This may be an appropriate thread for this posting. It goes to show that no matter having decades of experience stripping down\rebuilding suspension, gearbox, engine etc there is always something that you don`t know and can learn. (The hard way of course
) I have always stated that the best, simple thing you can do to any vehicle and not just your buggy should you want to over-winter it is to run it on the road regularly and I don`t meant just a couple of times.
Here is how I was caught out and the end result may prove to be far worse than what I am hoping for at best. I paid top money to have my engine rebuilt by a long time renowned aircooled engine guru. Say this just to make the point that I should have an engine that was as good as it could be considering it was built in 1975.
This was rebuilt about 3 years ago. Got it back and did everything right... No rotation of crankshaft until distributor was installed ensuring dog had engaged. Filled with oil and rotated by hand weekly whilst waiting to go in buggy. Light misting of oil to cylinders and spark plugs fitted in place. About 9 months go by before it gets put into buggy. Fitted, firing order, static timing checked\corrected. cranked without feed to coil and plugs out until sure had oil pressure. Then run up. Was thrilled to hear it running and after carb cleaning it came off choke and idled as smooth as I could have wished. Zero exhaust smoke even when started from cold and full winter choke setting Time goes by, a lot of it, but religously started it every couple of days and for a while now started daily to get buggy in and out of garage.
Now then.... I had thought I had been running engine sufficiently long each time to warm it through. We get to the other day and where I learn yet another lesson and maybe more very soon. However sticking to the point of this post.... Regular running during off road periods.
Started the engine up several days ago. Didn`t start instantly as it had always done. Was a little lumpy and after a minute or so there was a light knocking noise that lasted a few seconds, stopped, re-appeared at which point I shut it off. Checked spark plugs. Checked coil, distrubutor etc and thank goodness decided to remove the rocker covers the next morning. Knew I had an issue the moment I got down to undo rocker cover clip. Stunk of petrol down there. Pulled out dipstick and the oil, classic stuff, that had remained a clear green since putting it in was miltary green and runny. Level indication higher than it should be. Heart sunk. Off came the rocker cover and the oil all runny. BUT.... cylinder number 1... pushrod not under rocker arm. Was to side and rocker arm free to mover on arm.
Sump drain opened and drained out oil\petrol mix. A lot of petrol in the sump. I am assuming I have no piston ring problem as no smoke from the cannon. Pulled out the pushrod and it wasn`t bent in the way I have seen before. Held rod up to light with straight edge along it`s length and it bows slightly. A 1mm gap at middle of bow. Cannot re-install this rod just in case it becomes a problem. Waiting for a replacement from Farmer Rob. How the rod was able to come adrift is a question. The rocker arm adjuster nut and screw are still tightly locked. Have not moved. There is no play in the rocker to shaft area. There is no obvious damage except for a little impact on the push rod. So it`s certain the knocking was this rod being displaced. What of the petrol in the oil though? Talking to Rob it`s hopefully probable that this occured as a result of the high ethanol petrol eating through the fuel pump diaphragm allowing petrol down into the crankcase.
Going to take a gamble.... New pump on order. Rocker pushrod from Rob. Pushrod will go back in after checking cylinder head nut torque. Rocker shaft re-torque. All Rocker gaps checked\reset. Flush with new oil cranking engine without firing. Drain and fresh oil and start up.
Right... Coming to the origiinal point...
... The No 1 exhaust valve spring is fairly rusty. (These were brand new), The inlet valve has rust but not very much. They and the other springs are dry. The nearside set are all misty\oily as per normal. (This may be a separate issue that I don`t want to think further of yet). The inside of both rockers were oily but there was water pooling both covers. Was oil in both so hopefully I have oil feed to both sides). This is my point..... if your buggy is going to be off road over winter or otherwise run the engine up regularly but run it for a while to ensure engine is thoroughly warmed through. This will minimise condensation and emulsification of oil.
New engine.... Don`t rotate engine without the distributor in place. If you do you run the chance of locking the crankshaft completely. I have seen this happen. Make sure your engine is timed statically correctly to relevent piston. Check plug leads are correctly connected to the relevent cylinder. Crank the engine over with oil in it to be sure pressure develops and red light goes out. Make sure carb is set up properly and double check rocker gaps no later than 500 miles on. If you have any money to spare after this I could use some
Topic: New engine questions (loads of questions) (Read 1250 times)
