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Lucas Mill Engine Toast?


Billhook
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Bought new in 1996 the Lucas has been a superb investment and very reliable as well as being easy to service.

just started the 18hp V Twin Briggs today and let it idle for a bit to warm up before going to work.  I turned my back to pick some wood up and there was a "Phut" from the engine followed by a cloud of white smoke before the engine gently stalled.  It started again after a few pulls but sounded as though it was running on one cylinder, so I stopped it to investigate further.

The oil level was ok, and I suspect that a piston has been holed.  I cannot see why this should happen at idle.  Has anyone any other ideas?

 

21 year old engine and I suspect that the cost of investigation and labour and parts might come to much the same as a new engine and have long been thinking of an electric start as I am becoming too old to balance on top of a log trying to pull start the thing!  If a new engine is the thing , where is the best place to find one?

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Thanks for those replies and yes it looks like a new electric start 20 hp will be approaching 2K.

 

A mechanic suggested that it may just be something else which caused the problem.  The engine had not been used for three months and I had not turned off the petrol.

Looking at both plugs they seemed to be wet with petrol and the oil in the sump contaminated with petrol.

One cylinder was 40 psi and the other 100 psi compression.

He said that sometimes the carb float sticking might cause the contents of the fuel tank to leak into the cylinders and destroy the oily seal around the rings causing not only lack of compression but also the mixture of oil and petrol in the sump to be drawn out causing the white smoke.

It only ran in this condition at idle for a  few seconds so I shall drain the sump, change the filter , put a little oil down the plug holes before gently turning over the engine on the pull start.  Fill the sump with new oil and see what happens  when I try it again and report back!

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Better news!    I drained the oil which indeed turned out to be 90% petrol.  I had a litre of Lucas oil (no relation but a sort of STP type product from America) and I poured a bit down each plug hole and gently turned over the engine.  I then flushed the sump with fresh oil before filling it with new oil plus new filter, plus 50% Lucas oil.

Did not need a compression test as I could tell that there was a lot of compression by the pull start.   Engine started well and ran well but smoked for a bit while it cleared the remaining petrol/oil in the exhaust.  Put it to work and it ran like a new'un.

I now know what the petrol on/off valve is for!  Apparently a sump full of petrol is a common fault

I may have just been lucky but time will tell.

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12 hours ago, Billhook said:

Better news!    I drained the oil which indeed turned out to be 90% petrol.  I had a litre of Lucas oil (no relation but a sort of STP type product from America) and I poured a bit down each plug hole and gently turned over the engine.  I then flushed the sump with fresh oil before filling it with new oil plus new filter, plus 50% Lucas oil.

Did not need a compression test as I could tell that there was a lot of compression by the pull start.   Engine started well and ran well but smoked for a bit while it cleared the remaining petrol/oil in the exhaust.  Put it to work and it ran like a new'un.

I now know what the petrol on/off valve is for!  Apparently a sump full of petrol is a common fault

I may have just been lucky but time will tell.

Ooooooo ! That was close ! Was expecting report as knackerd engine - Lucas mills  are a great bit of kit and can't be too careful with storing petrol engines on our lovely green petrol we now use :P K

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Yes that would have made it up to the traditional three for this year.

 

I lost the Fastrac Cummins in the Spring.  800 hours only and a friction welded ball at the bottom of the pushrod came off and broke up the cam follower which bent two pushrods and meant an expensive rebuild.

 

Our Volvo XC70 has done 200,000 faithful miles and I was driving down to collect an newer second hand one that had done 44,000

The oil warning light came on with the "Stop ASAP" but I was on a dual carriageway with no hard shoulder in heavy traffic so I plodded on for another three miles fearing the worst.

Pulled into a layby and opened the bonnet to find nothing wrong at all. Water, oil all normal.  Rang a trusted mechanic who agreed that it must have been a wiring fault, proceed with caution.

Gained confidence and 50 miles later was doing 70 mph no worries.  Slowed down at a roundabout and there was a thunk from the rear  (viscous coupling reacting) and the engine stalled, seized and would not even turn over.

Conclusion was that sludge had blocked the oil pick up and when I stopped the first time it fell out and picked up again as I slowed for the roundabout.  Engine now has nil compression!

 

I had been bragging last year that I had been driving cars and tractors for fifty years and never lost an engine......Karma!

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