Archive through August 21, 2009

[kide]

Dennis:
Worst thing I've seen about the Tiny Tach (besides the irritating "change oil" reminder that pops up) is that they're sssslllllllooooowwwwww to respond. This may work OK on a fixed RPM engine, but I was using one on a Cushman scooter and it was always about a second behind the current RPM. This was especially maddening when I was using it on the 129 to set the governor. It finally died .... but was not mourned..

 

[jott]

hey guys, I have a CC 147 with two dipsticks. Do you want the tractor info? I will check back later today or tonight. I gotta get out there and do a littl' cubbin

I gotta cut the grass again, but on the good side, it is a nice 73 degrgees and sunny here in wisconsin.

 

[mdmyers]

Thanks again for advice on the 128 that idles poorly & won't throttle up... still not working, alas. I thought I had it figured when the timing light showed the plug is only firing for a few times then not, then a few times... replaced coil and jumpered a fresh battery straight to the coil, and replaced the coil-to-points wire. Same thing happens - might idle poorly for a minute and then dies, as soon as you push up the throttle it dies right away. Points spark every single time, but the timing light only flashes half the time at idle. The timing mark is right on the money, too... It goes "putt putt putt chuff chuff chuff chuff putt putt chuff" etc., flashes on each putt and no flash on the chuffs. New plug, old plug, new plug wire, old plug wire - doesn't matter. Likewise new points vs. old points don't help either. Maybe there's some kind of intergalactic charge vacuum or something eating some of the sparks. And I can't find a grounded wire anywhere...

It seems to me that the plug should fire at the end of every compression stroke regardless of air/fuel mix, and that there should be a flash on the timing light when it happens. But maybe I'm missing something obvious, I'm a geek not a mechanic. Can anyone see what I might be missing?

Thanks for any clues

 

[kide]

Mike:
The spark should be there REGARDLESS of air/fuel mixture. You've got an ignition problem and it's probably not timing - you either have points sticking, a bad condenser (even new ones show up bad) or a bad ground, but if you aren't getting consistent spark (based on your timing light firing), it's not the carb.
BTW - this is where a good (read more than 4 dollar) DVOM is valuable, you can start measuring tenths of an ohm and determine things like resistance (should be almost zero) across the points. You are on the right track with things like the jumper wire to eliminate the key wiring... Looking over things again, I don't see that you have replaced the condenser and the symptoms would suggest that as a possible source of the problem..

 

[rwilke]

Josh O.,
Yes, please share your engine info here. What I'm looking for:

- Is your engine data plate a sticker or riveted on?
- What is the engine Model #
- What is the engine Spec #
- What is the engine Serial #
- What model CC did the dual tube engine come out of (126, 149, etc.).

I'm assembling an Ecel speadsheet with all the gathered data, and then I'll try to see if I can determine a production pattern to the "dual tube" engines.
Once completed, I'll share the table with everyone here for all to see and contemplate...

<font color="0000ff">ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE WITH A "DUAL TUBE" KOHLER?</font>

Thanks!
Ryan Wilke

 

[fsnerd]

thanks everyone for giving me some hope that a converter terminal exists. i will go looking for one. that would be the easiest route.

Mike Myers (Mdmyers) - i have a similar problem with a 128. although mine stalls when hot. while checking adjustments, i lost the spark. I too trouble shot it and replaced parts, i am now replacing the wiring harness as it is old and needs it anyway, and it is possible a wire is frayed, and breaking the connection when hot. and my playing with everything physical broke the wire.
someone on here said they had a similar problem and it turned out to be the field wire from voltage regulator to starter, so you could try jumping that to see if the wire is bad.
I did not try jumping mine because all the wires on the voltage regulator look frayed, along with most of the other wires, so i chose to replace the harness, rather then test wires.
an excellent wiring diagram is in the service manual. which can be downloaded for free if you do not have one.

 

[bbrigham]

Dennis...I've been looking for air cooled temp guages too, so far the ones I've looked at were at least $190. If you find anything priced more appropriate let me know.

Frank...I found I have plenty of those conversion blades but you may have to open the screw hole some or use smaller screws with nuts. If you want some send me your address and I'll send you a bunch.

 

[dfrisk]

BRENDAN - Most of the sets of gauges I've looked at were between $400 and $500, maybe more for the four gauges. I've looked at ISSOPRO, Dakota Digital, Stewart-Warner, AutoMeter, several brands of DATA Loggers the pullers use like from MWSC. And I've done several searches for go-cart & motorcycle gauges, and even airplane gauges because they too are mostly air-cooled and dual gauges are available that register two different readings like cyl. head and oil temp. The multi-function gauges mean the additional dash board I have to build & install can be smaller! I kinda want electric gauges, the sending units are MUCH easier to install and run the wiring.

KENDELL - The "Service Engine Soon" reminder must be something "New" on the Tiny Tach. I got My Tiny-Tack probably 16-17 yrs ago. I don't remember it being really slow to respond, but then the 129 I had it on was the tractor SON ran most of the time. I remember Bryan had one on one of His CC's and contacted an Engineer @ the company and got His working properly when He had some problems with it. I can't even remember where I bought Mine at, I do remember having a hard time trying to get the correct version for a Kohler with cam-driven points.

 

[rwilke]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

By Lewis Palma (Lpalma) on Friday, August 21, 2009 - 09:55 pm:

Make that three with the two dipsticks .<font color="ff0000">K301</font> spec47376b. This is on a 107 I restored.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Lewis P.,
Regarding your engine data sticker on your 107, are you sure you didn't have a 'VERSION
CODE(S)' at the end of your ENGINE MODEL CODE, like an 'A' and/or an 'S'?

Thanks!
Ryan Wilke

 

[mdmyers]

Kendell and Frank,
Thanks for the reply. I did replace the condenser, and the points & plug too. Think I'll try another condenser. Since I'm a geek, I've got a good VOM, which doesn't find a wire shorting. I did pick up a decent digital oscilloscope lately, though, maybe I can figure out a way to test the condenser. It's just a big capacitor, yah?

 

[lpalma]

Ryan Wilke,
K301A Here is a photo of it.

Here is a photo of the reg with the spade terminals

Seems like you just plug in the female terminal on the wire harness on the male ends on the reg.no modifications.Hope this helps...

 

[tdaugherty]

Is there anyway i could put in a dash light on my cub 124? I just thought i could have the amp gauge light up at night, be pretty cool.}

 

[tdaugherty]

How would i get the idle lower on my cub 124? All the carb screws are set right,so it sounds like the governor rod's out of adjustment, or the spring is worn. Is this the problem?

 

[kide]

Mike:
Actually testing a condenser (as you probably know it's more commonly known in electronics as a capacitor) is easiest with a plain old non digital VOM. Here's a link on the SmokStak site to a thread on testing them - you won't get the exact value, but you'll know if it's bad..
Dennis:
After I posted, I went to the TinyTach site and it confirmed the reason I didn't like 'em (2 1/2 second refresh time - useless for tuning). I did run across another interesting bit on a powered parawing site (AeroCorsair.com) on resetting the TinyTach, for those that have 'em.

 

[bnolte]

My dad is up this weekend, and with heavy rains in recent days, and more rain threatening, we raced to get the grass cut, him on the 125, me on the 129. Anyway, after about an hour of mowing, the 129 started losing power on a particularly tough stretch of grass mowing uphill. Over a few minutes the problem got worse, and the engine started misfiring, shooting flames out of the muffler, and finally quit. Dad gave me a tow back in, and said he didn't like what was coming out of the breather, and it seems to have completely lost compression. I pulled the head and saw nothing obvious, Head gasket and piston crown look intact with only carbon on the crown, and I didn't try to crank the engine with the head off yet.

We finished with the 125 and I hauled out the Simplicity, so we managed to beat the deluge at least.

On a happier note, my decals for the 102 came today. At the rate I'm going, I might have to press it into service cutting grass.

 

[fsnerd]

Lewis Palma (Lpalma) - thanks for the voltage reg photo. that is exactly what i am looking for. my reg has just the screws for ring or spade terminals. thanks for proving they exist, before i went looking for them.

 

[dfrisk]

TIM D. - I have a license plate light above the amp gauge on my 72, It's what IHC would have used, at least they did on all the FARMALL tractors. The amp gauge on the 982 is internally lighted, I have "Work Lights" on it, a clear or white rear light and another pair under the foot rests and the amp gauge turns on with them.

KENDELL - Ahhhh, The "New and Improved Model!"

Well, I'm off to surf that website You posted the link to. Wyatt & I both suscribed to the EAA's monthly magazine years ago...I looked at airplane instruments but I don;t remember looking at Ultralights!

 

[fsnerd]

Brendan Brigham (Bbrigham)- thanks for the offer, but i am sure i can find them locally.

 

[mnaglich]

DENNIS: Thanks for the reply! I knew that the tiny tach did not have good reviews so I went for the Redington tach. Kendell did point out a good point on refresh time, most digital tachs have a delay. The Redington does appear to be faster then 2.5s but still has a delay. I use a direct shaft tach for tuning. What I liked about the Redington was that you get both hour meter and tach in the same round package.

One thing I was thinking about as I'm starting to refresh my 1450 was to use the exit shaft of the hydro unit to attach a sensor for an analog
tach. Just something to play around with as I wait for the paint to dry on some of the parts.

 

[bbrigham]

Lucky for me Dennis, I'm only looking for one. I did just run across this however.....
http://www.ultralightnews.ca/westach/chtgauges.html

I like the price.......

No problem Frank