Bolens G14

[Triumph66 1,256]

I have the date codes for Wisconisn engines

Can you post the codes please?

Thanks

[HeadExam 1,783]

Here is the link, you have to type your serial number in and it gives month and year.

http://www.wiengines.com/support_serial_search/

[Triumph66 1,256]

Excellent! Thanks.

[slf-uk 914]

Here is the link, you have to type your serial number in and it gives month and year.

http://www.wiengines.com/support_serial_search/

 

Great one, many thanks.

 

Update on the G14 later.

 

Iain

[slf-uk 914]

I had lots of fun with the carb. The float needle would either not shot off the fuel or would get stuck closed. Lots of cleaning made no difference so in the end I did some work on the float seat and that solved the problem.

 

The engine fired up and it is running well. The tappets are very noisy which is unusual and the exhaust is blowing which was expected. 

 

It is great to have it running and it has given me enhanced enthusiasm for the other jobs.

 

I am very pleased with the progress as I have had very little time on it over the weekend.

 

Iain

[Tom 215]

Glad to hear you got the carb sorted Iain, it's getting there now! I bet you've got a big grin on your face.

Tom

[Triumph66 1,256]

Excellent news Iain. This will spur you on to resolve all the other issues on the G14.

What's the next Bolens you going to sort out?

[slf-uk 914]

Excellent news Iain. This will spur you on to resolve all the other issues on the G14.

What's the next Bolens you going to sort out?

 

Yes, big smile on getting it running, thanks for the support Andrew and Tom. My aim is to sort out as much as possible on it this week and then have it as a running mechanical restoration project. Next on the tractor table is the HT23 as I need to sort out a few issues before the grass cutting season.

Edited March 15, 2015 by slf-uk

[HeadExam 1,783]

The Canadian Wisconsin site is still up, the American site is down, the page that had the production date codes is gone on the Canadian site as well, error code 404. I think I made a .pdf copy, just have to find it in my highly organized library of thousands of manuals, lol.

[HeadExam 1,783]

The walbro carbs on the G and H OHV valve engines can be very stubborn to get right. It has to do with the seat that goes up from the bottom of the bowl screw. That seat wasn't made large enough and has problems with clogging. A very fine wire can be used to remove blockage, but NOTHING else will work, not seafoam, chemtool, air, nothing, I've tried. The symptoms of the carb problem is that it refuses to idle, but will run at full throttle, when you try to lower the throttle the governor starts hunting and the engine dies. One of the guys over at GTTalk sells a updated version of the seat with more room, but once cleaned they tend to be okay as long as they don't set for long periods of time or petrol goes bad as month old milk. Attached is the part the guy at GTTalk sells, I'm sure OB probably knows him or can find out, it is the emulsion tube that easily stops up

[slf-uk 914]

That is a very interesting part for the walbro carb, it would be good to know who the seller is.

 

Last night I decided to investigate the exhaust and why it was held onto the engine with a spring. To be able to get to the exhaust port on the engine you first have to remove a heat shield panel which has fixings for the throttle and choke cables. The hidden bolts are the two that fix the PTO belt cover to the engine and these need to be loosened to allow the panel to lift. At some point in the past someone has bent these bolts presumable to make installing new belts easier, so loosening them was fun.

 

Once the panel was off I removed the spring that was holding the exhaust to revel this

 

 

Given the amount of the head that it has eaten by the exhaust rattling around I imagine it has been like this for a long time. If I lived in the US I could probably pop into napa and buy a new OH140 head for 50 cents but joking aside the chance of getting a replacement head is slim.

 

I have thought of a few options to get around the problem but I would be interested in what other people think

 

Iain

[Rocboni 257]

I would bore it out on the mill and press fit a sleeve.

[Stormin 4,458]

I would bore it out on the mill and press fit a sleeve.

 

I agree.

[Triumph66 1,256]

Sound like Stormin and Rocboni's advice could be the way forward to fix this. Worth a go I would have thought.

[slf-uk 914]

This project has been on hold for a couple of weeks due to work commitments but hopefully I can now do a bit more.

 

I had some time on Sunday so I decided to remove the head and inspect it in detail. For those that aren't aware, the larger Tecumseh engines are very odd in that they have a rocket box on top of the head. The rocket box has to be removed to get to the head bolts which means that you have to remove the valve springs with the head still in place and without easy access to the valves. One day I will check to see what the engine manual says but until then I will continue with my normal way, which is to position the piston in TDC to stop the loose valve dropping too far and remove the rocker shafts. Then grab the valve stem through the manifold port and compress the spring to remove the valve caps. I have been meaning to make a valve compressor tool to make the job easier.

 

When I removed the rocker cover I discovered why the engine had noisy tappets. It looks like the inlet rocker has broken at some point in the past and has been welded up, which means it does not have enough adjustment.

 

 

The head is worse than it looks in the picture I previously posted, with the outer part being very weak. To overcome this I am thinking of milling out the inner part of the head (very carefully) and making a long sleeve to press in. To overcome the stresses from the exhaust hanging on the sleeve I was thinking of welding a bracket on the sleeve to fix onto the original bolt holes. I will need to re-tap those bolt holes first.To finish it off I will tap a one inch BSP thread into the sleeve to connect to the original exhaust pipe via a M/F elbow. This roughly follows what Stormin and Rocboni suggested.

 

What do you think, cunning plan or bad idea?

 

Thanks

Iain

 

 

 

 

[slf-uk 914]

Progress is embarrassingly slow not helped by having to use a lot of my workshop time over the last couple of days to climb onto the workshop roof to refit roof tiles that had moved in the wind, that's my excuse anyway.

 

I have done lots of measuring of the head and my options for milling out for a sleeve are very limited however I have worked out the exact location and depth that I can safely work to. The flange that I am going to weld onto the sleeve is critical so I started my making that out of a scrap bit of 4mm plate I had kicking around.

 

 

Assuming the wind does not move any more roof tiles I am hoping to do the milling on the head tonight.

 

Iain

 

[Triumph66 1,256]

Iain,

Look forward to seeing more development on this one.

[slf-uk 914]

The missus just sent me this picture. First time we have had a ridge tile go flying. Looks like I won't be milling tonight

 

 

Iain

[Stormin 4,458]

Had a ridge tile come off when I lived near Garstang. Landed on my Morris Travellers roof, then onto my A60 vans bonnet, stopping just short of the windscreen.   

 

Good idea with the port BTW.

[Anglo Traction 998]

The head is worse than it looks in the picture I previously posted, with the outer part being very weak. To overcome this I am thinking of milling out the inner part of the head (very carefully) and making a long sleeve to press in. To overcome the stresses from the exhaust hanging on the sleeve I was thinking of welding a bracket on the sleeve to fix onto the original bolt holes. I will need to re-tap those bolt holes first.To finish it off I will tap a one inch BSP thread into the sleeve to connect to the original exhaust pipe via a M/F elbow. This roughly follows what Stormin and Rocboni suggested.

 

What do you think, cunning plan or bad idea? Thanks Iain

Far from being any form of an experienced Machinist, I agree your direction to fix this problem is the best option, especially the use of the Flange Bolt holes for the Sleeve retention.

Just curious what material your planning to use for the Flanged Sleeve insert?.

 

What ever you use, perhaps there is another local engine point you could add to support the Exhaust and take the weight off the new joint your making  . 

Sorry to hear about your roof tiles, last one I had to repair was 1993  . 

[Rocboni 257]

Steel I would imagine to allow it to be welded to the steel flange.

[slf-uk 914]

Steel insert was my plan although I am concerned about pressing it into an already fragile alloy head and the differential expansion issues.

 

Interesting thought about another engine point for support, thanks. It is very tight as a cover goes over the exhaust to keep some of the heat from the engine and battery area, although space for a support does exist. I'll check that one out to see if the engine has an appropriate location point.

 

The roof damage looks to be out of reach of a ladder so it looks like I have the additional hassle of putting up a tower.

 

Thanks

Iain

[Rocboni 257]

Steel insert was my plan although I am concerned about pressing it into an already fragile alloy head and the differential expansion issues.

 

I wouldn't worry about it to much, the aluminium will expand more/ quicker than the steel sleeve.

[Anglo Traction 998]

Steel insert was my plan although I am concerned about pressing it into an already fragile alloy head and the differential expansion issues.

My concern also. Using steel would require a greater interference fit, as the coefficients would mean Ali expands with heat at a greater rate and therefore would loosen the sleeve.

Have you considered machining the Sleeve and Flange complete from Billet Aluminium and set the sleeve diameter to just break into the threaded Stud holes?.

You can then insert the Sleeve and recut the Stud hole threads so they cut into the sleeve wall for greater strength when bolted.

If then, the sleeve loosens in the future, you only have to make another Sleeve insert.....just a thought 

[slf-uk 914]

I have come to the conclusion that the only solution that I will be totally happy with is to replace the head and I am looking out for one at the right price. I am sure it will take a while for one to turn up so I will progress with a sleeve.

 

I did think about making a sleeve from aluminum but had not thought about incorporating the flange, very interesting idea. I certainly had not thought about breaking into the threaded stud holes either, again very interesting. Thanks for those ideas, I will take another look tonight and see how how feasible it is.

 

My initial reasoning for going for a steel sleeve was that it needs to be threaded for 1" BSP to take an elbow and connect to the original exhaust and (from memory) the sleeve wall can only be a maximum of 4mm thick. I am equally sure the sleeve will be loosen with heat which is why I think the flange is important.

 

Iain