RE5 owners - Lesson learned- loss of oil pump pressure

[deadmeat]

When I was riding my RE5 last week I heard some pre-ignition at heavy throttle loads so I thought it would be best to check the points and timing. Since I suffer from "mightaswellitis", I took the distributor point mounting plate off, removed the rust & replated before reassembling. I also removed the distributor hold down screws and put them on the buffer. After putting it back together, setting the points and the timing light, I started the bike. The “NO” oil pressure light blared from the tach! What! I pulled the distributor cover off and verified the shaft rotated. I borrowed my neighbor’s oil pressure tester that screws on the oil filter adapter and spun the motor. Zero oil pressure. I was devastated. I contacted Jess Stockwell and he led me through how the oil pump works on that bike and steps to check. Although the point shaft spins, the oil pump is driven off of that shaft by gears & connected by a shear pin, which I feared I had somehow snapped. Another area of concern is the O-ring behind the distributor housing that if torn or not sealing will drain oil from the pump assembly and loose prime in the pump. Failure of either of these items means a teardown of the clutch cover side of the motor. The test was applying oil liberally behind the distributor housing and then tightening the housing. I also put a bottle of 20-50 with a spout up the oil filter stand pipe and gave it a good squeeze. This will identify if you have a loss of prime in the pump or more serious issues. With the oil filter off, I hit the starter and was rewarded with copious amounts of oil. So lessen learned is that if you decide to go through the distributor housing and remove bolts, prior to reassembly apply clean oil around the distributor housing mating surfaces to coat the O-ring.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Thanks for that bit of info Pete, very useful and good info for the RE5 owners. I have to go into the oil pump on mine for some work soon so ill save your post for reference.

[deadmeat]

If you have to break it down that far, also check that the primary chain, tensioner, & spring is servicable as well as the starter sprag clutch.