Oil sump mesh on V11 Sport

[Guest Tam]

My 2001 V11 Sport reached 1k miles last weekend. I ran up to Munroe Motors on Saturday to get the relays and tachometer warrantied and to pick up some parts. I bought an oil sump gasket, specifically requesting the lower gasket for the V11 Sport. When I got home (about 50 miles away), it turned out that they gave me the upper gasket, not the lower one. I called them back and they said that their microfiche only list the one gasket that they gave me. Then they had me talk to one of their mechanics. He told me that they only cleaned out the mesh on the Californias since they had to drop the sump to replace the oil filter and it was not done on V11Sports. The magnetic drain plug picks up anything metallic in the oil so it wasn't necessary. I asked him if they ever do it on V11 Sports and he said that they haven't had a V11 Sport for service past the 6k mile mark. He also said that MG had probably just reprinted from the California owner's manual for the V11 sport.

 

I found a V11 Sport shop manual online. It lists the same maintenance schedule as it does in the manual which requires cleaning the mesh at 1k miles and every 6k miles after that. In the instructions for cleaning the mesh out, it says to clean it at 1k miles and then every 18k miles after that. Now I'm starting to believe the mechanic at Munroe.

 

For the 1k miles, I changed the engine, gearbox, and rear drive oil, changed the oil filter, adjusted the valves, and synched the throttle bodies. Do you think I should go back in and clean the mesh out soon or is Munroe right on this one?

 

Tam

[callison]

The magnetic drain plug may catch ferrous materials, but it certainly won't catch aluminum shavings or anything else that is non-magnetic. That said, I've NEVER seen very much on the screen except at the first interval and that not enough to affect oil scavenging (although it was detritus that the magnet should have caught, but didn't). I would have cleaned it simply because I have more trouble getting the filter loose in that hole than in removing the pan and have wound up removing the pan for the last five oil changes as a result. If it bothers you, either go the whole route and drain the oil and clean the filter (genuine piece of mind) or put on another 3000 miles and then change it and get some mileage out of the fresh oil before tossing it.

[taminatorv]

Thanks for the advice Carl. It's good hear that you didn't really find much on that mesh. What bothers me most is that there's not a real definitive answer from the dealer or from the manuals and I was hoping someone know for sure. I'll go 3k miles on the oil before dropping the sump and cleaning the mesh.

 

Tam

[jtucker]

I've never found anything significant on the screen either. I've got about 18K miles right now.

[belfastguzzi]

It seems a bit mad to me that a mechanic won't drop the sump to clean it out at an early service, more so because it is so easy.

 

I have just done mine for the 600 mile service. Although I had drained the oil a couple of times, there was a significant amount of emulsion in the pan, which I would rather clean out than leave in to be recirculated. There were also black 'bits', possibly paint. I was disappointed with the mesh oil strainer. The Manual describes it as a wire mesh but in fact it is a flimsy plastic. The plastic cage base diameter is 'too big' for the groove in the sump pan. It has to be squashed in, with the result that it very easily pops out again. If it pops out then it isn't going to work too well. There also isn't exactly a perfect seal between the strainer top hole and the oil tube that goes into it. The plastic base on my strainer was quite out of shape, making me think that perhaps it had not all been seated in the groove properly. That's one reason to check the strainer at the first service.

 

The strainer has to be positioned in the correct realtion to the oil tube that fits into it when the sump is offered up. Because there is no means of correctly orientating the circular strainer in its seat, beyond a best guess position, it can easily be popped out of its seat by the offset tube when the sump is lifted up into position.

 

Something else I saw was that the bottom of the oil tube was broken. It looks like there should be 4 castellations on the end. Mine had 3 and a jagged edge. I presume that this damage was done at the factory. But imagine if that broken bit of aluminium ended up in the sump.

 

For these reasons it seems better to me to take the sump off and check all this. Seems to be another example of why doing your own servicing is the most satisfactory, reassuring option.

 

**Did older bikes have metal and wire mesh strainers and if so, are they more robust, a better fit and still available?

[Baldini]

 

**Did older bikes have metal and wire mesh strainers and if so, are they more robust, a better fit and still available?

LM11 & T3 both have plastic strainer, don't know about others...

[belfastguzzi]

It's probably just a misleading translation in the manual. I guess there are no "wire mesh" filters.

 

But on the subject of manual instructions, what is it talking about when it says to look for a 'notch' in the flywheel when setting the pistons to T.D.C.? I couldn't see what that would be, on the 2002 flywheel, when doing the tappets.

 

[i think it's a notch: I don't have the manual in front of me.]