to buy one myself and figure it out. The H-D dealer told me this: "The best way to not worry about running zero oil pressure when it's hot, is to take that oil pressure guage off the motor, or put a piece of duct tape over the dial face."

[Sidecar]

Yeah, V-Twin replicas are a poor attempt to copy the real deal. Fact is they don't fit right, lots of these ill-fitting parts have to be sent back. If you're lucky they may take it back.
Save your self some headaches & avoid the V-twin nightmare.

Sound like another fan of V-Twin.
At least I know I'm not the only one.