Yes folks I made the first tenative steps in the resto of my sb 45 has begun with the removal of the Kawasaki Fa130d from the frame.In preperation for full strip down and cleaning
Last night I had the chance to take the head offmuch to my surprise (well not) the unit was quite carboned up with the carbon on the piston and on the top of the head being quite wet while the carbon on the spark plug being the normal grey that appears when you are getting full combustion. Another thing that was noticed was that valve clearances were out. More than likely a contributing factor to the carboning up.
As to the Bore It was in excellent condition without a hint of scoring
When the actual oil was drained out properly today a fair bit of sludge came out of the small drain hole. Which I put down to the motor not having been run until I had been given the unit for over 10 years.
So my take is that the engine going to need a strip down anyway
Another job that took place today was the disassembly of the start and the removal of any surface rust ready for repainting.
Wednesday's job will be the removal of the flyweel and the engine side of the clutch cone.
Now I have a few questions.
Does anyone here use caustic baths to clean engine parts up and if so what chemical and strength do they use. Oil sludge is hard to remove at the best of times. ( The only other solution I suppose is to soak the parts in diesel for a few days and then wash in degreaser afterwards)
Bruce do you have a copy of the FA130d in the manuals area?
Last edited by GregR; 05/10/1002:40 PM. Reason: need to add bore post
As far as I can tell from the picture, the amount of carbon build-up is not abnormal, but the softness/wetness of the carbon is. That is usually caused by oil consumption (due to worn rings): the oil does not burn well in the brief time available and carbons up everything, especially the muffler. There is usually some blue smoke if the oil consumption is bad.
If there is an abnormal amount of sludge in the crankcase that is probably caused either by blow-by (leaky rings) or some fault with the breather (crankcase ventilation system). Generally, oil sludge in crankcases is easily washed off by petrol, kerosene or white spirit (white gas, to an American; also known as naptha).
I personally do not use harsh chemicals to clean engine parts (the cleaning agents are prone to being hard to remove, thus causing corrosion/etching later). I don't believe I've ever heard of anyone using caustic chemicals.
Yeah I was thinking of doing the rings regardless of the condition of the bore. With that being said I can now justify the purchase of a Cylinder hone! Which can be used for this as well as my live steam projects! :-) Just need some rich benefactor to provide the capital for a boring head for the mill.
I have watched the oil consumption and it is not using any oil to speak of in the last year. I normally run it for about 10-15 min at a time.
As to the chemicals I think they are used mainly in the auto/truck engine re-con industry.
Greg, because you always need an oversized piston if you bore the cylinder, I think it would be more convenient to just find a better one and install that. Honing can be OK if you do it well enough, and if the bore is scuffed, it is essential. I've literally never used my boring head, for any purpose at all. Shouldn't have bought it I suppose.
I think it is difficult to get to the bottom of your oily combustion chamber without replacing the rings to see if it makes a difference. I'd check the breather, and if it's OK, try to compare the amount of crankcase sludge with other similar engines. Has the engine been over-filled with oil?
Yeah I have used petrol for this purpose before I was just trying to think outside the square
To Grumpy. This weekend I am finishing the striping down of the motor. I intend to soak all the parts in petrol for a day or two and then degrease for final cleaning. As to the breather I think that looks like being a problem due to the amount of crud in that area. All I need to purchase is a 6" gear puller as the flyweel does not want to budge.
Are you sure it is supposed to be pulled from the outside diameter? That method is a bit unusual, because it is prone to bending flywheels. The B&S flywheels are pulled with a small flat-plate puller that attaches via three small tapped holes near the center of the flywheel. Flat plate pullers pull very strongly without damaging the parts.
Normally I would be with you but the Kawasaki Flywheel does not have any facility to install a flat plate puller. And is made of cast iron to boot to make things more interesting.
I've checked the service manuals area of this site and have not found anything on Kawasaki. Getting hold of a repair manual for your engine would be a good move at this point.
The motor has been cleaned in petrol and light pitting was found on both the intake and exhaust valve seats. Re-lapped valves/valve seats with valve grinding paste to remove pitting.
As I recall that is a side valve engine so you will probably need to grind the valve stems to restore the correct tappet clearance. (Lapping valves reduces the clearance).
Grumpy is correct with needing to grind the valve stems to give the correct clearance, this can be done very crudely with a grinder if you are careful however with a nice motor such as the kawasaki I would be wanting it done properly on a bench machine.
That's good advice there Joe, there is no substitute for good workshop practice, especially during a restoration...I remember a very wise old mechanic told me "Do it once and Do it right"...
Please do not PM me asking for support. Please post your questions in the appropriate forums, as the replies it may receive may help all members, not just the individual member. Kindest Regards, Darryl
That's good advice there Joe, there is no substitute for good workshop practice, especially during a restoration...I remember a very wise old mechanic told me "Do it once and Do it right"...
Latest progress in pictures. After lapping and cleaning I put the cam shaft in to give the valves a run and they are now spinning where before they were not. One thing that is interesting is the piston ring arrangement is that after cleaning I found that one of the rings is actually stepped(mmm interesting
