Ronin
Well-known member
I think my engine is knackered.
It's not been running well for sometime, poor idling, fuel leak, major oil leak on left rocker cover, stalling at every junction etc etc to name a few problems I have had and sorted over last few months
Then a few weeks ago we were out in it and during our drive the engine seemed to lose a bit of power and almost feel quite tight, it stalled on my once at a roundabout and took quite a bit of coaxing to get going again, once I was home I lifted the engine lid and saw smoke coming out of the airfilter (I guess from crankcase breather) and the engine was really hot, the oil dipstick was too hot to pull without a rag, I didn't think any more of it to be honest as never had an air-cooled before but as a precaution I got a local garage to give it a tune up while it was in for it's mot a couple of weeks ago. The garage advised me to get a new carb in the not too distant future as they couldn't get it running right, if they set the idle correct then the CO levels were too weak and if they had the CO levels right then it would idle too fast, they set it so CO levels were right.
So last weekend we went out in it and it seemed to be ok, didn't feel as it had as much go in it as a few months ago before the running problems started but I thought that could be due to the carb. Again the engine was hot and a bit of smoke evident from the air filter.
Then this Saturday we decided to give it a run, it took ages to start and was abit lumpy for first few miles but I put that down to a damp engine as there was a fair bit of condensation in the engine bay. It drove ok for first 5 miles, then we stopped for fuel and it Stalled on the way out leaving me stranded blocking 1 lane of traffic, luckily I got a push back into petrol station got it going again after a bit and then continued on our trip, it then stalled a further half dozen or so times at various junctions and roudabouts, it definitely lacked power on this trip.
Today I decided to spray all the electrical connections with wd40 to see if it ran any better and noticed the right hand rocker gasket was leaking oil, when I took the rocker cover off I noticed the old gasket (only a couple of months old as I replaced it when I did the other side) was almost charred and smelt burnt, the oil filler cap also smells the same. I replaced the gasket and fired it up but it wouldn't idle so I gave up as the heavens were just opening up again.
I have been reading a manual this evening about the symptoms and it would appear to of suffered oil over heating, so now I'm wondering whether my engine is fried and if so is it a full replacement job or just top end (pistons, barrels &heads) as I'm guessing the lack of power is due to piston/barrel damage.
I can't afford to take it to garage this side of Xmas as I get married in 2 weeks and that has cleared me out. The gutting thing is we were supposed to be using it as our wedding car!!!
It's not been running well for sometime, poor idling, fuel leak, major oil leak on left rocker cover, stalling at every junction etc etc to name a few problems I have had and sorted over last few months
Then a few weeks ago we were out in it and during our drive the engine seemed to lose a bit of power and almost feel quite tight, it stalled on my once at a roundabout and took quite a bit of coaxing to get going again, once I was home I lifted the engine lid and saw smoke coming out of the airfilter (I guess from crankcase breather) and the engine was really hot, the oil dipstick was too hot to pull without a rag, I didn't think any more of it to be honest as never had an air-cooled before but as a precaution I got a local garage to give it a tune up while it was in for it's mot a couple of weeks ago. The garage advised me to get a new carb in the not too distant future as they couldn't get it running right, if they set the idle correct then the CO levels were too weak and if they had the CO levels right then it would idle too fast, they set it so CO levels were right.
So last weekend we went out in it and it seemed to be ok, didn't feel as it had as much go in it as a few months ago before the running problems started but I thought that could be due to the carb. Again the engine was hot and a bit of smoke evident from the air filter.
Then this Saturday we decided to give it a run, it took ages to start and was abit lumpy for first few miles but I put that down to a damp engine as there was a fair bit of condensation in the engine bay. It drove ok for first 5 miles, then we stopped for fuel and it Stalled on the way out leaving me stranded blocking 1 lane of traffic, luckily I got a push back into petrol station got it going again after a bit and then continued on our trip, it then stalled a further half dozen or so times at various junctions and roudabouts, it definitely lacked power on this trip.
Today I decided to spray all the electrical connections with wd40 to see if it ran any better and noticed the right hand rocker gasket was leaking oil, when I took the rocker cover off I noticed the old gasket (only a couple of months old as I replaced it when I did the other side) was almost charred and smelt burnt, the oil filler cap also smells the same. I replaced the gasket and fired it up but it wouldn't idle so I gave up as the heavens were just opening up again.
I have been reading a manual this evening about the symptoms and it would appear to of suffered oil over heating, so now I'm wondering whether my engine is fried and if so is it a full replacement job or just top end (pistons, barrels &heads) as I'm guessing the lack of power is due to piston/barrel damage.
I can't afford to take it to garage this side of Xmas as I get married in 2 weeks and that has cleared me out. The gutting thing is we were supposed to be using it as our wedding car!!!
