Did You Ever Do This?

[Tuneup 1,416]

So, I have had the Onan 16 apart for de-carbon. Pulled it and put it on the bench since it leaks badly - the oil drain piping loose and can only be repaired rightly by removing the engine, considering the mess. Yesterday, while removing the intake spring, one of the cotters disappeared. You know where it went...but not me.

 

This machine has a fair amount of sludge in those valve compartments - I hate that. Makes me want to take the engine apart and clean it but I want this 516 out mowing a bit more. 'have worked on engines since I was 16 and have never dropped anything down an engine - hey, that hole is well hidden under that spring.

 

Took off the bottom cover thinking it had to be there - nope. vent goes to the cam cover. That's good - and should have been obvious to me. Now I have to clean inside the case and pull the caps to check the crank, maybe even pull the pistons... Pulled the cam cover, got the cotter, and now can inspect the governor.

 

It's Sunday so, maybe God is in it . If you can find the verse or commandment stating thou shalt fully inspect the horse, I'd like to know it - it's in there somewhere. All the right things are... How about Job 39:19, yeah, that's it.

[JoeM 7,604]

I always called things like that "Jesus clips" cause when they fall i would say; "Jesus where did that go"! Of course there was no answer cause he has got bigger fish to fry but now I shove paper towel in all the orifices and I even close the choke and sometimes put a rubber glove over the carb. Plus a flexible magnet is standard part of the tool caddie.  

[Stepney 2,314]

On a WH.. hmm, not sure I ever went that far.

Did once loose a small bolt down the valve cover of a V12 GMC Twin Six engine. That entailed a full tear town..

 

[Tuneup 1,416]

Yeah, I am a little mad at myself - have all that paper in the right places but that hole was hiding from me!  Higher purpose got me inside that engine so it's a good thing, as Martha - no, the one that cooks -  says .

 

I've got pics but, dang, my membership expired! I'd like to forget last year. Now, it says PayPal and will it pull from my wife's stash? Too risky. Maybe tomorrow she says - must keep the peace!

[Tuneup 1,416]

Stepney - I'd say that I feel your pain but, dang!, that is painful.

[SylvanLakeWH 24,079]

Simple answer to the question in your thread title:

 

Yes...numerous times in various situations... 

 

As a kid I remember watching my dad rebuild an old 60 hp evinrude outboard. Got it all together and there were a couple “extra” washers bolts etc... Dad says “hhhmmm”, shrugged his shoulders then and ran that motor for another 15 years... 

 

 

[Tuneup 1,416]

Ha - yeah, extra parts...some good stories there. My friend assembled the tractors at Sears. Spare parts were a regular thing. Ever flip a Briggs vertical 7HP to horizontal? The Simplicity dealer in Kenvil NJ laughed but let me rummage out back in the drums. I used a spoon as a dipper and it ran like stink on the minibike, until the spoon fell off. At 17, a spoon made sense. I'm better now, thank you.

[Tuneup 1,416]

In deference to the black hoods, Henrietta, my '80 C-125 barely breathed while tackling the 1/2 acre of early GA fescue. She's a beast! I have 4 more trees to fell and she'll drag them up the hill like a champion. Will do what I can to get the Onan further along before #2 son arrives for rear brakes on the Mustang. What else would they own down here in Jeff Foxworthy country? We're a 3 Mustang family right now - '99, '01 and '18. The '18 gets the brakes. All Fords, all the time.

[Tuneup 1,416]

Homemade gasket and the timing cover is done. The governor was good and tight. Gears surprisingly clean. A little Dremel treatment to clean the intake ports and then a Dremel brush to clean it. The springs went back in with paper stuffed in the vent - ahhh. Really do have to buy a spring compressor - would make it so much easier. Gap measuring and then will button that up. The head bolts are cheap - can't be original. Washers present but I still expected a shoulder on the bolt - will replace them - so will wait until Ace lets me in the door tomorrow. Tipping it up to check the bottom end and she'll finally fire up this week.

 

Manual shows Intake .001 - .0025 and Exhaust .002 - .0035. Correct? Exhaust seems on the tight side. The gap on mine are significantly larger.

Mine: IN  .0035 / .0055 and EX .014

Edited March 29, 2020 by Tuneup

[lynnmor 6,762]

7 hours ago, Tuneup said:

 

Manual shows Intake .001 - .0025 and Exhaust .002 - .0035. Correct? Exhaust seems on the tight side. The gap on mine are significantly larger.

Mine: IN  .0035 / .0055 and EX .014

 

  What engine?  What manual?  What gap?  What is "Mine" ?

[8ntruck 6,358]

My dad was a weight and balance officer in the Army Air Corps during WW2.  He was also taking aircraft mechanics at the time.  He tells a story about how they were assembling one of those radial engines, when one of the guys he was working with dropped a bolt into the intake manifold.  They had to disassemble the engine until they found the bolt.

[Tuneup 1,416]

Lynnmor: The engine is the Onan 16 and I found the specs in the other manual. The one I had was providing the measure through the guides. All adjusted. I just have to pull the base and make a gasket on that - will pull the rod caps and check in there as well.

 

8ntruck - ouch!

[lynnmor 6,762]

I thought that you were reading valve guide clearance and just wanted to be sure.  I didn't want you confusing the guide to stem clearance with the valve to lifter clearance, the sentence wasn't clear to me. All is good.

[Tuneup 1,416]

Thanks! Yes, just came back in. Made a gasket and cleaned the muck from the pan. Journals are good. Time to torque the heads and button her up. That carb has been done for almost a month. I'm dying to see if she's stabilized now that the missing plug is installed.