Joe's 252 Colt Trail Machine "Gadget"

[JoeMeg]

Lance,yes I have access to a 500/1000V MegOhm meter. The svc man say's the resistance between the two plug leads should be 22-42K. I'm getting aprox 36K with a high impeadence VOM. Seems ok. Wasn't sure if megging it to ground was a good idea but I guess it's just a couple balls of wire in there,correct? Manual also show very sketchy pic of testing the primary but fails to offer any values or a specific connection to perform this test. I would think lead to ground but I have plenty of other problems w/o adding assuming to the mix. Thanks for the input. I'll let ya know what I find.

[JoeMeg]

OK,here is what I did. First I googled "Test Kohler M18 Magneto" and read a half a dozen threads on the subject. Didn't really get anything "conclusive" but gleaned a little more info on a few things that make sense and I never thought about. One of which being related to cranking speed as a result of the condition of the starter motor (interesting),battery,etc. Keeping the megohm meter as a last resort,I sanded the "face" of the magneto poles nice and clean,did the same thing to the magnet on flywheel. Manual has illustration of gap being .008-.012" but if one reads,it says to set the gap at .014" claiming there is enough deflection from the pull of the magnet for the actual final gap to be correct,OK,so I gaped it at .014". I clamped the spark plugs to the engine and connected the leads (both of them!). I then hit the (new)starter w/12V and man did that baby begin crankin' and spitting fire at the plugs! Then I installed spare set of plugs in engine to add compression to the mix and slow the crank speed. Still sparking real nice. Began heating the magneto til it was pretty darn warm and still sparking real nice. Put the covers back on and started the engine,fired rite up! Ran it for about an hour total,shutting off,letting sit 2-3,5-10 mins at times and no issues. The thing fires in what seems to be about one rev,seriously,the key needs only to be "bumped" and we are up and running. So,my conclusion of the whole ordeal,nothing real substantial,just think it was accumulated small issues that just added up to one big one. The only things I really "did" were cleaning the faces of the magnet and magneto,setting the gap at .014" and (what I thinking was the biggie) replaced the starter motor.

[ARGOJIM]

Amazing what a little elbow grease will do.

Now the real (6x6)world(pun intended) test.

[JoeMeg]

Yep,now it's time to get her bouncing around and see what happens. I never did figure out the fuel line blockage from the maiden voyage.

[LarryW]

Glad you got that spark figured out. Hopefully fuel issue don't show up again. My fingers are crossed for you!

[JoeMeg]

Thanks Larry,we need all the help we can get! May have an opportunity to test it out this Sat. None of my friends can make it so I would reluctantly go alone. Not a big advocate of this for numerous reasons,one being recovery (that shouldn't be necessary,right?) of a machine from out in the woods. So,sushhhh,don't tell anyone but I'm going to pack my Honda quad and take it"just in case". If I don't make it out there this weekend,I'll just put some more time in on Gizmo.

[JoeMeg]

Wow,just plain WOW! Made it out to my property this past Sat. Got to use the winch AGAIN to drag an inoperable machine onto the trailer. Darn thing started giving me idle problems rite off the trailer. Figured,ok,drive some and see what happens then clean carb AGAIN. Made it about 70 yards from camp and it up and starts sputtering and not responding to throttle at all. Let off throttle and instantly dies. OK,clean carb again. Re-install carb. Give little shot of either (til bowl fills back up) and won't fire. No.NO!!!!! Not this AGAIN!!! O,ok,here we go. Gee why are we blowing up backward through the carb and where did that obnoxious metallic "tinging" sound go? I bet I know. I'd already bet the noise was valve related so now it's time to pull this engine out AGAIN. Yep,broken intake valve spring now. This is this engines last chance. And no,I'm not even replacing the seal just now. I have invested WAY TOO much time and $$ into this engine already. It's getting a new spring and retainer for the keepers ($10 of parts) and going back together. If it does anything other than run good it will be coming back out and heading for the glue factory. Wow,just plain wow.

[hydromike]

Don't give up on it yet Joe. It'll take time to work some bugs out of the ol' girl, but you'll get it. Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

[ARGOJIM]

Hope your doing both on that side why it's open, weak spring would explain ticking sound and a valve while it's open is prudent.

Are there different thickness head gaskets?

[JoeMeg]

..................... Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

Yes,this is what I keep telling myself

Jim, I'm only finding one P/N for head gasket so I'll assume there is only one thickness. What was the train of thought there?

[ARGOJIM]

Yes,this is what I keep telling myself

Jim, I'm only finding one P/N for head gasket so I'll assume there is only one thickness. What was the train of thought there?

Did a flathead Ford tractor once and after rebuild the valves hit the head (tapping loader than yours was), turned out to be the head had been shaved too many times. Needed new head to cure. Made no noise til running.

[JoeMeg]

Had to pay the Marine/Mower shop up the road $20 to install a $5 spring w/ a $5 retainer in the M18's PTO side cylinder. Guess I shoulda' looked here first,lol Lisle Tools 23300 Small Engine Valve Spring Compressor | eBay Began re-assembly of engine yesterday,have a little more to do and should be running it up and hopefully installing it into the machine. I would have liked to take some pic's of this entire fiasco but my camera became extremely jealous of the cushy lives my toy's have been living lately and has also decided to stop working.

[amphibious drew]

Don't worry Joe! After a few months of unemployment are over, your camera will have no choice to go back to work.

[JoeMeg]

Slowly working on reconditioning a Kohler M20 that Drew and Jeff gave to me. Thanks again,men! Right now I have invested $59.01 in rings and seals. Will also toss in new head gaskets. If I can get this one running nice it will replace the M18. The 18 needs torn down to see what the klanking is. Moved this into the build bay yesterday,Gizmo is going to have to wait in the storage bldg a little longer.

[JoeMeg]

Gadget made it to Pine Lake a couple weeks ago. Now mind you,I am the most weight this machine has toted around in who knows how many years. Daughter and Her friend were enroute to our cottage and decided to stop by and take it for a spin. This fellow is about offensive lineman stature and the daughter adds about another 100 #'s. They hop in and head across the grass and as they're making a left turn onto the dirt pit road,BANG and there goes the left rear wheel. They were waved back to camp and felt really bad not only for breaking my machine but also in such short order,lol. I had a little fun with them while they still had long faces and then said,No Problem here,let's go to Drew and Jeffs treasure trobe of parts,they'll have what I need to fix this. And they did. And again THANK YOU both for carting all those parts back and forth,they always seem to save at least one persons trip. Had Gadget trail ready in about half an hour. Then told the kids,don't flatter yourselves,we'll look but I'm willing to already bet that we will see evidence that this thing was just waiting to fail from another trauma it suffered earlier in it's life.