Oil Pressure Relief Valve ?? Far AS I Can Tell, Real Stumper

[Caldy]

Hi All,
I Just completely rebuilt the engine of a '95 Carryall 1 with an FE290.
What I've run into is there is a bit of ticking from down around the camshaft\tappet area.
Seems to me to be more than normal.
Everything specs good. I mic'd everything to check all relevant measurements prior to boring & re-assembly.
I pulled the oil pump side back apart to check that the cam had properly seated into the oil pump & have a question regarding the oil pressure relief valve, that I've not been able to find anywhere.
Pump & valve parts are all new CC.
With the spring, ball & cup assembled in place, the ball sits back in 4mm away from the cup.
This doesn't seem normal to me.
I was a Rice Burner MC mechanic & every1 that I can remember of a similar design had the ball perched right against the cup.
Being as this is a Kawasaki engine, I figure it should be similar.
I've tried everywhere & cannot find an answer for this.
I'd like to get this back together asap, so hopefully there's someone out there with knowledge of whether this should be seated or have a 4mm gap like it has now.
My thinking is, it's possible if the relief valve is allowing to much oil by it, quite possibly the tappets aren't getting the proper pressure to be oiled properly & thus the ticking I'm hearing.
Any help is surely appreciated.
Thanks a bunch, Caldy.

[lockman1]

Welcome to BGW Caldy!

Here's a full engine service manual: page 3-49 should answer your question!

[Caldy]

Thanks for the welcome & the manual download lockman1.
I have a manual & all parts are there & in spec, being they are all brand new CC parts.
I also have measured everything just to be safe.
My question is, does any1 know for sure if the ball should be seated in the cup or sitting back 4mm away from it.
I've never see n 1 loose like that.
Not sure if it's by design or something else wrong with it as to why its not seated against the cup.
The clicking noise I'm hearing is louder than all the CC FE290's I've monkeyed with.
My thinking is if the pressure relief valve is supposed to be seated & is not,
it may not be putting enough pressure through the passages to the tappets\camshaft & possibly the crank.
Without knowing the relief valves absolute position for sure, I'm left wondering.
My manual shows it seated in the illustration.
Confusing. That's why my thinking of this problem.
I hate to pull the motor & tear it all down again if it's something like that & I don't want to take the chance that something is not quite right.
I had to buy a complete new head & many other parts because it had quit oiling, to the tune of somewhere around $750. just in parts.
Anyway, that's my thinking & I can not find this info anywhere at all.
I've talked to 4-5 cart mechanics & none of them have ever paid attention as to how it seats.
Being as all parts related to that are new, except the case where it all seats, you would think you just put it in & it's supposed to have a 4mm gap between the ball & seat.
Being as I've never seen 1 not seated against the seat, I'd just like to know for sure.
Thanks again for your response & the manual.
At least now I have it saved in the computer in case I need it while some1 borrows it, Caldy.

[lockman1]

Just by looking and reading about it... I'm thinking the ball should be against the seat with some sort of spring pressure,
I've never had one apart, but common sense tells me that it should be seated, and not just flopping around.

I wish I could help more!

[Caldy]

My thoughts exactly, lockman1.
It looks to me like the picture shows it closed against the seat.
That's the only thing I have to go by.
Can't find the dimension of the bore or the depth of the passage where the spring, ball & seat sit.
It doesn't look like anything wrong with case or anything in that area at all.
I don't understand how everything measures out, but there's a gap like that.
I'm thinking there has to be a problem there & that's what is definitely causing the ticking.
Just seems to make sense to me.
Somewhere someone has to know for sure.
I'm gonna start tearing it apart & maybe someone will know for sure or I'll figure something out.
Once I do I'll be sure to post what's up.
One day, maybe someone will run into the same situation(odd as it is) & want to know the answer for sure.
Thanks again lockman1, Caldy.

[Tom T]

Resurrecting an old one here...
I have the same problem - no oil pressure. The relief valve is open/not seated. I can't believe this is the way it should be. New seat, ball, and spring is the same.
Any ideas?????
Thanks

[DOOmsman]

Have you checked the spring length?
Service Limit: 19.0 mm (0.75 in)

[Tom T]

Thanks for the reply. I'll take any input at this point.
Yes, old spring was longer than 19mm and the new spring is, maybe, a wee bit longer than the old one - both are short about that same 4 mm of Caldy's old post.
Like the old post, the only thing I can fathom is that the spring hole/relief passage to the crankcase was bored too deep in the beginning and thus the spring is too short. There's really not much else it could be - its not rocket science.

This cart came to me with a obvious long-term severe crankcase cover oil leak, no oil on the dipstick, and a worn-out valve train resulting from lack of oil. I replaced the head and valve train, replaced the cover gasket - and thought all would be good.

I thought this was all from the oil leak, but I guess it's fathomable that this cart could run in it's relatively short spurts for 21 years with little or no oil pressure.

[Percher]

I know this thread has gotten old but I found the same problem and wanted to keep it alive since more people are bound to be looking for an answer to the the oil pressure relief valve spring problems with Club Car gas engines. Mine is a 350. I think a Sticky needs to be posted since this is important when the engine is out and I believe a lot of engines are out there with this problem, PLUS the repair manual seems incorrect. Either the spring will have to be stretched, some shimming with washers or something will need to be done. I didn't find this after pulling the motor to replace the rings due to low compression. I did have enough fore site to spin the motor over with the starter with the oil filter off long enough to notice it was not filling very quickly. (In fact it was filling, but seemed slow but this had nothing to do with the non functioning OPRV.) Once the oil leaves the filter it can either go to the bypass or the engine. The crankshaft is low so it may get a little oil but not high pressure,, however hydraulic lifters are a lot higher than the Oil pressure relief valve so I imagine they do not work well without more oil pressure. The spec in the repair manual is obviously wrong and I believe the internal bore where the spring sits can't be any shallower since that would not allow an opening back to the crankcase to return the oil. I do think these engines run at low RPM and could last several years this way and I suspect many are doing so for much longer. Mine, a Carry-all, had run for many years with no or very low pressure. I'll update how I correct the problem next time get out there in the shop but I WILL have some pressure on the Ball when I put it back together. Too much pressure will not hurt in this case but low pressure is deadly. Maybe a 1/4 nut, two or three small washers or something.....Don

Tags,,, Low oil pressure, OPRV, FE 350 pressure relief valve, Low spring pressure, oil pressure relief valve. oil pressure relief valve spring too short, FE 290 Oil pressure relief valve.