I almost killed my engine
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:24 pm
Some of you may have seen the farm buggy I built on the project thread.
I ran an electric pump with 0,3 bar pressure.
The old hands on this forum explained in extensive detail that it is too much - but I did not listen.
I made a point of it to drive the buggy every day after work for about 10km to see if anything needed adjustment and to make sure it was running fine before I took it to the farm.
The last couple of days it struggled to start. I fiddled with the coil, condenser and also thought it may be the bad dizzy I bought (points don't open equally on the cam).
Nothing solved it.
So I did the next best (worst) thing, I advanced the timing...
I thought it best to take it out for a long drive the next day (about an hour or so). Luckily I then noticed a small amount of fuel leaking from the intake seals as I walked past it. Then I knew, my carb has flooded and the excess fuel ran down the intake and into the engine. The fuel pressure was just too much.
Pulled the dipstick and it reeked of gasoline - petrol in the oil.
If I had gone for that hour drive the next day, it would have been the end of my project...
Happy to report that after I took off the heads, there was no sign of heat damage and the pistons, rings and valves looked in good nick.
I ordered an EMPI fuel pressure regulator from Volkspares in SA (very good service btw) and it will be here tomorrow.
Lesson learnt. 0,1 bar over the limit is just too much.
Cheers
I ran an electric pump with 0,3 bar pressure.
The old hands on this forum explained in extensive detail that it is too much - but I did not listen.
I made a point of it to drive the buggy every day after work for about 10km to see if anything needed adjustment and to make sure it was running fine before I took it to the farm.
The last couple of days it struggled to start. I fiddled with the coil, condenser and also thought it may be the bad dizzy I bought (points don't open equally on the cam).
Nothing solved it.
So I did the next best (worst) thing, I advanced the timing...
I thought it best to take it out for a long drive the next day (about an hour or so). Luckily I then noticed a small amount of fuel leaking from the intake seals as I walked past it. Then I knew, my carb has flooded and the excess fuel ran down the intake and into the engine. The fuel pressure was just too much.
Pulled the dipstick and it reeked of gasoline - petrol in the oil.
If I had gone for that hour drive the next day, it would have been the end of my project...
Happy to report that after I took off the heads, there was no sign of heat damage and the pistons, rings and valves looked in good nick.
I ordered an EMPI fuel pressure regulator from Volkspares in SA (very good service btw) and it will be here tomorrow.
Lesson learnt. 0,1 bar over the limit is just too much.
Cheers