[size=12]This was posted on Boxerworks. The guy lost his bottom end to this spring breaking. It was first noticed by his oil pressure light staying on for up to 10 seconds when starting. [/size]
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Recognize these airhead parts?[/size]

[size=12]
How many of you guys have ever seen these parts?
These three parts form the oil filter bypass mechanism in an 81 RS.
These are critical components that would be checked rarely imo.
A visual check for the functionality of these parts is inadequate imo as my ball looked to be in place, yet the spring was broken.
Using a small artists brush or similar, poke the end of the brush through the middle of the retaining cap and lightly press on the ball.
A movement of only 2mm will inform you of whether the ball is spring loaded or not.
I retrieved about 4 full coils of spring (in 3 pieces) from the oil filter cavity and about half a coil from the oil slot in the rear main bearing.
It would appear that only a small piece of spring made it into the rear main bearing, as there are only about 5 full coils on a new spring.
If the spring is broken on a motor, the pieces may never enter the oil circuit, however an amount of oil flow would be bypassing the filter.
[/size]Lord of the Bings
Fear not on my R100RS
[size=12]The above was from his most recent posting:
Recognise these airhead parts?There are several threads comprising the subject, I will try to get the important parts.
Initial thread.
Just recently this thread was started:
The $2000 spring (preventative maintenance - yes or no?)[/size]