Post by Mowser on Aug 1, 2007 23:30:18 GMT -5
It's a long read but I'd appreciate any insight you can give me. I think I've given all the pertinent information. Well other than I'm an idiot for trusting a previous owner.
Wednesday July 18: I’d been having problems with my ignition components on the bus so I set out to alleviate the problems. I installed a pertronix ignition into my dizzy, replaced my coil, new rotor, new cap, and checked the spark plugs. Also found the wires on the positive terminal of the battery to be corroded so I repaired them.
Thursday July 19: I rebuilt my fuel pump as I had noticed it sweating a bit over the past few weeks
Saturday July 21: The family and I embark on our first long term camping trip in the bus. The trip is a little over an hour from our house to the campsite. 22km of mountain gravel road and the majority of it on an 80kph secondary road. 13 km into the gravel road the bus dies. I roll it into a safe location and set out to determine the problem. My wife and daughter catch up and my son piles in with them to continue on to the campsite where she can drop off the children and tent trailer (for others to use that are camping with us). By the time she returns 4 guys on quads and I have found and repaired the problem. With one guy working the ignition I quickly find that the dizzy isn’t turning. Closer inspection finds that the dizzy (which I had removed and reinstalled a week prior) had somehow wiggled itself up to the point that it wasn’t turning on the gear. I know, I know…. With the bus now running all be it timed only by ear, is running none the less and I set out with wife now following me the last 9 kms to the campground. Well the bus makes it about 5 kms before I stop as it’s not feeling right. I round the back of the bus to see smoke bellowing out the passenger vents. Nope, not fire but rather melted plastic from the #2 cylinder sparkplug wire. I also notice discoloured engine tin in that area. It doesn’t take me long to find out the actual cause. The previous owner of the bus had decided it a good idea to use sound deadening insulation in around and above the engine and fuel tank. A piece had slid down and behind the fan shroud. No air for my aircooled engine means no good. Now it’s damage control time. I let the bus cool down some, replace the sparkplug wires (all 4) with a set I’d won at the West Coast Showdown a month earlier, and remove the insulation from the back of the fan shroud. Bus fires up and although rough and on less than 4 cylinders can easily make the downhill trip to the campsite that remains. I roll in to campsite with no new problems and park the bus for the duration of our camping trip.
Wednesday July 25: I return to the campsite with compression tester, spark plugs, and a timing light. It’s time to see what’s gone wrong so I can plan the buses extraction from it’s current location. The answers were about what I expected. Timing was close but a bit off, compression was 1- 30psi, 1- 50psi, 3 and 4 at 90psi. She’s toast.
Sunday July 29: Extraction day is here. With the timing now set and everything that can be done done I have my wife lead the way up the narrow forestry road to the top of the hill. Surprisingly the bus does okay up the hill and I send the wife back to get the children and tent trailer (her family was still at site). I continue down the gravel road at a moderate pace (20-30mph) all the way to the asphalt road and my goal to get the bus picked up by trailer. It’s actually doing quite well and no signs of running hot. I make the call to continue on until my wife catches up. Well I make it to within 20minutes from home when my oil light flashes on/off. I watch and the next time the revs go down it happens again. I immediately find a safe spot to pull off and stop the bus.
I open it up and see oil dispersed all over the #1-2 side of the engine compartment. Inspection leads me to pulling the valve cover where I find that the head bolts are loose. Obviously from the over heating incident. When my wife arrives she tells me that I had left a trail of oil all the way out of the campsite. In all I had lost a little over a litre of oil out the head before it heated up enough to all but stop. No wonder my compression was low and no wonder it was running better when I got to the top of the hill. I hand torqued the head as best I could, reset my valves hot to .007 (better loose than tight). The bus fires up and is now running on all 4. I drive it the rest of the way home without incident.
Tuesday July 31: I set out to see where the motor is at and what damage was done. I start by releasing the valve cover on #1-2. When I do a stream of oil/gas pours out. I’m talking over a litre pours out and into an awaiting container. WTF?
? I immediately check the oil to find that the crankcase is over filled. I drain an additional 3-4 litres of the combo out of the oil drain. I only have a litre of oil on hand so I put it in after a full cleaning of the strainer…
Wednesday August 1, 2007: I fill the engine with oil, check my valves, and fire up the bus to get it up to temp to check compression. (cold compression is at 90, 95,90,90 1-4). After about 4 minutes of running I need to calm my nerves so I shut it down and drop the #1-2 valve cover to find more of the same concoction. I then drop the cover on #3-4 and find a bit there as well.
SO…. What’s the prognosis? The engine is coming out on the weekend and I won’t be running it again until I have to move it into location to do so. Cracked head, problem with my fuel pump push rod, any ideas I haven’t thought of? It was simple when I didn’t have compression but now that I have it I can’t make heads or tails of this one. At least not twice.
One confused Mo
Wednesday July 18: I’d been having problems with my ignition components on the bus so I set out to alleviate the problems. I installed a pertronix ignition into my dizzy, replaced my coil, new rotor, new cap, and checked the spark plugs. Also found the wires on the positive terminal of the battery to be corroded so I repaired them.
Thursday July 19: I rebuilt my fuel pump as I had noticed it sweating a bit over the past few weeks
Saturday July 21: The family and I embark on our first long term camping trip in the bus. The trip is a little over an hour from our house to the campsite. 22km of mountain gravel road and the majority of it on an 80kph secondary road. 13 km into the gravel road the bus dies. I roll it into a safe location and set out to determine the problem. My wife and daughter catch up and my son piles in with them to continue on to the campsite where she can drop off the children and tent trailer (for others to use that are camping with us). By the time she returns 4 guys on quads and I have found and repaired the problem. With one guy working the ignition I quickly find that the dizzy isn’t turning. Closer inspection finds that the dizzy (which I had removed and reinstalled a week prior) had somehow wiggled itself up to the point that it wasn’t turning on the gear. I know, I know…. With the bus now running all be it timed only by ear, is running none the less and I set out with wife now following me the last 9 kms to the campground. Well the bus makes it about 5 kms before I stop as it’s not feeling right. I round the back of the bus to see smoke bellowing out the passenger vents. Nope, not fire but rather melted plastic from the #2 cylinder sparkplug wire. I also notice discoloured engine tin in that area. It doesn’t take me long to find out the actual cause. The previous owner of the bus had decided it a good idea to use sound deadening insulation in around and above the engine and fuel tank. A piece had slid down and behind the fan shroud. No air for my aircooled engine means no good. Now it’s damage control time. I let the bus cool down some, replace the sparkplug wires (all 4) with a set I’d won at the West Coast Showdown a month earlier, and remove the insulation from the back of the fan shroud. Bus fires up and although rough and on less than 4 cylinders can easily make the downhill trip to the campsite that remains. I roll in to campsite with no new problems and park the bus for the duration of our camping trip.
Wednesday July 25: I return to the campsite with compression tester, spark plugs, and a timing light. It’s time to see what’s gone wrong so I can plan the buses extraction from it’s current location. The answers were about what I expected. Timing was close but a bit off, compression was 1- 30psi, 1- 50psi, 3 and 4 at 90psi. She’s toast.
Sunday July 29: Extraction day is here. With the timing now set and everything that can be done done I have my wife lead the way up the narrow forestry road to the top of the hill. Surprisingly the bus does okay up the hill and I send the wife back to get the children and tent trailer (her family was still at site). I continue down the gravel road at a moderate pace (20-30mph) all the way to the asphalt road and my goal to get the bus picked up by trailer. It’s actually doing quite well and no signs of running hot. I make the call to continue on until my wife catches up. Well I make it to within 20minutes from home when my oil light flashes on/off. I watch and the next time the revs go down it happens again. I immediately find a safe spot to pull off and stop the bus.
I open it up and see oil dispersed all over the #1-2 side of the engine compartment. Inspection leads me to pulling the valve cover where I find that the head bolts are loose. Obviously from the over heating incident. When my wife arrives she tells me that I had left a trail of oil all the way out of the campsite. In all I had lost a little over a litre of oil out the head before it heated up enough to all but stop. No wonder my compression was low and no wonder it was running better when I got to the top of the hill. I hand torqued the head as best I could, reset my valves hot to .007 (better loose than tight). The bus fires up and is now running on all 4. I drive it the rest of the way home without incident.
Tuesday July 31: I set out to see where the motor is at and what damage was done. I start by releasing the valve cover on #1-2. When I do a stream of oil/gas pours out. I’m talking over a litre pours out and into an awaiting container. WTF?
? I immediately check the oil to find that the crankcase is over filled. I drain an additional 3-4 litres of the combo out of the oil drain. I only have a litre of oil on hand so I put it in after a full cleaning of the strainer…Wednesday August 1, 2007: I fill the engine with oil, check my valves, and fire up the bus to get it up to temp to check compression. (cold compression is at 90, 95,90,90 1-4). After about 4 minutes of running I need to calm my nerves so I shut it down and drop the #1-2 valve cover to find more of the same concoction. I then drop the cover on #3-4 and find a bit there as well.
SO…. What’s the prognosis? The engine is coming out on the weekend and I won’t be running it again until I have to move it into location to do so. Cracked head, problem with my fuel pump push rod, any ideas I haven’t thought of? It was simple when I didn’t have compression but now that I have it I can’t make heads or tails of this one. At least not twice.
One confused Mo
