Chipping away at my Stallion

[Red Stallion 218]

I thought I had updated this, but many of you know where I (sadly) got to.

 

Put it alm back together. Everything is looking great. Starter kicks every time, engine fires up within a few cranks. Happily goes forward and backward.

Starting to feel pretty good, albeit a bit of changy noise.

 

So I decided to check the vale lashing because I was pretty certain that the noise was coming from there.

 

Strip it all apart, and sure enough the back valves probably had about 2mm of clearance.

 

But worse upon closer inspection the dreaded valve seat looks cracked/loose or worse. Ordered some new head gaskets, due to arrive soon, and I'll pull the heads and then weigh up repower pr find someone who can resleeve with oversized valves.

 

A bit disappointing after spending a year of refurbishing, just to have the engine cactus!

Edited yesterday at 09:19 AM by Red Stallion

[Red Stallion 218]

At least it looks pretty

[lynnmor 8,328]

The problem is that you have two threads running about the same issue.  You should not be running that engine till the valve issue is determined, that photo isn't telling me what is going on and you should have pulled that valve and taken pictures so we can clearly see.  Continued running the engine will surely destroy it if the valve seat is loose.

[Red Stallion 218]

Yeah, my innocent question in the other section, will now get merged into this main thread so I can track the history.

 

I have not run the motor since the discovery. Still waiting for the gaskets which are now in the country, so hopefully might arrive by the weekend. Even moving it around the place, I'm back to pushing it by hand.

 

I'm about 50/50 on doing a repower. While I like to keep things original the cost of obtaining Onan spares in Australia will make you fall off your chair (for example the oil filter seals are $35) plus I think the hot Aussie climate doesn't suit the engine setup without modification.

Which gets me thinking that a cheap new motor is probably going to be as expensive and as big of a headache as a refurbished P220. 

 

But I'm still not there yet.

[Handy Don 15,526]

6 minutes ago, Red Stallion said:

Onan spares in Australia will make you fall off your chair

No need to feel any jealousy. OEM grade Onan spares in the USA are quite pricey as well! 

Yet, they are what you want for important gaskets--heads, manifolds, etc. 

Edited 23 hours ago by Handy Don

[kpinnc 16,461]

8 hours ago, Red Stallion said:

Which gets me thinking that a cheap new motor is probably going to be as expensive and as big of a headache as a refurbished P220. 

 

But I'm still not there yet.

 

This is just my opinion, so take it as nothing more. 

 

That being said, I have to agree with you. At some point, you have a decision to make about that engine. 

 

Me personally, I stopped trying to coax more hours out of my Onan engines. Especially true of the 20hp models. If I had a P216, I'd probably have a different opinion. I have 3 P220 engines and I will no longer spend my time and money on them. While no one can argue that they are exceptional when in good shape, the climate here in the southern US is not good for them. The heat and humidity is hard on them, and they are simply too expensive for my tastes. The climate where you are is far worse than what we have here, so I can't imagine the level of pampering you will have to apply to that engine to keep it running. 

 

I would say this- if you pick an engine to repower with, do your homework and pick a good one. It's no secret that I am a fan of small block Vanguards (23hp and below) but there are plenty of good options. The tractor itself that you have is solid and will last decades more if properly maintained. The Eaton 1100 transmission is also sensitive to heat but it is easily mitigated with just keeping it externally clean and serviced. 

 

Good luck with whatever decision you make. The machine you have is definitely worth saving. If done right it will serve you well. 

Edited 14 hours ago by kpinnc

[Red Stallion 218]

That last comment is what motivating me. The rest of the 520HC is brilliant. Its rock solid, reliable, and will last me forever. To date I've spent $2k, and if I spent another $2k, it'll deliver me excellent value for money...

 

(Or something about sunk cost fallacy)

[Handy Don 15,526]

7 hours ago, Red Stallion said:

(Or something about sunk cost fallacy)

Engineering economics course in college...there was a question about this on the final related to asset valuation. Then later, in advanced accounting, it came up again!