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Small update, nothing exciting to anyone but me I guess.
I had planned on, well I still plan on replacing the cam and lifters and springs, etc. I wanted to seal up the multiple oil leaks at the same time. Well I can't afford the five hundred bucks for the cam kit, and I've put over 1500 miles on, and I've spent almost a year watching it drip oil.

So, I bought some gaskets, and just went to work. I'm tired of the leaks. The leaky front main seal slings oil all over everything. Oil is in the generator, on the frame, on the windshield, all over the firewall, and on the right rear tire and wheel. It's only 1 quart in 1500 miles, but it sure makes a mess. I can't even tell if the pan gaskets were leaking, so I just dropped the pan anyway. The pan gaskets, timing cover and front seal are done now.

I've had this problem with water on the dipstick, and under the oil cap. I've suspected condensation, since I don't have a PCV system. I've never had to add coolant. Well, I drained the oil into a 1 gallon glass pickle jar, and of course looked inside the pan, and there's no sign of water at all. I'm sure it also has something to do with the fact that LPG turns to carbon dioxide and water during combustion. So the blow-by would be water. I wonder if PCV would be a good idea... [S I guess it's always a good idea.

I need to redo the silicone on the side covers and the valve cover, and hopefully the leaks will be gone.
 
Major improvement getting the oil leaks plugged. There is a certain ambiance with being covered in burned oil and smelling the part of a 1920's race car driver, though. I guess with no pcv valve you'll still get some of that ambiance.

The decision to stick with the stock cam will potentially save you a lot of grief. Whenever I read about an engine build gone wrong, it's usually because of the cam.

Burning Propane creates a lot of water. I see that with my oxy-propane torch, it rusts everything it touches. That's why you can't weld with propane.
 
So I figured if I was going to pull the valve cover and side covers to reseal them too, I should go ahead and put in new lifters to quiet that bad lifter that's been tapping. Between me and about 4 other people that have looked at it, we all agreed that somewhere around cylinder number 5 had a bad lifter. It would tap at certain RPM, and worse when the oil got warm.

Well, I picked up some new Sealed Power lifters for $55, stuck them in, sealed it all up, adjusted the valves, and broke them in. It's rod knock. It fooled all of us. So I get to drop the pan that I just put new gaskets on, and replace some bearings. On the bright side, there's no cross member or anything at all under the oil pan. It just drops straight off. It's a simple job with an air ratchet.
 
A lot of that condensation might be because you just don't drive it enough. And I don't mean often enough but far enough. Every few times you take it out should be for at least half an hour so the engine gets to run at operating temperature for quite a while and burn off that condensation
 
Yeah Willowbilly, I know that can happen. I'm sure it does happen now and then with me when I only drive 4 miles to work, but then I do get it nice and hot at least every other time I drive it.

So, here's the condition report.
Number 5 rod bearing:


Number 2 rod bearing:


The knock was coming from the number 5 cylinder area, and those two rods were on the bottom when I pulled the pan, so those are the only two I've pulled. I just needed to see how bad the crank is, and if they're standard size bearings. Well, I can just barely make out the ink marking .010 across one end of each one. Who the heck had the bright idea to mark bearings in ink?




http://ratrodsrule.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
 
I put the new bearings in yesterday. Number 5 was the worst, but they were all showing copper. So, I have new lifters, new rod bearings, and solved a major part, if not all of the oil leaks.

The darn thing still makes a tapping sound somewhere near cylinder 5. It wasn't rod knock after all. The sound has been in the valve train from the beginning, like I thought from the beginning. The question is, what the heck is it? :confused: Maybe I'll take video of it and see if anyone has ideas.
 
Rods will make a hard knocking noise, wrist pins will make a lighter knocking noise and rockers will make a ticking noise.
Engines will wear the push rod ball socket, in the rocker out and will sound like
lifter noise.
While the engine is running, pull the plug wires off one at a time and the offending cylinder will quit making a noise, if its a rod or wrist pin. If it a rocker it will continue to make it's noise
 
I was starting to wonder if it might be something wrong with a rocker arm.
I haven't been able to mess with it since I put the bearings in, but I took a video the next day.

This is a cold startup. Don't let the sound of the rain cap rattling on the exhaust stack distract you. Once I rev it up a little, that rattly rain cap goes silent.


The first time I adjusted the valves last year, I went through it with a stethoscope looking for that noise. I couldn't find it.

On a side note, that rain cap does NOT keep rain out. It rained for a few days here, and I wasn't driving it because I was afraid the rod bearings were on their last leg. After I changed them out, I started it up and it blew out probably a quart of water. Luckily the exhaust manifold is shaped like a P trap and it would take a heck of a lot of water to get into the engine. I guess I need to find a coffee can.
 
I think the problem with your engine is your hearing - it works too well.

How about putting a lip on the rain cap? Or maybe make it a hemisphere or a cone. Sounds like a lot more fun than trying to solve an engine noise problem.
 
Old Iron said:
Rods will make a hard knocking noise, wrist pins will make a lighter knocking noise and rockers will make a ticking noise.
Engines will wear the push rod ball socket, in the rocker out and will sound like
lifter noise.
While the engine is running, pull the plug wires off one at a time and the offending cylinder will quit making a noise, if its a rod or wrist pin. If it a rocker it will continue to make it's noise
Click to expand...

It's been over a year. I pulled a plug wires until number six went quiet. Maybe I'll be doing a rebuild this summer.

Or, maybe not. :) The reason I sort of disappeared from here, was because my second child was born. (I have another coming in June.)

She's a year old now.
 
Last edited:
Earthman's right. Start them in the garage early or you'll be up to your eyeballs in nail polish and purple hair coloring.

Nice to know you're back at it.
 

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