A "good runner"

[mikenash]

Hi guys

I’m looking for a second opinion on my diagnostics please.

I’m currently working on a CS I bought a while back from the widow of a bloke who collected and “restored” old engines and tractors.  It was described to me as a “good runner” and, once I cleaned out all the old gunged-up fuel, it ran fine

The other weekend I hooked up a temporary water supply.  I wanted to give it a longer run to get it up to temperature for an oil-change & to tinker with the diesel supply.

I just screwed in some 40mm fittings to the top and bottom flanges with a water feed running in the bottom and flowing open-ended out the top, and a valve to control the bottom flow so the water at the top was coming out warm.  I dismantled & drained this when I was finished.

This weekend when I went up there and turned it over backwards to engage the valve-lifter – water dribbled out of the exhaust - just an egg-cup-full maybe.

(Just a note that both intake & exhaust have downward-facing pipe bends so it’s not rainwater).  I turned it over a few times, then started it and it ran fine after some initial smoking.

I would guess I have a leak in the head-gasket.  I have just now sent off to Gaskets-to-Go for some replacements; and I’ll take the head off for a look next time I’m on site.

I guess it’s possible there is damage to the head or block?  I would guess, also, that any running it has done in recent years has probably just been a minute or two – there’s no evidence of any cooling plumbing having been attached to it recently.

Also I have been unable to get it to run properly on the low-compression setting.  It starts beautifully on the high-compression, but just smokes and hammers and seems to have only partial compression when the valve is screwed-out.  I took the change-over valve out and it came undone suspiciously easily.  Looking at it, I think it may have been made up from two mis-matched halves?

I have a new one to fit anyway; but I just mention it in case there’s a history of castings cracking in that area or some such.

I’d appreciate any thoughts.  Cheers, Mike

[mihit]

Well, you'll soon find out if a head gasket solves your issue.
I guess it's not impossible for a crack to have formed somewhere in the jacket that lets water in the exhaust. Run too hot, or cooled too fast maybe... But also possibly condensation? (It seems like a lot of fluid for that...)

As for the changeover, I think they were supposed to be lapped-in to their seats, and if it's been run half-open then it could have a fouling stopping it from seating up good.

G'wan...show us some pics

[mikenash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0RKM9C2ZLU

This is a crappy little vid of it running.  I set the valve clearances by "intake opens 6 degrees BTDC" and "exhaust closes 8 degrees ATDC" pretty roughly before I had cleaned the flywheels enough to find the TDC mark and established it with a chainsaw file down the injector hole.  If it seemed worth tinkering with that "timing" it may run more smoothly?  Who knows.  My el-cheapo tachometer says it's doing 678 RPMs there - so needs to come back a bit if that's right.  Once there's a generator head attached - then Hz may be a more accurate indicator

If I have it apart over Easter I'll take a pic or two of the innards to see what they say

Cheers

[38ac]

Hopefully its just the gasket but I do have two cracked heads here, both from overheating. One is cracked in the precombustion chamber, the other cracked between the valves.  Leaks from the change over valves would show themselves out the small hole in the side.