Correct Piston..Finally!

[Gordy]

I’m going to check everything again. Is it possible the test condenser I got (it’s for a car) is so wrong it just plain won’t work?

No idea but one way to find out would be to reconnect the old one and see if you get spark back.


Gordy

[Vivala446]

It’s getting to be enough that I’m about ready to quit

[Eugen]

I think you're setting yourself up for grief. What test condenser did you use? From what's you described so far my impression is that you have a lot of unknowns. When you have a lot of things to doubt, if it works you got lucky. If it doesn't, you have many things that might cause the problem and no idea which is the actual culprit.

In my humble opinion you already tried your luck with haphazard solutions. It didn't work. Why not do it right? Sounds to me like you will have tractors for the rest of your life. In the US you have pretty much the cheapest consumer products in the world, and probably the best delivery system that exists. Feeler gauges will cost you less than $10. Don't buy coffee for a week and you got feeler gauges. You can get a compression gauge set for less than $50. Even less second hand.

I totally get you want to see it running asap but I think it's going too much all over the place. All this work and still we have no idea what could be wrong. Sorry, but that's how it seems to me.

[Spike188]

Hang in there @Vivala446. Most of us have faced what seem to be unsolvable obstacles like yours.

52 years ago there was a 1955 2nd series Chevy pickup sitting in the pasture bone pile. The motor had a hole in the block, the transmission was missing 3rd gear, the brakes were gone, and the back corners of the cab had holes rusted through. Dad said I could have it if I could make it run. An Uncle taught me the basic principals of ring slap, cylinder bore wear, and backlash. He would talk me through each step but never laid a hand on a wrench. This was in an unheated 40 X 40 round-top barn with a dirt floor and a small concrete slab 10' wide down one side.

After doing rings, bearings, freeze plugs, new water and oil pump the engine was ready to drop into place. The front end of the pickup was all that would fit onto the slab. Motor mounts, transmission stabbing, clutch and shifting linkage all were completed without putting it on stands. Most of the crawling around under the Chevy was done on the dirt floor. Because there was limited shop space the final assembly and brake work was finished outdoors.

Engine oil had been added and start up was almost ready. That is when the workbench was cleaned up. At the bottom of the pile of tools and old parts was an L shaped tube. I recognized it as the oil line that connected the oil pump to the block. The oil had to be drained and pan dropped to install the oil line. The 55 had a straight front axle which interfered with taking the pan off. Once again this was done while laying in the dirt with engine oil dripping.

It took me most of a year to get the truck running and every step was dirty, nasty, cold, cold and damp, and more nasty. I was convinced that mechanic work was not in my future. I can still smell the oil and shop floor dirt embedded in clothes. Nope, turning a wrench was not going to be part of my future.

Somehow, that 14 year old got past the memories of that winter and made equipment repair a full time vocation at 40.

Hang in there @Vivala446

Spike

[propane1]

It’s getting to be enough that I’m about ready to quit

Hang in there, don’t give up. Maybe just leave it alone for a few days. Take a break from it. It sure helps when I do that.

Noel

[Harry]

It’s getting to be enough that I’m about ready to quit

Hang in there, don’t give up. Maybe just leave it alone for a few days. Take a break from it. It sure helps when I do that.

Noel

I believe Noel has some words of WISDOM for you Vivala. I find this happens to me all the time, you hit the wall! It's time to walk away! I just work on something else to take my mind off the problem. I've even found sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and there in my head is the solution. Strange as that sounds, it's true. The brain keeps processing it while you're doing other things. Don't give up, keep going and in the end the reward will be GREAT.

Keep the Peace
Harry

[Vivala446]

I really appreciate everyone's support. I know I have compression. I know had spark. If I put everything back together and it's just that new plugs were needed I'm going to feel pretty dumb.

[propane1]

It’s getting to be enough that I’m about ready to quit

Hang in there, don’t give up. Maybe just leave it alone for a few days. Take a break from it. It sure helps when I do that.

Noel

I believe Noel has some words of WISDOM for you Vivala. I find this happens to me all the time, you hit the wall! It's time to walk away! I just work on something else to take my mind off the problem. I've even found sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and there in my head is the solution. Strange as that sounds, it's true. The brain keeps processing it while you're doing other things. Don't give up, keep going and in the end the reward will be GREAT.

Keep the Peace
Harry

Yes Harry, that’s very true waking up in the night and you have a good thought or the answer. I have even got up in the middle of the night and wrote down what I was thinking, so’s I would not forget it in the morning.

Noel

[Harry]

I really appreciate everyone's support. I know I have compression. I know had spark. If I put everything back together and it's just that new plugs were needed I'm going to feel pretty dumb.

Vivala, on my 644 with a Kohler 321 I was not getting the engine to fire. Upon very close inspection I found a small break in the condenser wire where it goes through the cover. I put a little shrink tubing over the break and Ureka! The engine started up and I was back in business. Sometimes it's the small things that make a difference.

Keep the Peace
Harry

[Vivala446]

That's very true.