Picked up a hone at Harbor Freight, honed the bore. Got the rings in today, put the rings in with the appropriate spacing. Put it in dry, filled it with Rotella 15W40. I had time tonight to get the engine mounted, I'll connect the pulleys and belts tomorrow and give it a start. Any suggestions on how I should first start it up?
Kawasaki blowing smoke intermittenly, burning oil
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bertsmobile1
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hook every thing up fire up the engine throttle up & down a couple of times the engage the PTO and do the same thing.
If it will stay running strait into some grass,to load up the engine and open the throttle.
Whatever you do, don't leave it on low idle
If it will stay running strait into some grass,to load up the engine and open the throttle.
Whatever you do, don't leave it on low idle
bertsmobile1
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Most do and that included me before I was shown the light.
I play with vintage motorcycles and some used to take hundreds of very smokey hours till the rings bedded in and 1 in 3 had to be done a second time after deglazing the bore.
This is because most of the time the carb had been adjusted to compensate for the worn bore.
On a rebuilt engine it is way too rich so I used to start the engine then spend 10-20 minutes adjusting the clutch followed by some careful running in.
New proceedure is start the bike with my riding gear on and as soon as it fires jump on & ride like I stole it around the block.
By the time I get back, ring are bedded in and the only smoke is black so I then lean out the carb. Worked perfectly every time.
So when I started doing small engines, I translated the same proceedure to them and it works a treat.
Rings go in dry so buy the time a good oil film has been created on the bore the dry ring on bore contact has worn the rings into the barrel enough to sustain full throttle and you need full throttle to get enough back pressure on the rings to finish the running in while mowing.
I was always taught to break em in how your gonna run them and I run them hard so...lol..I fire em up,,let the block get some heat in it then I run them hard,,especially two strokes.
Will be looking forward to your results
Glad you went with Rotella...thats some good stuff!
Tom
Will be looking forward to your results
Glad you went with Rotella...thats some good stuff!
Tom
bertsmobile1
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FWIW I break in engines with the cheapest supermarket oil I can get my hands on.
Reason being you don't want a lot of fancy addatives, all you need is a bit oil to stop things seizing as the the oil usually get changed very quickly.
The only thing to avoid is full synthetic oils which stick like the proverbal to a fluffly blanket so prevent the metal to metal you need to bed in the rings.
Reason being you don't want a lot of fancy addatives, all you need is a bit oil to stop things seizing as the the oil usually get changed very quickly.
The only thing to avoid is full synthetic oils which stick like the proverbal to a fluffly blanket so prevent the metal to metal you need to bed in the rings.
Well...rings are in, smoked a little at first but then cleared up after a couple of minutes. I started mowing and after running the mowe for about 30 minutes, big puff of smoke again, same as before. I guess there was no point in doing a leak down test if I was going to ignore the results. The leakdown test indicated the rings were fine, but I replaced them anyway. Oh well, I've now ruled out the head gasket and rings.
I noticed that my oil pressure switch light is now coming on rather frequently. It will come on for a second or two pretty regularly. Oil level is fine and there are no oil leaks.
Could I have a failing oil pump? Could that have anything to do with the problems I'm having?
My next step was to replace the entire head. I know where I can pick up a used one off a parts mower for cheap cheap. Cheaper than replacing any parts in the head or valves. I don't want to do that though if there's a chance my problem is with the oil pump.
I noticed that my oil pressure switch light is now coming on rather frequently. It will come on for a second or two pretty regularly. Oil level is fine and there are no oil leaks.
Could I have a failing oil pump? Could that have anything to do with the problems I'm having?
My next step was to replace the entire head. I know where I can pick up a used one off a parts mower for cheap cheap. Cheaper than replacing any parts in the head or valves. I don't want to do that though if there's a chance my problem is with the oil pump.
I have an old 73 Craftsman 16 HP single cylinder overhead valve Tecumseh and it had a fuel pump on it. For several years it would suddenly quit running and I found if I blow on the gas tank I could hear the bowl fill with gas. This summer I decided to take the fuel pump off and run it since the gas tank is slightly higher than the carb. Then I started noticing puddles of oil on the floor of the garage. The vent in the head doesn't go into the carb but just dumps out into the air and that is where the oil was coming from. I figured it was on it's last leg. Then I thought that maybe the port in the side of the crankcase that supplied the pump with pressure or vacuum or both had something to do with it so I plugged the port and the oil stopped. I assume you have a fuel pump on yours too so I'm wondering if you may have a leak in your crankcase somewhere or in the hose to your pump. It might be worth checking out.
Dana
Dana
mhavanti
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Oil pump won't cause a puff of smoke unless it has stopped pumping or is bypassing and that is "not pumping". Only then will you see this elusive puff of smoke. When you tore it down, you'd also have seen a bad crankshaft, rod, cylinder walls, piston skirts and rings, not to mention the valves and guides would also be galded.
If you break the ceramic out of a spark plug, take an air tool adapter and put it into the broken spark plug and weld it together. Screw the new tool into the spark plug hole, place the air hose on it and that will spin the engine down to bottom dead center on that cylinder. Remove the valve spring retainer locks, then remove the springs. Check to see if you can wiggle the valve inside the guide. If it is really noticeable, you need to either replace the valve guide or valve or both. This is the time to replace the valve stem / guide seals regardless of the wear factor of your guides and valves.
Even if you're going to purchase the cheap, cheap, cheap heads, before you remove the current heads, replace the seals and see if your puff is gone.
The oil pressure switch may have gotten cracked and causing the oil pressure fluctuating if the oil pressure is about 40 to 65 pounds with a manual gauge at 3000 RPM. Beg, borrow or steal (ok, don't steal) a manual oil pressure gauge and check the pressure before you worry about doing the valve seals and guide/stem check.
You'll find the problem eventually,
Good luck,
Max
If you break the ceramic out of a spark plug, take an air tool adapter and put it into the broken spark plug and weld it together. Screw the new tool into the spark plug hole, place the air hose on it and that will spin the engine down to bottom dead center on that cylinder. Remove the valve spring retainer locks, then remove the springs. Check to see if you can wiggle the valve inside the guide. If it is really noticeable, you need to either replace the valve guide or valve or both. This is the time to replace the valve stem / guide seals regardless of the wear factor of your guides and valves.
Even if you're going to purchase the cheap, cheap, cheap heads, before you remove the current heads, replace the seals and see if your puff is gone.
The oil pressure switch may have gotten cracked and causing the oil pressure fluctuating if the oil pressure is about 40 to 65 pounds with a manual gauge at 3000 RPM. Beg, borrow or steal (ok, don't steal) a manual oil pressure gauge and check the pressure before you worry about doing the valve seals and guide/stem check.
You'll find the problem eventually,
Good luck,
Max