GM90 Lube Oil Filtration System

[veggie]

While I had the GM90 Stripped down, I though I would add some lube oil filtration.
I chose to draw oil from the drain plug port, and use one of the two crankcase vents for oil return.
A tee can be placed on the drain connection allowing for pump feed and oil drainage.

The baffle inside my inspection cover was mangled and ill-fitting right from the factory.
A better baffle was made which will guide the incoming oil downwards towards to the sump.

A 6" pulley will be mounted on the crank before I re-install the flywheel. This will be the driver for a small gear pump which will be mounted on the generator frame.

No oil pressure sensing or shutdown is necessary because this is a passive filtration system.
If the filter pump stops working, the stock internal pump and splash lube system continue to do their job.
A pressure gauge will be mounted on the discharge of the pump to monitor the filter element condition.

The pump I am using needs some service so I have to break away from the Listeroid for a few days while I rebuild the pump.
I will post updated pictures when the system is fully assembled.

veggie

some pictures....

1] Engine - Showing the drain plug adapter to 3/8 NPT and the 4 pump mount holes in the base

2] New adapter plate baffle

3 -4 ] Filter mount

[Chris]

I don't know anything about GM90's but it looks like the filter is installed where the vent case vent would be on a Lister/Listeroid.
If I am right the set up would mess up the vent/vacume system?

Chris

[lowspeedlife]

nope, he's got a second crankcase vent on his GM90 so that should not be a problem.

    Scott

[BioHazard]

Would definately be interested in seeing some more pics of your setup. I would like to do something similar with a Briggs engine. What pump are you using exactly?

[XYZER]

nope, he's got a second crankcase vent on his GM90 so that should not be a problem.

    Scott

Don't be suprised if the other vent pukes oil........

[veggie]

Don't be surprised if the other vent pukes oil........

Hi XYZER,

Please explain ?
( The other vent is a 24" long riser tube with a 4" long wire mesh insert to knock out liquids. At the top is a one way valve. )

veggie

[XYZER]

Of course maybe it will maybe not....But I experienced extreme puking from my baffle vent on a 6/1 once after I straightened it out to look like it belonged there instead of a tin snipped beer can the Indians just slapped on. Of course I did this at the time of a rebuild with many other mods.....on my first run it began puking like a pig. I fretted I screwed up the rings and was suffering severe blow by. I went through all of the corrections I did on the rebuild and felt all was ...should be ok but got to thinking about the baffle plate. There is a lot of air with velocity going out of the breather on every stroke. Hmmmm.....I bent the baffle out to increase the CFM and reduce the velocity inside and around the baffle and walla no more puke..... I stated in an earlier post on this subject that the extra vent tube was

Maybe on the big bores they felt the crankcase breather could not handle the volume of air being forced out causing a positive preasure increasing oil weap in the seals. Adding another vent would increase the flow and reduce crankcase preasure.....? Easier to do that than cast a larger breather assembly.......Indians fix things as afterthoughts.....

....might have been added to reduce the velocity on the original breather due to the larger stroke and rpm. We have to keep the velocity down with large breather hole or the extreme velocity will carry oil with it...... So unless your breather tube is a 2" diameter you will transfer all of the CFM into a small hole breather increasing the velocity and taking oil with it.....or not....

[veggie]

Xyzer

You could be right.
On my engine there was a second larger baffle covering the normal one.
Perhaps an effort by the factory to reduce puking.
I suppose we'll find out when I fire it up.
I will report back.

Ps: You said your engine "puked like a pig". I've never seen a pig puke....but I'll bet it's not pretty.

Cheers,
Veggie

[XYZER]

Xyzer

You could be right.
Ps: You said your engine "puked like a pig". I've never seen a pig puke....but I'll bet it's not pretty.

Cheers,
Veggie

I never have either i guess......but I guess when you do a freshin up on a 6/1 and start it and it was puking about a quart in 1/2 hour it becomes a damn pig and it is puking .
In years past some guys would complain of oil blowing out the breather and eventualy making a mess, and wraping a sock around the breather to keep things clean. This engine had the slight mess factor and I used the sock also. After I discovered this trait and opened up the baffle the same engine does not drool anymore.

[Bottleveg]

I'm with Chris on this. It may work on an Indian engine, I don't know, but on a Lister it would seriously reduce the upper cylinder lubrication if the vacuum was lost.

[veggie]

I'm with Chris on this. It may work on an Indian engine, I don't know, but on a Lister it would seriously reduce the upper cylinder lubrication if the vacuum was lost.

Bottleveg,

The remaining breather has a one way valve to maintain vacuum on the crankcase.

Please explain how crankcase vacuum helps upper cylinder lubrication?

cheers,
veggie

[Bottleveg]

I've no idea about the Listeroids but on the UK Lister the breather closes once the piston has completed it's down stroke. The piston then creates a vacuum on its up stroke. The 'fog' of oil droplets created by the dipper is then drawn into this void.
This oil is then deposited on the underside of the piston, small end, rings and bore as the piston travels through the 'fog' of oil, a bit like driving a car in the rain without a windscreen. Controlled passage of air through the breather holds the oil in suspention to aid the process.
The vacuum also draws excess oil away from seals such as the main bearing.
That's my understanding of it anyway.

[billswan]

Well guys I can give my views not to sure if I know what I am talking about though.

My old 10/1 ran ok with crankcase vacuum holding the oil inside the engine but because of the use of WMO and the formation of (we will call it SPENCERS ASH ) the rings wore quickly and at about 700 hours the crankcase vacuum was over powered by the blow by and the pig started to leak all over.

Now one other observation while the vacuum helps hold oil inside the crankcase it also helps keep the oil from passing the rings. On the power stroke you have pressure from above keeping the oil pushed down but on the intake stroke you have the slight vacuum of about 2 to 3 inches of mercury, holding the oil down. I came up with that number as that is what my 16/1 develops as I have added a crankcase vacuum gauge plumbed through a vacuum check valve to stop the pulses. I break the vacuum occasionally and then reconnect and in a few seconds the gauge has climbed to the usually 3 inch mark. Was thinking that when the number dropped to 0 it would signal time for a ring replacement. Now I have to wounder if the crankcase vacuum might actually be a bad thing when it comes to running WMO as the top of the cylinder ran to dry on my old 10/1. That motor was an odd ball as it had 2 oil rings and with all of the SPENCERS ASH being formed from the WMO burning above and the 2 oil rings on the piston along with the vacuum meant to keep the oil inside the engine I believe it put a LOT of wear on the cylinder assembly. Wear caused by not enough oil getting by the rings. Did not all original Listers have only 1 oil ring and were meant to run on diesel not WMO.

But who knows here I am running another engine one with 2 oil rings and with crankcase vacuum and on WMO. Will I ever learn.............

One other comment spencer1885 reported his original 6/1 used oil but my 10/1 never used any oil?
Now it could be that if the camshaft on my 10/1 had not failed it might have started to take oil as the cylinder wear increased......

Billswan

[veggie]

*** Update ***

So the engine is mostly back together.
I replaced the stock GM90 crankcase breather tube.
I have increased the diameter of the tube by 1/4" to 3/4".
I also changed the upper check valve to a larger diameter 1"NPT  spring loaded poppet type with a very light spring.
A 3" long stainless wire mesh was inserted into the lower part of the tube to help knock out droplets.
(All in an effort to reduce liquid carryover.)

If the system works without puking like a pig (to use XYZer's analogy  ), I can modify further by routing the piping to the inlet manifold and burn the crankcase vapors.

veggie

[XYZER]

veggie,
I sure hope it breaths like a race horse! I like your link belt running your pump. I made a pully to mount on my crank like yours to run a fan on one of mine. Where did you get your belt?