hoeser
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2006
- Messages
- 253
Have you ever taken on a project which seemed within your reach at first, but when you completed it you just wondered if you did everything "right" and it now seems completely over your head? That's me about now. I just completed the rebuild of the powerhead on my 1984 Evinrude 140 crossflow V4 VRO... to top it off it's not actually mine but it's a friend of mines. I tend to not get as nervous if its my crap I am potentially breaking. The engine basically exploded at the end of last season due - I believe it was carbon related, as a ring got stuck, and eventually broke and consumed an entire cylinder.
This is my first marine engine rebuild and when I took it on I kind of shrugged it off (stupidly...) as one of those "it's just a 2 stroke" things. I've read a a lot of threads here pretty much religiously and followed my manual. I sent the block to be re-sleeved and re-bored... the end result was a .040 on all 4. In the end I've installed 4 new GLM pistons, a new head for the bad side, new bearings at both ends of the connecting rods, new crankshaft seals and new gaskets throughout.
(I'm getting to my question soon, I promise... for now just enjoy story time)
I didn't really realize when I started this how many little caveats there were with these engines, things like the oil hole orientation on the connecting rods for example... and making sure the rod caps are basically flawless. When I eventually put it all back together it all seemed to go a little "too" smoothly. There were a few hang-ups but nothing I would describe as major. I have a pretty decent mechanical skill and my trade I am a IBM AIX (UNIX) system administrator so I have a pretty good attention to detail.
I finished the rebuild yesterday with no spare parts or screws, so I guess thats good. I test fired the engine on muffs and it actually started the first try... also very surprised. I found myself just watching the engine with baited breath waiting for a large bang or clunk or some other catastrophic failure to happen. But it ran well, although the old idle setting seems to be too high for it now? Is this normal? I got it up to temperature and shut it down, I plan on doing the rest of the break in on the water.
This thing scares the crap out of me, I keep expecting it to explode for some reason. I guess my question is, how often do rebuilds go awry and when they do, when does it usually happen? First start? First WOT run?
I guess I just want to put my mind at ease. This thing makes me queasy.
This is my first marine engine rebuild and when I took it on I kind of shrugged it off (stupidly...) as one of those "it's just a 2 stroke" things. I've read a a lot of threads here pretty much religiously and followed my manual. I sent the block to be re-sleeved and re-bored... the end result was a .040 on all 4. In the end I've installed 4 new GLM pistons, a new head for the bad side, new bearings at both ends of the connecting rods, new crankshaft seals and new gaskets throughout.
(I'm getting to my question soon, I promise... for now just enjoy story time)
I didn't really realize when I started this how many little caveats there were with these engines, things like the oil hole orientation on the connecting rods for example... and making sure the rod caps are basically flawless. When I eventually put it all back together it all seemed to go a little "too" smoothly. There were a few hang-ups but nothing I would describe as major. I have a pretty decent mechanical skill and my trade I am a IBM AIX (UNIX) system administrator so I have a pretty good attention to detail.
I finished the rebuild yesterday with no spare parts or screws, so I guess thats good. I test fired the engine on muffs and it actually started the first try... also very surprised. I found myself just watching the engine with baited breath waiting for a large bang or clunk or some other catastrophic failure to happen. But it ran well, although the old idle setting seems to be too high for it now? Is this normal? I got it up to temperature and shut it down, I plan on doing the rest of the break in on the water.
This thing scares the crap out of me, I keep expecting it to explode for some reason. I guess my question is, how often do rebuilds go awry and when they do, when does it usually happen? First start? First WOT run?
I guess I just want to put my mind at ease. This thing makes me queasy.
