Oil pump??

[Metalefty]

So a couple of months ago I started a thread about a shifting problem and it turned out the scorpion spring was the fix. Well, I've been busy lately and wanted to post this a long time ago. Since I had my clutch basket out, I had gone for one ride and everything seemed normal, then a week later I told myself I wasn't riding until I changed my oil, when draining the old oil hardly anything came out of the crankcase and the normal amount came out of the frame drain. I thought it was odd and was pretty sure the level was correct last time I rode. When I went to add new oil to the frame the oil over flowed out of the dipstick hole which it has never done before. It wouldn't go down so I drained it from the frame drain to the normal level thinking I had done something wrong. I started the bike to get it circulated and checked it again, right in the range. A few hours later I'm riding, a couple of miles into the ride the engine seemed to lock up, I skidded to the side of the trail and noticed my radiator recovery tank was nearly full and some rad fluid spitting out of the overflow tube. I gave it a slow kick just to see if the engine would turn and it did, so I hit the starter and it fired right up, so I took off. A few miles later, it seemed to lock up again but it fired right up when I came to a stop. At this point I figured I should get back to the truck but as I started back the engine started making noises like it was low on oil, you know, like piston squeaky noises and some ticking. About half way back it stalled and I couldn't get it started for about 20 minutes, then it finally started and I made it back to the truck, noises and all...
My question now is, when I installed my scorpion spring and installed my clutch basket, is there something behind the clutch basket that could have been affected? Is the oil pump back there? If the oil pump is faulty, would it cause the oil to not go from the frame to the crankcase? Something didn't seem quite right when I was tightening the basket nut, but I couldn't find anything wrong, so I kept going.
My other question is, could a relay be going bad causing the random stalling? I've never had to change one.
Your replies are greatly appreciated.

[BIG TOOL]

What it sounds like to me is a serious case of "oops I didn't add enough oil to my dry sump engine" With a dry sump type engine, the oil has a very specific way it needs to be checked... but in short, the engine needs to be run for a couple of minutes to circulate the oil through the engine, then with the engine stopped for a bit, the oil level can be properly checked.
Did you happen to measure how much oil you used to re-fill the bike after you had it apart? I would think that you only got about a quart back in before it overflowed... (not enough...) The oil pump is behind the filter assembly, so chances are that you didn't do anything wrong when you had it apart. But, it does sound like you hurt the engine pretty bad. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck with it!

[bergerhag]

Ohh, that sounds bad..

I have not had the need to tear down my engine yet, so I am not an authority in these issues. I suggest you retrace your efforts using the workshop manual http://www.gasgas.es/rcs/manuales/pd..._fse05_eng.zip
to find out if you might have done something to obstruct oil flow. Does your '05 have an oil pressure warning light?

Looking in detail in the workshop manual (p 28-) one can see that the oil pressure pump is driven by an intermediate gear from the clutch basket. If your clutch basket gear did not properly align with the intermediate gear, you most likely damaged/bent the intermediate gear or the shaft for the same when you installed your clutch. That would lead to poor oil pump drive and eventually lead to the problems you've just described.
Hope it's not too bad, but by the details of your description it sounds expensive...

[Metalefty]

Originally Posted by BIG TOOL

What it sounds like to me is a serious case of "oops I didn't add enough oil to my dry sump engine" With a dry sump type engine, the oil has a very specific way it needs to be checked... but in short, the engine needs to be run for a couple of minutes to circulate the oil through the engine, then with the engine stopped for a bit, the oil level can be properly checked.
Did you happen to measure how much oil you used to re-fill the bike after you had it apart? I would think that you only got about a quart back in before it overflowed... (not enough...) The oil pump is behind the filter assembly, so chances are that you didn't do anything wrong when you had it apart. But, it does sound like you hurt the engine pretty bad. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck with it!

Ay BIG TOOL, I was just trying to keep the story short, I do know the procedure for checking the oil. I've been checking and changing it for over 3 years. I did start the engine when I got the oil down in the frame after the overflow, it still didn't go down, which is why I thought it was at the right level. I guess if the pump isn't spinning, then the oil in the frame will just stay where it is. I still think I did something wrong when I had it apart.

[Metalefty]

Originally Posted by bergerhag

Ohh, that sounds bad..

I have not had the need to tear down my engine yet, so I am not an authority in these issues. I suggest you retrace your efforts using the workshop manual http://www.gasgas.es/rcs/manuales/pd..._fse05_eng.zip
to find out if you might have done something to obstruct oil flow. Does your '05 have an oil pressure warning light?

Looking in detail in the workshop manual (p 28-) one can see that the oil pressure pump is driven by an intermediate gear from the clutch basket. If your clutch basket gear did not properly align with the intermediate gear, you most likely damaged/bent the intermediate gear or the shaft for the same when you installed your clutch. That would lead to poor oil pump drive and eventually lead to the problems you've just described.
Hope it's not too bad, but by the details of your description it sounds expensive...

Yes, it does have an oil light and it did come on, but not until I was well into my ride, I forgot to mention this before.

So the oil pump IS driven off a gear from the clutch basket, I guess I don't understand what went wrong. I simply set the basket on the shaft, nothing funny there, then installed the nut, it seemed nit picky at the time, but I could have sworn that the basket wasn't down all the way. I figured when I got my clutch all together that if it rubbed on the clutch cover that something is wrong. When it was all complete, the cover went on and the basket didn't seem to high any more. Besides, I rode it a full day and it ran perfectly.
I'll take the clutch out again and see if anything is wrong when I get the time, hopefully soon.
Thanks guys...