Leaking carb, sticking valves and spring is coming!
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:00 pm
Hi guys, I am currently working on my 1948 cub that has been handed down to me. It was restored to look good over 30 years ago and has not had much use since. Actually I dont think it really ever got that many hours on it. It had a belly mower on it that I sold to get a set of cultivators for my garden. To me it seemed like it did not have any power. It would barely take off in 3rd gear without much feathering of the clutch.
So I decided to take the hood off and check everything out and give it a tune up. That was a while ago and like I said in my other post, Life, work and my first child kinda took over. Well my daughter is just over a year old and I have one more on the way in the fall. So if I ever want to see this great machine run and work now is my opportunity!!
I bought a carb rebuild kit, and a tune up kit (plugs,wires,cap,rotor). The wiring was in need of some love as well. Well just yesterday I decided I am way behind and need to get moving. With all the new parts on I rigged up a fuel supply (hood still off) and went to start it. First problem was the carb leaked like it did before. After some reading on here I discovered I should not have used the TSC kit. I am going to order another one from Steiner when I figure out what else I need. No big deal it will still run with a leaking carb. I spin it over and it spits a few times but no start. Sounds like I have it out of time. THis is where the fun begins. I pull the mag off and the number one plug to find tdc. Thats when I discover I have no compression on the number one cylinder. I go ahead and check the rest to find none on number three either. Two and Four are perfectly fine. Ok, I am hoping for a stick valve at this point, Pull the cover and yes the first one from the front is stuck open. I assume that is the intake valve? Same valve on the number three is stuck as well. It has its fair share of cabon build up in there, but it is eligible for social security. I worked them both free and they seem to have plenty of spring tension on them. My question is, could this have been my lack of power even though it did not seem to be missing and sounded good while running. Also could this be resolved with a good flushing with a bg oil cleaner? Or should I bite the bullet and pull the head? I am going outside now to go ahead and set the timing and see how it does. Maybe adjust the valves while I am at it. I will look for the adjustment procedure on here. Hot or cold?
I will post back this afternoon with my findings. Thank you in advance for any advice you may have. Jim
So I decided to take the hood off and check everything out and give it a tune up. That was a while ago and like I said in my other post, Life, work and my first child kinda took over. Well my daughter is just over a year old and I have one more on the way in the fall. So if I ever want to see this great machine run and work now is my opportunity!!
I bought a carb rebuild kit, and a tune up kit (plugs,wires,cap,rotor). The wiring was in need of some love as well. Well just yesterday I decided I am way behind and need to get moving. With all the new parts on I rigged up a fuel supply (hood still off) and went to start it. First problem was the carb leaked like it did before. After some reading on here I discovered I should not have used the TSC kit. I am going to order another one from Steiner when I figure out what else I need. No big deal it will still run with a leaking carb. I spin it over and it spits a few times but no start. Sounds like I have it out of time. THis is where the fun begins. I pull the mag off and the number one plug to find tdc. Thats when I discover I have no compression on the number one cylinder. I go ahead and check the rest to find none on number three either. Two and Four are perfectly fine. Ok, I am hoping for a stick valve at this point, Pull the cover and yes the first one from the front is stuck open. I assume that is the intake valve? Same valve on the number three is stuck as well. It has its fair share of cabon build up in there, but it is eligible for social security. I worked them both free and they seem to have plenty of spring tension on them. My question is, could this have been my lack of power even though it did not seem to be missing and sounded good while running. Also could this be resolved with a good flushing with a bg oil cleaner? Or should I bite the bullet and pull the head? I am going outside now to go ahead and set the timing and see how it does. Maybe adjust the valves while I am at it. I will look for the adjustment procedure on here. Hot or cold?
I will post back this afternoon with my findings. Thank you in advance for any advice you may have. Jim