...and after doing the work, fit an oil filter to the return line; that way only "clean" oil will go to the valves and the oil tank. Maybe that'll negate the need to clean it again or, at least, for a long, long time.

Just a thought: Jim

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Jim Ballard

The older I get, the faster I was....until lately!! (Speed IS the fountain of youth)!

Get some extra strong neodymium-iron-boron magnets and stick them around in fun places....a couple on the back of the oil tank, one on the crank drain plug, one on the primary drain plug, oil filter housing, places like that. I got a couple dozen of the 3/8" diameter disc magnets and have them festooned all over. Couldn't hoit.

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Triumph old, Triumph new, any Triumph will do.

So how worried should I be about my 67 T100S' sludge trap? We don't know how many miles are on it, though the odometer that came with it, which wasn't even hooked up, had over 30k miles on it.

I just hate to be riding around a ticking time bomb. The bike seems to be running extremely well, having just put on about 250 trouble free miles...

They always run best right before they blow up!

hee hee

You should do a little investigation into previous owners and find out if it's ever been serviced.

30K is awfully high, even if it got regular oil changes. Remember, these things don't have oil filters, so what gets past the sump screen is tiny stuff; perfect for clogging a sludge trap where the heat is pretty intense and performs "molding" service on the grunt.

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GrandPaulZ
Author of "Old Bikes"
Born Again Bikes
My Photos

Quote:

On 2007-03-27 08:38, GrandPaulZ wrote: They always run best right before they blow up! hee hee I believe there is some truth in that 30K is awfully high, even if it got regular oil changes. Remember, these things don't have oil filters, so what gets past the sump screen is tiny stuff; perfect for clogging a sludge trap where the heat is pretty intense and performs "molding" service on the grunt.

My own t100 did over 50k miles with nary a problem. butthat was mostly long distance (434 miles each way) rides of me going home for teh weekends.

Today I came across this and here seems as good aplace as any to put it.
http://www.svmgcc.org/tech_tips/oil_is_killing.htm
and
http://www.sae.org/technical/papers/2005-32-0088
also
http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html
Probably worth a read.
Neiher mentioned that sg (only) rated 20/50 oils are exempt from having minimum zinc levels, so I suggest you use these.

[ This message was edited by: panda on 2007-04-01 13:23 ]

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A wise man learns from his mistakes..
A genius learns from other peoples mistakes.

I have a question. Can the sludge trap be done away with altogether? I would not like to have to take apart the entire engine, remove and replace all the bushings and bearings (false economy not to), take a chance on buggering the cases or something else, every 30K, which is like every three years, just to clean a filter. Especially since now I have an external oil filter.

If it has to be done it has to be done, but what do you think? Can it just be removed, and its function replaced by good quality oil and an external filter?

What was its orginal design function? A filter of last resort? For oils that were filled with wax, and metal particles from break in?

If you go to an external filter, and clean the sludge trap or verify that is was very recently cleaned, I see no reason why it should have to be serviced again until the next overhaul.

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GrandPaulZ
Author of "Old Bikes"
Born Again Bikes
My Photos

To remove a sludge trap, do everything that they all tell you: split cases , remove crank etc.

Remove flywheel bolt that locates the trap.
Drill the centrepunch mark out.
Use a big blade impact driver and remove the bung, if it is hard do this, stick the crank in the oven and worm it through at say 50' C and try again [wear gloves], usually this will soften the bung's grip.

Use a big bolt that has been modified with an angle grinder [taper the thread and cut three or four flutes in it so it looks a bit like a big thread tap].
Put the bolt into the sludge trap hollow and pretend to tighten the bolt into the hole. The bolt will work into the trap and after two or three turns will tighten onto the sludge traps walls and the trap will begin to spin in the crank.
Keep the bolt and sludge trap spinning and apply upward pressure, the sludge trap will spin out of the crank.
This method doesn't harm the sludge trap and it can be used again and again.
If the sludge trap is at all stubborn [and using this method I've never had one that was] put it back in the oven and warm it up again.
They tell me that putting the crank in a bucket of boiling hot water will do pretty much the same thing, but I've never used it. The oven with a good tray under it to catch any melting oil is all you need. If the better half complains about the smell of burning oil in her beautiful oven, wait til she goes shopping.

:-D

[ This message was edited by: tridentt150v on 2007-04-27 05:17 ]

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tridentt150v,
Great Southern Land.
(Where women blow and men chunder).

I have wondered the same thing, removing the trap altogether in a rebuild that will have an external filter...
here are some pics of a trap being removed:
http://triumphchoppers.com/gallery/album41
and if you haven't seen some of the stuff that's in there:
http://www.ironcross.net/sludge%20trap.htm
Mine was full of a hardened cake that resembled jbweld
-Ben

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01 Bonneville, 56 Thunderbird, 68 TR6, 71 reversed head Bonnie (chopped), 79 HD Shovel, 67 MW Benelli 350 single, 46 BSA C11 plus many piles and projects.

http://www.bendavanza.com

If you're running synthetic oil and air filters, you won't be sucking in or generating much of the junk which would otherwise be lodging in the sludge trap. So, I would clean it and reinstall it. You won't have to worry about it for decades and it will be there to keep that last bit of crud from reaching the bearings. The only problem with the sludge trap is clogging, and if you aren't making much stuff to clog it and the oil filter is catching most of THAT, then there is no reason to worry about the trap.

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Triumph old, Triumph new, any Triumph will do.